“Why did you hurt her feelings?”

Taylor exhaled and shook her head, still upset with herself. “She was being so nice and I’m not that nice. I’m not. And so I said something I shouldn’t have, and I think it made her sad.”

“What did you say?”

“You don’t want to know.” She jammed her hands into her coat pockets and hunched her shoulders. “I still feel terrible for saying it.”

“Now you have to tell me. What did you say to her?”

Taylor’s shoulders rose higher. “She kept talking about you… paying you all these compliments and it was frustrating and so I said… that if she liked you so much, why Trey? Why not you?”

Troy sighed. “Probably wasn’t the best thing to say, no, but if it’s any comfort, I don’t think you hurt her feelings as much as touched on a tender spot. People have been saying that to her for years about Trey and me. But she and I are just friends, and what she and Trey had was… special. It’s hard to explain but they just… worked. She adored him, and he her.”

“So what happened?”

“Trey loves adrenaline. He takes risks and lives recklessly. It was hard on McKenna, never knowing if he was in trouble, or safe. She worried about him on the rodeo circuit, worried about him drinking, worried about him fighting. It just wore her down, and it made Trey defensive.” He sat back down on his bar stool and extended his long legs out, arms crossing over his big chest. “So how did the dress shopping go? Did she find something?”

“We both did.”

“You both did,” he repeated, confused.

She nodded, looking self-conscious. “I hadn’t bought a gown yet.”

Suddenly he understood. The ball. They’d gone dress shopping for the Valentine Ball. McKenna hadn’t been shopping for her wedding gown. Relief swept through him. “Tell me about your dress.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll see it Friday night.”

“But you love it?”

Taylor flushed. “I wouldn’t say I loved it, but’s nice.”

“A nice dress for a nice girl. Sounds incredibly sexy.”

She rolled her eyes. “As we’ve just established, I’m not that nice. And the dress is nice. It’s appropriate for the ball.”

“So it’s a ball gown?”

“No. At least, it’s not how I’d describe a ball gown, but I’m not going to spend a fortune on a dress I can only wear once, so I bought a dress that’s pretty. It’s long.