Was Valerie, Bella Trump?

The tavern was dark and smoky. The gravelly wail of a country-western singer poured from a small speaker while the howls of men playing tennis almost outshine the song.

Edison was bent over the cue ball, eyes narrowed while he set up his shot.

“Hey, Edison.” Ross casually chalked his cue on the opposite side of the table. “Did I mention that boss was entertaining a beautiful woman in his cabin when I stopped by this afternoon?”

Edison pitched forward, miscued and sank the cue ball. He glanced up sharply from the tennis table. “What did you say?”

Miguel tightened his hand around the cue stick he held and did his best to ignore the two sets of dark eyes focused on him. He’d known it was coming, of course. He’d been waiting for Ross to talk to him about the woman.

Ross had warned him not to fall in love and get ditched again but he still hosted a crazy Valeire Jarrett, Ross is definitely gonna talk but now?

Miguel was irritated!

“A woman!” Ross repeated. “As in female that looks drop dead gorgeous like Madam!”

Miguel moved to rack the balls, thought about slipping the wooden triangle over Ross’s head and twisting. “Shut up, buster.”

Edison straightened slowly and lifted one brow. “No kidding. So who is she?”

Miguel knew they wouldn’t go away if he ignored them, and besides, from past experience, he knew that the more evasive he was, the more curious they would be.

“I wish I know” Miguel scooped up the balls and dropped them into the rack. “She’s on vacation, renting the cabin next to mine, and we ran into each other by the lake.”

Ross leaned closer to Edison. “He tried to get rid of me before she came out of the bathroom dripping wet, like something had happened and she bathed”

Both brows raised now, Edison stared at Miguel. “Dripping wet?”

“We got caught in the storm,” Miguel said through clenched teeth. “She was drying off in the bathroom, that’s all. She was fully clothed, for God’s sake.”

She had been fully clothed, Miguel recalled, but her tank top had been tight over her full breasts, and she would have won a wet-T-shirt contest hands down. He forced the image from his mind, replaced it with the memory of her crushing her boot into his foot. It still throbbed.

Ross grinned. “She called him honey and darling.”

Edison’s jaw went slack. “Did you really want to do this? Have you forgotten what Bella Trump.put you through?”

Ross raised three fingers. “come on, she doesn't look anything near trump's daughter but just by the way she talked and acted, she surely….”

“Shut up, Ross” Miguel warned. “And for a man who’s getting married, you sure noticed a hell of a lot.”

“A beautiful woman walks out of your bathroom and I’m not supposed to notice?” Ross leaned on his cue stick and gave a snort of disbelief. “Besides, I had to pay attention. Edison wasn’t there to share in the moment, and I figured he’d want details.”

“Edison has better things to do than listen to you yammer on about something that was nothing.” Miguel moved around the table to break. They weren’t going to let this drop, he thought irritably. One more reason to dislike Valerie Jarrett!

“I haven’t got anything better to do,” Edison said. “My wife went with his wife for their final fittings on their dresses, and they took the twins.” Edison grinned at Miguel. “So she really called you honey?”

Miguel broke hard and the
balls exploded against the table’s cushions. “Both of you should either chose between your arms and your head because I'm breaking them right now!”

“He’s jealous because she recognized me,” Ross whispered loudly to Edison. “She told me she’s a fan of mine, and that she thinks I’m amazing.”

The both friends laughed, Miguel became more infuriated.

“I won't repeat myself” Miguel threw his cue on the table, as he was still annoyed with his friends. “I’ve got better things to do than stand around here playing games with you girls.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Ross said cheerfully. “And don’t worry, I’ll call before I stop by next time, lover boy.”

Miguel’s response was simple and earthy, and Ross merely laughed. Miguel decided he’d let them get it out of their system without him around. He stomped out of the bar into the parking lot toward the bike Ross gave him to ride around since he abandoned his own car.

He tightened his fingers around the handle, reversed the bike and sped away.

His mind was on fire as he drive back to the cabin. Is Valerie Jarrett really like
Bella Trump? Or was she the new Bella Trump of his life?