Page 23 of One Whopper of a Love Story

He nodded. “She’s pretty great, at least if you listen to what Garrett says.” He tugged an empty stool away from the table and motioned for Goldie to sit down.

“You know the Henrys?” Layla leaned against me and sipped her drink again.

Goldie laughed. “We both work out there. Hidalgo is a ranch hand, and I’m a housekeeper.”

Dag nudged her. “She cooks too.” He dropped onto another stool and used his longneck bottle to point at Layla. “I guess she’s the reason you need me to go out with Brian’s third wheel.”

Layla set her drink down and slid off her stool. “I like this song.”

“Excuse us.” I grabbed her hand and led her out to the dance floor. “Listen, Dag isn’t horrible, he just—”

She reached up and put a finger to my lips, then inched closer. “I feel awful for his girlfriend. I can’t believe he’s talking about dating other people when she’s right there.”

I spun her, giving me a second to refigure my thoughts. I was prepared to talk about Dag calling the woman a third wheel and how I wasn’t going to go out with her again. But Layla never ceased to surprise me.

I leaned down to talk to her. This was when the height difference was a bit of an issue. “Dag and Goldie are friends. They’ve known each other since high school.”

Her brow furrowed. “But it’s completely obvious that she likes him.”

“My cousin is a nice guy, despite his comments, but he can be obtuse.” I’d gotten out of an awkward conversation pretty easily.

She patted my chest. “I can see that. Now, tell me about this third wheel you can’t go out with again.”

I gazed down at her. “My friend Brian, the guy who towed your car, asked me to go out with his girlfriend’s cousin or friend. Something like that. We’d gone out once before when she was in town, but I told him I wasn’t available and connected him with Dag.”

“Oh.” She leaned her head on my chest, and we danced without talking through another three songs.

Even after that we danced. When the music was fast, I spun her and dipped her, loving the sound of her laughter. When the music slowed, I held her close. It wasn’t even a question that I’d call her again, but hands down, this was the best first date I’d ever had. It helped that we’d talked so much this week and weren’t strangers. Her off-the-charts adorableness—if that was a word—figured into it a bit.

“Whew. I need a break.” She pulled her hair off her neck.

I watched as it landed on her shoulders, cataloging the spots so that later, much later, I could drop kisses in every place her hair had touched.

She laced her fingers with mine, snapping me out of my daydream. “You are incredible on the dance floor. It’s like your hand on my back tells my feet where to go. I’ve never had this much fun dancing.”

“That makes two of us. You make a great dance partner.”

As we walked back toward our table, she squeezed my hand. “Going out with that woman... was that why you had a favor you could call in?” Layla clearly didn’t forget much.

“It was.”

She stopped before we reached the table and clasped my other hand. “Don’t say anything to Dag.”

“About?”

She rolled her eyes. “He needs to figure out his relationship with Goldie, and telling him would make it way too easy.”

“I won’t say a word.”

“Good, and I’m glad you didn’t go out with that other woman again.” She spun around and strolled back to the table.

I’d have to thank Dag later when I wasn’t telling him that his beautiful friend liked him.

Hanging out with Layla was helping me see things I’d never bothered to notice before. As I walked to the table, I watched how she chatted with Goldie, open and engaging, like she’d been the day we met. Not even an allergic reaction had dulled her spark.

She giggled at something Goldie said as I walked up to the table. The sound was magical, and my grin probably reflected my thoughts.

Dag nudged me as I picked up my water. “Does that hook in your cheek hurt?”

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