Page 30 of Loving a Cowgirl

His fingers brushed hers as the bag exchanged hands. It was probably the shortest amount of time he’d spent touching her, and yet it had the most profound effect. Sparks all but danced between them. She jumped and let out a little laugh. Had she felt them too?

“I think you might have some static electricity going on.”

Oh. That made more sense. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Don’t be.” She placed her hands behind her back and stared at him like she was expecting him to do something—say something.

Wade glanced over her shoulder to Tad, who still sat at the table. He, too, watched them expectantly. Had he missed something? Granted, he’d only been listening with half an ear. There was a good possibility that they had commented on something that he was supposed to be aware of.

No manner of racking his brain was going to be good enough to help him figure out what he was supposed to be doing in this moment. Who was he kidding? If he hadn’t been so distracted by what Tad wasdoing,then he’d know exactly what they were waiting for.

He lifted his brows and edged closer to Brielle. Making sure to keep his voice low, he took a big bite of humble pie. “I think I’m missing something.”

She stared at him with confusion, then let her focus shift to everything around them. “What did you lose?”

“No. What I mean is it seems you guys think I have something to say. It’s like both of you expect something.”

Her eyes darted back to his face, and she flushed. “Oh. I just figured…” She fidgeted, and the color in her cheeks deepened. There was no way Tad would be able to hear her whisper. “I didn’t tell him. And it’s your turn for a date.”

Understanding washed over him. Right. He was supposed to set up the next date. How could he be so thoughtless? Tad had his chance to shine, and now Wade was going to do the exact same thing—only better.

“Bri?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you do me the honor of spending the evening with me?”

“Tonight?”

He nodded. “Unless you have better things to do…”

She shook her head, and the smile he adored so much spilled across her features. “I’d love to.”

11

Brielle

Brielle hadn’t been this nervous since… she couldn’t remember when. It was a sign, right? She was nervous because she liked Wade a lot more than she had been willing to admit to herself and to anyone else, for that matter.

Only there was a bigger problem at play. She wasn’t just nervous about going out with Wade; she was worried for Tad.

Wade could handle himself. He was tough and sure of himself. When she’d gone on a date with Tad, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Wade would be okay. But then he’d shown up at her house.

Okay, so she was in over her head. Dating when she thought nothing would come of it had been fun. She didn’t worry about getting tied down—or getting hurt. The more time she spent with these two guys, the more she realized that the hurt was inevitable.

She sat curled up on the couch, nibbling on her thumbnail and staring off into the nothingness as she considered how to prevent that from happening and coming up with absolutely nothing. Eloise stood by a bookshelf, going through the titles they’d acquired over the years, but every so often, she’d glance in Brielle’s direction.

Eloise wanted to know what was going on. She was nosy like that. Out of all her sisters, she was the one who had a tendency to follow in her footsteps. She’d even dated the man Brielle had once thought would be hers, for Pete’s sake.

And now they wereengaged.

Her focus landed on her sister’s back as she pulled a book Brielle could have sworn she’d already taken from the shelf once already. Eloise didn’t even have enough time to read the back cover, let alone the title before she returned it to the shelf.

Brielle rolled her eyes, her hand dropping to her lap. “Just say it. Whatever you’re gonna say.”

Eloise didn’t turn right away. First, she peeked over her shoulder, then she tapped the bookshelf a few times.

Brielle huffed. “Out with it, Eloise. Something’s going on, and I’m clearly out of the loop.”

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