sex. Just friends who live together.”
No sex. Well, it wasn’t as if she was a wildly sexual person anyway. In fact, until that single night with Gio, she hadn’t been with anyone in more than a year. And since Gio, she’d avoided all men except for Toby. So going without sex wouldn’t be that terrible, would it? Oh, God.
“I’m not saying we become monks,” Toby pointed out as though he could read her thoughts. “If one of us meets someone, we’ll work that out then. In the meantime, we’re together.”
* * *
Toby watched her and wondered what the hell she was arguing about. Anyone could see this was a good idea. Though he could admit that he hadn’t come up with it until that moment when Vanessa Price gave her daughter the cool look of disappointment at news of the baby. Damned if he could just stand there while Naomi tried to explain about the baby’s father and how he was a worthless player. So, before he’d really considered it, he’d blurted out the lie. And it had felt...right.
Why not get married to his best friend? Whether she knew it or not, she was going to need help with the baby. And as long as they kept things between them platonic, everything would work out fine. Yeah, he was attracted to her. What man wouldn’t be? But he wasn’t going to act on that attraction, so a marriage of convenience was the best solution here.
“Well?” he asked, gaze fixed on hers. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy,” she said on a half laugh.
“That’s been said before,” he reminded her. “People have been talking about crazy Toby and his weird inventions for years.”
Nervously, she pushed her hair back from her face, and the early-afternoon sunlight caught a few threads of copper, making them gleam. “If we do this, we’ll both be crazy.”
“Worse things to be, Naomi.”
She smiled. “Are you sure about this?”
He tipped his head to one side and gave her a look. “When have you ever known me to say something without meaning every damn word?”
“Never,” she said, nodding. “It’s one of the things I like best about you. I always know what you’re thinking, because you don’t play games.”
“Games are for kids, Naomi. Neither one of us is a kid.”
“No, we’re not.” She met his gaze squarely and took a deep breath. “I’m a city girl. What’ll I do on a ranch?”
“Whatever needs doing,” he said.
She laughed shortly. “We really must be crazy. Okay. I’ll marry you and not have sex with you.”
He grinned and winked. “Now, how many people can say that?” Turning in his seat, he fired up the truck, put it in gear and steered out onto the road again, headed for town. “We’ll go get lunch, and then we’ll go ring shopping.”
“No.”
“No?” He glanced at her, surprised.
“No ring,” she said, shaking her head. “We don’t need an engagement ring, Toby, and I don’t want you buying one for me when it wouldn’t really mean what it should. You know?”
He understood and couldn’t say he disagreed. Their marriage would be a joining of friends, not some celebration of love, after all. “What’s your mama going to say?”
Smiling sadly, Naomi said, “Even if we’d gotten one, she’d have found something wrong with it anyway.”
They slipped into silence. Toby took her hand for the rest of the drive but left her to her thoughts.
Toby opened the door to the Royal Diner, steered Naomi inside and stopped. Every person in the place turned to look at them, and he knew. Maverick had done as promised. That stupid video was on the internet, and it seemed clear that it was the hot topic in Royal.
The welcoming scents of coffee, French fries and burgers greeted them. Classic rock played on the old-fashioned jukebox in the corner, and noise from the kitchen drifted out of the pass-through, but other than that, the silence was telling.
“Let’s go,” Naomi said, and tugged at his hand.
“Not a chance,” Toby countered. Then, bending his head down to hers, he whispered, “Do you really want them to think you’re scared?”
He knew it was just the right note to take when she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and stood there like a queen before peasants. Toby hid a smile, because in just a second or two the woman he knew so well had reemerged, squashing the part of her that wanted to run and hide.
A couple of seconds ticked past and then the diner customers returned to their meals, though most of them looked to be having hushed conversations. It didn’t take a genius to guess what they were talking about.
He gave Naomi’s hand a squeeze, then took off his hat and smiled at Amanda Battle as she hurried over. Married to Sheriff Nathan Battle, who was doing everything he could to find out who this Maverick person was, Amanda owned the diner, along with her sister, Pam.
“Well, hi, you two,” she said with a deliberately bright smile. “Booth or table?”
“Booth if you’ve got it,” Toby said quickly, knowing Naomi wouldn’t want to be seated in the middle of the room. Hell, he still half expected her to make a break for the door.
“Right. Down there along the window’s good.” Amanda gave Naomi a pat on the shoulder and said, “I’ll get you some water and menus.”
They walked past groups of friends and neighbors, nodding as they went, and Toby felt Naomi stiffening alongside him. She was maintaining, but it was costing her. She wasn’t happy, and he couldn’t blame her. Hell, he hated this whole mess for her.
The familiarity of the diner did nothing to ease the tension in Naomi’s shoulders. The Royal Diner hadn’t changed much over the years. Oh, it had all been updated, but Amanda and Pam had kept the basics the same, just freshening it all up. The floor was still black-and-white squares, the booths and counter stools were still bright red vinyl, and chrome was the accent of choice. The white walls held pictures of Royal through the years, and it was still the place to go if you wanted the best burger anywhere.
Once they were seated, Amanda came back quickly, set water glasses in front of them and handed out menus. Smiling down at them, she said, “I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Oh, God,” Naomi murmured, and her shoulders slumped, as if all the air had been let out of her body. “You’ve seen the video.”
Amanda gave her a friendly pat and said, “I’m not talking about the video, honey. Don’t worry about that. That nosy bastard has been poking into too many lives, so everyone here knows they could be next. Looks like this Maverick is moving around pretty quick, so he’ll be onto someone new before you know it and you’ll be old news.”
Toby
