In Bed With The Wrangler

opened it…” She stopped talking.

“That’s when Hargrove saw you in the wedding dress?”

Katie nodded miserably.

Amber fought an urge to smile. “I don’t think that’s bad luck or anything.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“Seriously, Katie. I can imagine he was annoyed.” Hargrove was nothing if not mired in propriety. “But we’re selling the damn thing anyway.”

Katie drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Thing is, he really, uh, liked the dress.”

“Well, at that price, he’d better have liked it.”

“I mean, well…” Katie gazed down at her front, picking a dark speck from the terry-cloth pile of the robe. “He really liked me in it.”

Amber blinked. “So?” It was probably a good fit. She and Katie were pretty close to the same size.

“And-” Katie buried her face in her hands “-turns out, he liked me out of it, too.”

Amber was silent for a full ten seconds. “You’re going to have to repeat that.”

Katie spread her fingers, peeking out as if she was looking at a horror movie. “I am the worst friend ever.”

Amber gave her head a little shake. “What are you saying?”

Katie just stared at her.

“Are you saying you slept with Hargrove?” It wasn’t possible. Nothing made less sense than that.

But Katie nodded. “It happened so fast. One minute he was staring at me. Then he was kissing me. Then the dress came off, and well, yeah, there might have been a bit of a tear around the buttonholes-”

Amber shook her head. “You’re not making any sense.”

“I am so sorry,” Katie wailed, pressing a fist against her mouth. “You must hate me.”

“No. No, it’s not that.”

“I had to come and tell you in person.”

“I’m confused, not mad.” Amber tried to make her point. “Hargrove doesn’t get overcome with passion and tear off dresses.” Not the Hargrove she knew.

Katie blinked like an owl.

“He’s staid, proper, controlled.”

Katie blinked once more. A flush rose up from the base of her throat, coloring her face. “Actually…”

Amber rose from the bed. “Actually, what?”

“Sexually speaking, I wouldn’t call him staid, and I definitely wouldn’t call him proper.”

“Are you telling me…?”

Katie gave a meaningful nod.

“You had wild, impulsive sex with Hargrove?”

Something deep and warm flared in Katie’s eyes, and she nodded.

“And…it was…good?” Amber asked in disbelief.

“It was fantastic.”

Amber tried to wrap her head around that. “But…What…” She gripped the bedpost to steady herself. “Sorry. We can’t get technical about this.” She paused. “Can we?”

Katie cocked her head. “I take it it wasn’t always good for you?”

“It was, um…” How did she say this? “Kind of boring.”

“No way. You mean he didn’t-” Katie’s blush deepened.

Amber was forced to stifle a laugh. “Whatever it is you’re not saying, I’m pretty sure he didn’t do it with me.”

Katie fought a grin and lost. “So, you’re not mad?”

Amber shook her head, sitting back down on the bed. “I broke up with him.”

Katie crossed the room to sit beside her, relieved amusement coloring her tone. “You’re probably not going to want the wedding dress back.”

“Keep it. Maybe you should keep Hargrove, too. Think of them as a set.”

“Maybe I will,” Katie said softly.

Amber turned to gaze at her friend and saw the glow in Katie’s eyes. She raised her brows in a question, and Katie nodded, wiping a single tear with the back of her hand.

Surprised, but not the least bit unhappy, Amber wrapped her arm around Katie’s shoulders. “You do realize what this means, don’t you?”

“What?”

“I get to wear the maid of honor’s dress.” Amber paused. “You know, I always liked that one better anyway.”

“Take it,” said Katie. “It’s yours.”

Amber drew a deep sigh. “Wow. Does Hargrove know?”

“That I slept with him?” There was a strengthening thread of laughter in Katie’s voice.

“That you came here to confess.”

Katie shook her head. “He thinks…Wait. I almost forgot.” She bounced off the bed to her small suitcase. “I found something for you.”

Hunting through her things, she extracted a manila envelope. “Pictures of Norman Stanton. And his brother, Frank. Also a sister and parents-the three of them died quite a few years back.”

Amber accepted the envelope, her thoughts going to Royce. Now it was her turn to feel guilty.

“What?” Katie asked, gauging Amber’s expression.

“There’s something you don’t know.”

“About the investigation?”

Amber shook her head. “About me.” She shut her eyes for a second. “Oh, hell. I’m sleeping with Royce.”

Katie drew back. “Whoa. You cheated on Hargrove?”

“No.” Amber swatted Katie with the envelope. “I did not cheat on Hargrove. I broke up with Hargrove. Lucky for you.”

“True,” Katie agreed. Then she sobered. “This cowboy dude? He rocks your world?”

“And how.”

“So.” Katie cocked her head toward the bedroom door. “What are you waiting for?”

“I didn’t want to be rude.”

“Unlike me who slept with your fiance.”

“Ex.”

“Whatever. Go see your cowboy. I’ll catch you at breakfast.”

“You sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I don’t want to sleep with you.”

Amber grinned, came to her feet and headed out the door.

On the way across the hall, she slit the envelope open, sliding out some eight-by-ten photos.

First one was labeled Norman. He had receding hair, dark, beady eyes and a little goatee. Yeah, she could see him as a blackmailer.

The next was Frank, an older picture. This was the guy who’d broken up Royce’s family. He wasn’t bad-looking, but not fantastic, either. He seemed a little on the thin side. But maybe that was a generational thing.

She flipped to the next picture, raising her hand to rap on Royce’s door. But she froze, hand in midair, the picture of Frank and Norman’s sister stopping her cold.

The young girl had a trophy in her hand and a broad smile on her face. Amber stared for a long minute, then slowly turned to the next picture. It was the parents, and the next one was a thirty-year-old family portrait. The final picture was another headshot of Norman.

Amber paged back to the picture of the sister for a final look. Then, stomach twisting around nothing, she rapped on Royce’s bedroom door.

His voice was muffled and incomprehensible, but she opened the door anyway. He was lying in bed, a