He seemed surprised by her words. “You think you’re the lucky one?”
“I know I am,” she said. “I came back here hoping—no, praying—that I would find something that had been missing from my life, and here you are. Just like that.”
He grinned. “Just like that, huh?”
“Okay, maybe not just like that,” she said with a laugh. “We did have to get past all the animosity and distrust and your ego.”
“My ego?” he echoed incredulously, obviously recalling her high-and-mighty attitude on the day they’d met.
“Well, you were way too sure of yourself that day you found me with Midnight,” she reminded him.
“And you weren’t?”
She laughed. “Me? I was docile as a lamb.”
“My, but you do have a selective memory,” he said. “But that’s okay, as long as you remember one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“That you belong to me.”
Lauren’s gaze narrowed. “Belong?” she echoed.
“Okay,” he said, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “Bad choice of words. I did not mean that in a possessive way. No, indeed. A commitment way, that’s how I meant it.”
“You want me to make a commitment to you?”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, I guess I do.”
“Now there’s a firm response if ever I heard one,” she teased. “Do you or don’t you?”
“I do, darlin’,” he said emphatically. “I most definitely do.”
“And you’re making this same kind of commitment to me?”
“Absolutely.”
“Is this the kind of commitment where we agree not to see anyone else for the foreseeable future or is it the forever, happily-ever-after kind?”
She saw the muscle work in Wade’s jaw as he wrestled with the question.
“Let’s start with the foreseeable future and see where it takes us. Does that work for you?”
Well enough, she thought to herself. She could envision a foreseeable future that lasted through eternity. And she was pretty sure that without much effort, she could get Wade to see that, too…if only her past didn’t surface and ruin it all.
Chapter Thirteen
Lauren took the morning off to drive into Winding River. After her conversation with Wade the night before, she wanted to talk to Emma. While all of her friends were sensible, Emma was the one who was the least romantic, the least likely to get caught up in the thrill of a relationship and forget the practicalities. Lauren had called her at dawn, aware that years of workaholic habits hadn’t deserted Emma even after months back in Winding River. They had agreed to meet for breakfast at Stella’s.
Lauren was in their favorite secluded booth in the back when Emma strolled in. Stella already had her coffee cup filled and had left her usual breakfast of cereal and a banana. Emma frowned at them.
“Am I that predictable?” she asked Lauren.
“We all are,” Lauren lamented, picking at her usual bowl of strawberries with not even a dollop of milk in the bowl, much less cream. “And after all these years, if we tried to change, it would probably shock Stella so badly she’d have to retire.”
Emma sighed and picked up her spoon. “Oh, well, at least it’s healthy.” She gazed at Lauren and waited. “Come on. You didn’t call me at 6:00 a.m. just for my scintillating company. You were fine when I saw you yesterday, so something’s obviously happened. Spit it out.”
“That’s what I love about you. You’re so sympathetic.”
“You didn’t call me for sympathy, you called for my levelheaded advice—am I right?”
“Yes,” Lauren agreed meekly.
“I can’t give it if you don’t tell me the problem.”
“Okay, okay. I think I may have made a terrible mistake with Wade and I don’t know how to fix it,” she blurted.
Emma went absolutely still. “What kind of mistake? He’s not hurting you, is he?”
Lauren felt the color drain from her face. She should have realized that would be Emma’s greatest fear. Emma had dealt with too many domestic-violence tragedies in her law career, first in Denver, then with the shooting death that had kept her coming back to Winding River for months before she’d finally decided to stay.
“Absolutely not,” she assured her friend. “I’m sorry. I should have been more careful. No, actually this is something I did. Or didn’t do.”
Emma’s concerned expression eased. “You’re not making a lot of sense,” she said.
“I’ve kept things from him. I told you before that I never told him about my career in Hollywood. Apparently he’s not a movie fan, so he still doesn’t have a clue what I did when I lived in California.”
“And you think he’s going to be furious when he finds out about the deception?” Emma guessed. “You’re probably right.”
“Thanks. That’s just what I needed to hear.”
She shrugged. “You asked. I told you a long time ago that it wasn’t a good idea to keep that kind of secret.”
“It’s just that I was so tired of being Lauren Winters, the superstar,” Lauren explained defensively. “Karen and I both thought it would be a good idea to leave my identity a secret at the beginning, so Wade would just be getting to know me. He didn’t even know my last name until last night.”
Emma regarded her incredulously. “You were sleeping with a man who didn’t know your last name?”
Lauren shrugged. “You know how it is. If you miss an introduction at the very beginning, sooner or later it begins to get awkward to ask. Besides, I was afraid it would tip him off. Turns out, he still doesn’t have a clue. Now if I tell him, especially with the way he feels about money and power, I’m afraid he’ll completely freak out.”
“Okay, this has gone beyond making sure that he’s not just after you for your money. You have to tell him,” Emma said flatly. In her world, things were usually black or white. It was only when it came to her sense of justice and mercy that she found the shades of gray. “The sooner, the better. I can’t believe no one has slipped around him before now.”
“Probably because all
