Page 225 of Branded
Since that wasn’t in question, cheese or beer or otherwise, I stood up, said, “Girl’s night is over,” and moved across the space, weaving between tables until I was behind Beth, shifting her hair to the side and inhaling deeply before pressing a kiss to the back of her neck.
“Did you just smell me?” she asked lightly.
A kiss to her cheek. “Yup.” My lips to her ear. “And, for the record, you smell good.”
She grinned. “I’ll accept that.”
I kept my lips on her ear. “Jules?”
“Decided to play matchmaker myself,” she whispered, turning her head so her lips brushed mine. “Mostly because Cas can never take his eyes off her.”
I’d missed that.
But as I glanced to the side, I saw Cas join us at the table…directly across from Jules and not being shy about watching her as she told a story about her son, his kindergarten teacher, and the confusion between diaphragm and digraph.
I chuckled, as did the rest of the table.
But Cas didn’t.
His gaze was glued to Jules.
And I also supposed that could be why the woman Cas had been dating might have been more than a little pissed about Cas just talking to Jules.
“I’m seeing that,” I whispered, nuzzling her throat.
“So”—she flashed me a grin—“I’m giving Smitty a run for his money with his matchmaking.”
I stroked a finger down her cheek. “You giving him a run for his money in anything isn’t even a question.”
“Aw,” Beth said, turned her head and pressing a kiss to my palm.
“Well,” Jules said then, picking up her empty soda glass and sliding out of her seat—and I didn’t miss that she seemed to be deliberately avoiding looking at Cas. “I should get back to work before Matt gets pissed at me for slacking off.”
“What does Matt do when he gets pissed?”
It was a quiet question.
But Cas’s voice had taken on a dangerous edge.
One that I had only heard in rare instances when an opposing player was being a total asshole on the ice.
Jules stilled, and her gaze finally went to Cas’s.
The air tightened.
I found myself holding my breath, and Beth seemed to be doing the same.
But then Jules’s responding laugh was soft. “He scowls at me. Matt is a good guy.” She glanced away and nodded to the rest of the table, smile seeming as though it was a bit frayed on the edges. “Okay, then.” A tap to the table. “I’ll just make my rounds and then come back to close you guys out.”
“Thanks, honey,” Beth said, squeezing Jules’s forearm. “No rush.”
A glance to Cas, but then back to Beth and me, her expression warming, that smile turning genuine. “Yeah, I’ll bet you don’t mind cozying up to your hot hockey player.”
Beth laughed, leaned back against me. “Nope. Don’t mind that at all.”
With a grin, Jules slipped away.
Smitty bent, sticking his head in between ours, forcing us apart, his features fixed in a narrow-eyed glare. “Trying to take my job, Bethie?”
