I choked when he sat on the stool Tenor had taken me on. Turning my head, I coughed into my shoulder. “Sorry. Excuse me.” My cheeks were hot, and I couldn’t look at him. “What can I get the newlyweds?”
“Ooh, a mojito. That was yummy.” She hugged Brock’s arm.
Brock didn’t return his wife’s affection. “I’ll have what that guy was having when I walked in.”
Blackberry bourbon. He wasn’t going to try neat in front of me again.
Cara leaned over the counter, her gaze tracking me as I mixed the drinks. “Why didn’t we cross paths after high school? We both stayed in Bozeman.”
Hadn’t we been over this the last time we were here? “Our lives went in different directions.” Mine had blissfully been away from hers until now.
“Is your mom still in that tiny apartment?”
The one she had paid for by herself while she raised a kid almost entirely alone? “No. She has a condo, but she’s selling and getting an RV since her job is mobile and she’s all about the outdoor life.” That had been the news during her last call. The hike had been wonderful. She wanted to do it forever.
Brock snorted.
Cara’s face screwed up. “Ew. Living in an RV is so?—”
“Exciting,” I finished brightly. “For a woman who worked three jobs while going to school and raising me, it’s an adventure.”
Mom might be flaunting her empty nest in front of her little birdie, but I’d defend her choice until the end of time, especially to Crock.
Cara stiffened. “Right. Of course.” Her smile turned sweet. “Does she need an agent? I still work out of Bozeman.”
Oh. Shit. “Um, she has a guy.”
“Who? I probably know him.”
“I’ll have to ask. I can’t remember his name.” Not a total lie. Mom probably had someone in mind. It wouldn’t be Cara.
“You and Tenor going to build a house?” Brock asked. He used his straw to stir his drink. If he got half of it down, I’dbe surprised. He reached into his back pocket and slapped a business card onto the countertop. “I have some availability.”
I didn’t pick it up. “Tenor has a house in the mountains.”
Brock left his card and shrugged. “Some couples have an issue consolidating places. He might have a history in his house that’s just a reminder for you.”
He had no history in his house. Except for me. Well, I was the present. One day, I might be the past. A sharp pain stabbed between my ribs. “Excuse me.”
I rushed to the stockroom. Waving my hand at my hot face, I paced where they couldn’t see me.
What was my problem? I’d made a commitment not to rush him.
But I was getting impatient. I wanted to be important to him. I wanted to be wanted by him. Physically, I was, but the more we were together intimately, the more I longed to expand on the undeniable emotional connection we had. I wanted more moments like that first time in front of Curly’s when he’d told me why being seen on a date bothered him. He’d confided in me and that had made me feel special. So terribly important to him. Yet not critical enough that Tenor declared he couldn’t live without me.
Or... I could just be scared of indecisive guys who came and went from my life without committing until they told me I was too predictable. Brock was getting in my head again. The ass. I couldn’t let anything he said get to me.
I sucked in a deep breath and scanned the shelves. What could be my excuse for darting away?
Glasses. I selected two and breezed back out. Cara had her head tipped toward Brock. She was drinking out of Brock’s straw.
She slid his glass in front of her. “You should come out with me tomorrow night.”
I blinked at her. “And do what?”
She giggled. “Girl things. We can come here. That is, unless you’re working.”
The idea of hanging with Cara in my safe space grated on me more than serving her. “I have plans. With Tenor.”
