Page 15 of Any Cowboy of Mine
Too bad he didn’t feel festive in the least. He tried not to think about how he and Julia would have celebrated the holiday if they’d still been together. It would have been nine years dating as adults, he calculated. Almost a decade later and he was back to where he’d started. Well, with a few extra zeros next to his name at the bank. That little detail helped him feel at least a little better about the situation.
“Well, look who decided to show. I was beginning to think you were going to chicken out.”
“Little sister,” Brad said, reaching out to embrace his younger sister, Paige. “When have I ever chickened out of anything? You look fantastic, by the way.”
She did an obligatory spin, and he laughed.
“Thanks. And only ever since you were little, and shit didn’t go your way,” Paige teased him. “You clean up nice, too, though. Have you seen Mom?”
“Not yet. Why?”
Paige’s lips curved into a crooked smile that meant she was in one of her wilder moods.
“She asked about you, and she doesn’t look happy.”
“Shit. Did she say why?”
“Something to do with a rumor of you bringing a date. I told her I wouldn’t speculate.”
“You’re a gem. And this,” Brad said, pointing to Steve, “is my date.”
“Wow, I know Julia flipped your world upside down, but I didn’t think you’d take it this far,” she said, winking. “Good to see you, Steve.”
“You, too, Paige. Save me a dance tonight, will you?”
“You mean you’ve moved on from Aurelie? Just when I thought her concrete ‘no-way-in-hell-Steve’ was starting to crack. She’s gonna be heartbroken.” Paige teased him about Aurelie, her best friend and Steve’s longtime crush. Steve was relentless in his pursuit of her when Aurelie had first moved to town. Aurelie wasn’t dumb, though. She knew trouble when she saw it, and Steve was most definitely trouble.
“Nah, it’s always been you, doll. I want to make Owen jealous for stealing the most beautiful girl in Banberry from me. Save that dance?” Paige’s cheeks flushed with heat, turning a deep crimson. She’d always had an innocent crush on Steve, and he pandered to it, which made Brad crazy. Luckily, Owen was a good guy and knew his wife well enough to understand he had as much of a chance at roping a bull in the rodeo nationals as he did taming all his wife’s crushes on men and travel destinations alike. He’d known he was marrying a wild woman, but he also knew she’d always love only him. It gave Brad hope that there was someone for him out there.
“Will do. Now hide my brother for the next hour. My mom’s on a rampage, but I don’t think she’ll show here.”
“You got it,” Steve said, leaning in to kiss Paige once on each cheek. She turned away with a silly grin on her face. Brad slugged Steve on the shoulder.
“What?” Steve asked.
“You know. Now, be a good date and get me to the bar.”
“Yes, sir,” Steve said, winking at Brad. “Your sister’s still hot though, dude. I can’t help myself.”
“Go. Now.”
Steve took the reins, sliding in next to two extremely attractive women.Of course.In the three seconds it took Brad to squeeze in next to Steve, his friend was already shaking the girls’ hands, introducing himself and Brad. At least they looked to be around the guys’ ages.
Brad waved at the women without really looking at them. From the corner of his eye he caught small groups of people pausing their conversations and pointing, trying and failing to be discreet. Whether the talk was his career success or personal failure—or both—he wasn’t sure.
He ordered a beer when the bartender came around. Steve could handle talking to the two women while Brad nursed his feelings and a drink. The idea of a wingman now seemed as ludicrous as coming to the wedding in the first place.
“Brad,” someone said, drawing him out of his self-imposed exile. It was one of the women, who looked familiar. Someone he’d known when he was younger, but… how? “It’s good to see you again.”
Her cheeks were rosy, her smile bright and full. That was nothing compared to what he could see of her figure. The bar was crowded, making it hard to sneak a peek without being obvious, but man, she had curves in all the right places, he could see that much. She smiled at him in a way that made him nervous, but not the same type of nervous he had been coming into this wedding. A thrill of excitement and passion surged through his veins, and damn if he couldn’t recall the last time that’d happened to him.
She had long brown hair with loose curls that, for some inexplicable reason, he had the sudden uncontrollable desire to run his fingers through. He tried to reply to her, but the words caught in his throat. He coughed and tried again. Words were never this hard for him—they were usually his strong suit.
“Hi.”Hi?That was the best he could do?Jesus.
Steve checked him with his hip, apparently listening in enough to catch what an ass Brad was making of himself. He was acting like a fool, but he couldn’t help it.
“Um, I’m not sure if you remember me, but I was one of Julia’s roommates in college. Just for a semester, though. I met you at one of her parties Freshman year.”
