His Until Midnight. Reese Ryan

      “Okay, bachelors and bachelorette.” Alexis acknowledged Tess with a slight smile. “The proceedings will begin in about ten minutes. So finish eating, take a quick bathroom break, whatever you need to do so you’ll be ready to go on when your number is called.”

      Alexis had her serious, drill sergeant face on. Something Tessa knew firsthand that a woman needed to adopt when she was responsible for managing a crew of men—be they ranchers or ranch hands.

      Still, there was something in her eyes. Had she been crying?

      Before she could approach Alexis and ask if she was all right, she noticed the look Alexis and Daniel Clayton exchanged. It was brief, but meaningful. Chock full of pain.

      Could Alexis be the other reason Daniel hadn’t wanted to be in the bachelor auction? But from the look of things, whatever was going on between them certainly wasn’t sunshine and roses.

      Tessa caught up with Alexis as she grabbed the door handle.

      “Alexis.” Tessa lowered her voice as she studied her friend’s face. “Is everything okay? You look like you’ve been—”

      “I’m fine.” Alexis swiped at the corner of one eye, her gaze cast downward. “I just... I’m fine.” She forced a smile, finally raising her eyes to meet Tessa’s. “You’re going to kill them tonight. Just wait until you come out of that jacket. We’re going to have to scrape everyone’s jaws off the floor.” She patted Tess’s shoulder. “I’d tell you good luck, but something tells me that you aren’t going to need it tonight.”

      With that, Alexis dipped out of the green room and was gone.

      When Tess turned around, Daniel was standing there, staring after the other woman. He quickly turned away, busying himself with grabbing a bottle of water from the table.

      There was definitely something going on with the two of them. And if there was, Tessa could understand why they wouldn’t want to make their relationship public. Daniel’s grandmother, Rose Clayton, and Alexis’s grandfather, Gus Slade, once an item, had been feuding for years.

      In recent months, they seemed to at least have found the civility to be decent toward one another. Most likely for the sake of everyone around them. Still, there was no love lost between those two families.

      “Looks like Royal has its very own Romeo and Juliet,” she muttered under her breath.

      Tess took her seat, her hands trembling slightly and butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She closed her eyes, imagining how Ryan would react to seeing her out there on that stage.