“I’ll sleep good now.”
She smiled. “Good night, Jason.”
“Night, babe.”
She waited while he got in his truck and drove off. Then she went inside, locked the door and made her way upstairs. She ran into Brenna in the hall.
Brenna cocked her head to the side. “You weren’t wearing a skirt when you left the house earlier tonight.”
“What? Sure I was.”
“No, you had capris on. And where’s your purse?”
“I . . . Who are you, Mom?”
Brenna quirked a knowing smile. “You had sex outside.”
Erin rolled her eyes and brushed past her sister to head to her room. A few minutes later, Brenna popped her head in the door, followed by Honor.
“So where did you do it?” Brenna asked. “In the vineyards?”
“You weren’t wearing that skirt earlier,” Honor said. “And Brenna said you had sex outside. Did you?”
It was definitely time to get her own place. She studied her phone, hoping to hide the deep blush she knew her face was wearing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Her cheeks are pink,” Brenna said. “She’s guilty.”
“For sure,” Honor said with a laugh, then came over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Tell us everything.”
Erin looked up. “I’m not telling either of you anything. Mind your own business.”
“I think she had sex with Jason, out in the vineyard.” Brenna looked to Honor.
Honor nodded. “Definitely sex with Jason. But I think it was in his truck.”
Erin rolled her eyes. “This isn’t a game of Clue, you know.”
Brenna looked smug. “Which means one of us is right.”
“Clue sounds fun,” Honor said. “We haven’t played that game in years.”
Erin rolled her eyes. “Both of you. Out.”
Brenna laughed and grabbed Honor’s arm. “She’s just pissed because she got caught in the act.”
Still staring at her phone, Erin said, “If you’d caught me in the act, you wouldn’t be trying to guess when and where, would you?”
“Aha!” Brenna wagged a finger. “So you did have sex with Jason somewhere outside.”
She smiled sweetly at her sister. “I admit to nothing.”
Honor laughed. “Come on, Brenna. We don’t want to ruin Erin’s afterglow.”
Her sisters left and closed the door. Erin put her phone to the side and lay back on the bed, replaying the hot moments she’d shared with Jason in his truck. She had no idea where her sisters had been, but they hadn’t been in the house when she’d dashed upstairs to get the condom and make a quick change of clothes. Maybe they’d all been out and had come in the back door.
She shrugged. Either way, she’d had a great time.
Her phone pinged and she picked it up.
The text was from Owen.
Can we talk?
She bolted to a sitting position, those three words on her phone making her stomach churn.
She stared at her phone until her eyes burned, until tears formed, trying to find meaning behind those innocuous three words.
How dare he ruin her perfect night like he’d already ruined her perfectly planned wedding? She’d been doing so well. She’d tried so hard to move on, had hardly been thinking about him at all. And now this?
Why now, after all this time?
Then again, why had he bailed instead of talking to her face-to-face?
She stared at the text message, her fingers hovering on the keys.
She ended up tossing her phone to the end of the bed.
“Dammit, Owen. Why are you suddenly back in my life?”
She knew how she was going to handle this.
She . . . wasn’t.
She got up and went into the bathroom, getting as far away from her phone—and from Owen—as she could.
CHAPTER
twenty-eight
WITH ERIN’S HELP, Jason now had a completed bedroom, furniture and everything. The bathroom looked shipshape, too, with a rug and stuff on the counter, but not too much stuff, because according to Erin, he wouldn’t like too much clutter.
She was right. He’d put a vanity in with drawers, which meant he had a place for all his things. So the counter was mostly clear and he liked it that way, plus it made it easier to clean. She’d put a basic, non-floral-smelling candle and a cute blue ceramic dog on the counter to match the dark blue rug on the floor, and then they’d hung one picture of a foggy lake on the wall that he’d really liked. He’d had to agree that the bathroom had needed something, and Erin had known just what that “something” had been. She had a good eye. Not that he was surprised.
Erin had also helped him choose his bedroom furniture. Not too dark, she’d told him, because it would make the room appear smaller. He’d gone with a gray tufted headboard and awesome gray antique nightstands, and a silver dresser that went well with the off-white walls. Fortunately, he had the French doors that led out to the backyard along with a couple of windows that let in a lot of light, so the room was bright.
He’d let Erin run with choosing sheets and blankets, because that wasn’t in his area of expertise, and since he wanted her comfortable in his bed, he figured whatever she liked was fine with him.
She’d chosen a dark gray duvet cover and some soft-as-hell sheets. And hey, as long as they weren’t rough and scratchy, he didn’t care. Plus, everything looked good. He knew Erin would get it right.
Tonight they were having a housewarming party, which Erin had talked him into because the house was mostly finished, and mainly because he rarely had people over. She told him he should celebrate all the work he had put into the house.
Maybe she was right.
Besides, he had the weekend off, so why not have people over and do a little partying?
Erin had told him the vineyard had an afternoon wedding today, so she’d have plenty of time to come over and help him set up for the party.
He’d gotten up early this morning to clean the house. Once that was finished, he went to the grocery store to get all the stuff they’d need. He made a couple of snacks
