Page 84 of More Than a Good Friend

“When I’m being chased by a bull. Or when a mama cow gets separated from her calf and blames me. When I saw those boys crash into you and knowing I wouldn’t get to you in time to break your fall. But I don’t need a heart monitor to know how I feel about you, Goldie. Iloveyou.” His lips brush mine, and I want to freeze this moment in time.

“What’s reason three?”

“Just an excuse to kiss you some more.”

For the next several minutes, we take advantage of that excuse.

An ad comes on the radio, and he sweeps me into his arms for the second time in my life.

“Let’s have some lemon bars. In a bit, we’ll go to the dance—because it’s hot out here and that place is air-conditioned—then come back out here when it’s dark and watch fireworks light up the sky.”

“It all sounds perfect.” I peel the foil off the plate and hold up a lemon bar for him to bite. “And, Dag, I love you too. I never got over it.”

“I figured that out when I saw how you reacted to my backing you against that gate.” He takes a bite of the lemon bar. “These are amazing. No wonder Mad Dog loves them so much.”

I laugh because I’ve heard the stories about the lemon-bar mess that led to Mad Dog and Ava getting together. “That’s not the only reason.”

CHAPTER30

DAG

Parked outside the venue, I open Goldie’s door and help her out of the truck. She’s traded her sandals for boots, and we have hours of dancing ahead of us.

Her feet touch the ground, and she inches up on her toes and gives me a peck. “I don’t know how I’m going to get anything done because right now, I just want to spend all day kissing you.”

“We have a lot of time to make up for. All those years I was living with my head in the sand.”

She slides her hand down my arm and laces her fingers with mine. “When you gave me the earrings, I wanted to hope, but then you wouldn’t talk about it.”

“Because I couldn’t just say ‘Oh yeah. No biggie. I had an earring made.’ I would have ended up telling you that your happiness is more important to me than almost everything else on the planet. The plan was to give it to you as a grand gesture and tell you how I want you more than anything in the world, but I couldn’t wait to see the surprise on your face. Seeing you happy was more important than having my moment.” I squeeze her hand. “But I’m glad you like them. You make them look goooood.”

When I wink, she glances away, and although I can’t see it in the dark, I know her cheeks are flushed.

Just inside the door, I pull her in for one more quick kiss. Each one feels new, but at the same time, it feels like we’ve been together forever.

Dallas clears his throat. “This is unexpected.”

Looking up at me, Goldie grins, and we respond in unison. “Like kangaroos in the Hill Country.”

I tuck an arm around her. “You don’t know they’re there, and then boom, one jumps out right in front of you.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.” Dallas shakes his head. “You okay, Goldie? I heard you took a tumble in town.”

“I’m fine now.”

“Great. Y’all enjoy yourselves. A bunch of us are sitting over there. You should join us. I’m just grabbing a few drinks.” Chuckling, he pats my shoulder. “Glad Mason’s advice worked.”

“You and me both. If you see him, tell him.”

As Goldie and I make our way across the room, Luke walks up. “You okay? I saw Dag take off running, and it took me a minute to figure out what was happening.”

She tugs on her ear, a tell that she’s nervous. “I’m okay. Very embarrassed but physically fine.”

He glances at me, then focuses back on her. “If you’re worried that I’m upset, don’t be. It’s clear from your reaction today that you had no idea he was hung up on you.”

Blinking, she looks from me to him. “What? You knew?”

Pointing at me, he leans close to her. “Your friend should never play poker. I just thought he liked you but you weren’t interested. That’s the part I was wrong about.”

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