I snort. “Aren’t you kind of old? Sounds like you should stop hanging around college bars, then.”
He laughs under his breath, eyes scanning the crowd before returning to me, unreadable and heavy with meaning.
“See, I made a mistake that night.”
“Oh?”
He nods. “Yeah. I stupidly asked about her friend instead of just going with my gut.”
The babies flutter inside me, like they can feel the electricity in the air.
“What did your gut say?” I ask, breath caught in my throat.
“That she was the prize. The one I should’ve gone for all along.”
My pulse stutters.
He gestures toward the chairs behind me. “Mind if I sit?”
I shake my head, and he slides in next to me. Close enough that our thighs touch. The heat of him, the nearness, undoes something in my chest.
“So, Olive,” he says, spreading out like he’s always belonged here. “You go to Sheridan?”
I laugh softly, playing along. “I did. A long time ago. Business major.”
“Nice.”
“You?”
“I run Stonewater Rodeo Stock.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I’ve heard of them. They make those ridiculous t-shirts, right?”
He smirks. “That was my business manager. She was brilliant.”
My heart twists. “Was?”
“Yeah.” His voice softens. “I stupidly let her slip through my fingers. Things haven’t been the same since.”
My pulse jumps. I glance at him, but he’s looking right at me, and I swear there’s no one else in the room.
“So,” he murmurs, “where are you from?”
“Wichita.”
“Well,” he says, that damn twinkle in his eyes, “welcome to Wyoming, honey.”
God. The way he says that word. Like it belongs to me.
My brain scrambles for something to say, so I stay true to the past.
“So, Liam. How old are you?”
“Thirty-eight. You?”
“Twenty-eight,” I say. “And pregnant with twins.”
His eyes drop to my belly. “I noticed. You’re glowing.”
