Why Not Tonight
Page 25

Once she was at work, she quickly cleared her gallery chores, then signed up for the refurbished-bridge art project. The sections were granted in five-foot segments, and artists were encouraged to work in teams. One side of the bridge would feature the artwork and the other would be a mesh material where people could put locks, like people did on Cologne’s Love Lock bridge. The Happily Inc bridge had been reinforced to handle the heavy load of the locks and the artwork.
She filled out the paperwork and emailed it back and then sent an email to Mathias. Yes, she could have walked over to the studio and told him, but an email seemed more fun. Let him wonder what she was up to.
Around ten, she texted Ronan and asked if he could help her with something. As she waited for his response, she felt a little quiver in her tummy. Anticipation, she thought happily. Excitement. However temporary, she had a man in her life and she planned to enjoy every second of it.
A few minutes later, Ronan walked into her office. She gave herself a couple of heartbeats to enjoy his sexy smile, the slightly mussed hair, the clean-shaven jaw that had been delightfully bristly the previous night.
“You texted?”
His voice was low and teasing, and slightly secretive. She did her best not to sigh.
“Can I steal you away for about twenty minutes?” she asked. “I want to show you something.”
His eyebrows rose and she giggled. “Not that. Something outside. In public.”
“Damn.”
They left the gallery and walked over to the bridge only a short half block away. The city had already put in the markings that would differentiate the various sections. Natalie counted out the spaces until she found the two she’d signed up for.
“The bridge has been reinforced and widened,” she began.
“I can see that.” He kept his gaze on her rather than the bridge.
“The city wants to make it into something beautiful that will attract tourists. We can’t always depend on weddings. What if people stop getting married?”
“Unlikely but I see your point. Go on.”
She pointed to the opposite side. “They’re going to allow people to put up locks. They do it a lot in Europe. Everyone talks about the bridge in Paris but I like the one in Cologne better. Not that I’ve seen either, but still. Given your affection for East German hot chocolate, I thought you’d agree with me.”
“I’ve already ordered more.”
Her mouth watered. “That’s nice.”
“I’ll let you know when it arrives.”
“I appreciate that.” Maybe they could drink it while naked. Or in bed. Or both. She cleared her throat. “On the other side, the city is asking for artists to create something fun or interesting or whatever, in five-foot sections.” She touched the railing. “I signed us up for this one.”
Before Ronan could react, she spotted Mathias walking toward them.
“Strange place for a meeting,” he said as he approached. “What’s up?”
Ronan looked between the two of them. He didn’t look mad, which was great, but he didn’t look happy, either.
“Let me guess,” he said. “You want us to do one of these sections and Mathias to do the one next to it?”
“Something like that.” She turned to Mathias. “You know about the bridge project, right?”
“Sure. Ten feet is a lot. I’m not sure what we’d do.”
“I have some ideas,” she said quickly. “I want to use the glass you guys throw away. Work it in somehow. But I thought the centerpiece would be my car.”
They both stared at her.
“How would we do that?” Ronan asked.
“In sections. We could cut it in half for starters. Maybe shorten the hood. The phrase ‘coming and going’ keeps popping into my head. It could just be sticking out a bit on our side, or it could be sticking out on both sides. I’m not sure how we’d secure it and the city wants to make sure it’s supersecure so it won’t fall. And we’d have to keep kids from crawling up on it and falling.”
“Not just kids,” Mathias muttered, peering over the side of the bridge. “That’s a hell of a way down.” He turned back to her. “When did you sign us up for this?”
“A little bit ago.”
“When did you talk to the city engineers about what would be required to secure the car?”
She did her best to look wide-eyed and honest. Not that Mathias would get mad at her, but still.
“After I had lunch with my friends a couple of days ago. Silver was the one who suggested using the car. I don’t want to take credit for her idea.”
As she was talking, Ronan quietly eased between her and Mathias. At first she wasn’t sure what he was doing, but then she saw he was acting as a physical barrier...protecting her.
So sweet, she thought, getting all mushy inside. She wasn’t worried about Mathias. He was a really good-natured guy—he would never hurt her, but she liked how Ronan was taking care of her. She wondered if he knew what he was doing or if he was acting instinctively.
Mathias turned to Ronan. “It’s not a bad idea.”
“There are ways to make it work.”
“You two deal with the details and let me know when you want to get together to start the work,” she said as she walked away. “Oh, and talk to Nick about cutting up the car. He’s good with power tools.”
She kept moving toward the far side of the bridge and the safety of the gallery. She held her breath as she waited to see if they would come after her and insist she be a part of the planning, or worse, refuse to get involved. After a couple of seconds, she heard male voices. She was too far away to distinguish the words, but she knew the brothers were talking. Planning.
She released her breath and smiled. The bridge project would give the former twins a chance to hang out together without any pressure. With a little luck they would rediscover how much they enjoyed each other’s company. From there it was a short trip back to being close again. Because Ronan had the gift of family and she was determined that he would appreciate that.
* * *
“DID YOU DO any research?” Ronan asked as he and Natalie drove to the used-car lot on the edge of Palm Desert, the closest semilarge town to Happily Inc.
“Some.” She sat in the passenger seat of his truck, practically bouncing with excitement. He had a bad feeling her research had consisted of exploring the various shades of red available in cars in her price range.
“What are you looking for?” he asked, then added, “Aside from a red car?”
“Something, you know, safe and reliable. As late model as I can afford.”
The words were what he wanted to hear, but he had a feeling she didn’t mean any of them.
In the past couple of weeks, he’d gotten to know Natalie. She was bright, talented, funny and impulsive. When she got an idea in her head, it was impossible to budge. To her, the red car represented something important. All her talk about safety and model years was simply to humor him.
He knew better than to tell himself he wasn’t going to get involved. That her car was her decision. The truth was he and Natalie were seeing each other and he cared about her—as much as he could, given his past. He wanted her to be safe and happy, which meant finding a car they could both agree on. And if they couldn’t find a red one that was also reliable, he had the impossible task of convincing her that color shouldn’t be a priority.