“My feet are a little tired!” she yelled over the music, jerking her thumb in the direction of Cat and Ben. “I’m going to take a break and head back to Cat.”
He looked disappointed but released her without protest. “I’m gonna grab a beer. Want one?”
“I’m okay, thanks.”
She sidestepped the dancers and made her way to where Cat and Ben were still seated. Cat’s grin made her nervous as she approached. The second she reached her, Cat grabbed her arm and wiggled her eyebrows at Kelsi.
“When are you going to tell me more about how it’s going with the hot cop?”
Kelsi winced. “Like I told you earlier, I asked to take it slow, and so we’re seeing how it goes. Nothing is really happening there yet. We had one date that went well, and he’s been clear that he wants a second. We’re just friends.”
Cat giggled at her. “Sure, whatever you want to believe. That man, though.” Kelsi knew before she even followed Cat’s finger that she was talking about Dylan. “Now, I haven’t heard anything about you and him, other than what the town gossips told me after church on Sunday. Whichwassome piping hot tea, by the way, but I want to hear it from you. So spill.”
Dylan was still watching her as he smiled at something the bartender said to him. A bottle was held loosely in his hand, both elbows resting on the wooden bar behind him. His dark jeans looked painted on to his thighs, and he wore a dark-gray T-shirt. His muscles flexed underneath it when he raised his beer to hislips and took a drink. As he lowered the bottle once more, he slowly licked his lips, presumably catching a drop of beer. All the while, his eyes were heavy on Kelsi.
“I, um, we ...” Kelsi broke off, unable to form a sentence under the weight of his gaze. She turned away from him, facing Cat as she took a deep breath before explaining the mess that was her and Dylan. “We were friends forever. I can’t remember a time in my life that Dylan wasn’t a part of. Things got complicated as we got older. I realized I loved him while we were in law school together. He didn’t feel the same way.” She smiled sadly, shrugging her shoulders as though loving him wasn’t the single most amazing and devastating feeling in her life.
Cat grabbed Kelsi’s right hand, stilling her fingers, which she hadn’t even noticed were drumming against the table. Her friend trained her gaze on the man in question, studying him seriously before turning to Kelsi.
“How do you know he didn’t feel the same way? Did he tell you he didn’t?”
“No, he didn’t have to tell me. He showed me he didn’t. I kissed him the night before graduation, and he said he’d meet me the next day, but ...” Kelsi trailed off and forced a smile. “It doesn’t matter anymore. That was years ago, and we’re coworkers now.”
Kelsi couldn’t help but feel as though her friend saw right through her charade. She continued to scrutinize Kelsi with an unreadable expression on her face.
“I don’t think it’s that far in the past,” Cat said, pensive, before she moved to lighter topics with a conspiratorial grin. “Now, my favorite rumor about you came from the librarian, who said she heard from the pastor’s wife that you and Dylan secretly had a baby while you were in law school, but you putit up for adoption because you couldn’t agree on a name, and Dylan’s suggestion was so terrible that you quit talking entirely over it.”
Kelsi couldn’t help it—she burst out laughing. “Oh, is that so? And did she hear what name it was that Dylan had in mind?”
“Yes.” Cat’s eyes sparkled as she leaned in closer to Kelsi. “Herbert,” she whispered.
Kelsi broke into giggles over it. “You know, he did really likeHerbie Fully Loadedwhen we were kids.”
“No!” Cat gasped dramatically and they both collapsed into each other, giggling.
Ben leaned over and gave Cat a tender kiss on her forehead before announcing he would be right back. Kelsi, even though she had an amazing evening out with a new friend, still felt the bitter weeds of jealousy take root in her gut at their easy intimacy. She’d never had that with Tom, and she wondered about it. They hadn’t been the couple that was passionate and engaged in PDA. In fact, she couldn’t recall any instance where she and Tom had kissed while out in public. Had that been a warning sign for their relationship that she’d ignored? And did she want to be part of a couple that didn’t hold back in public? She didn’t know, but there was something about the way Cat and Ben looked at each other, their familiarity, that made her think she did.
She glanced over her shoulder to Dylan as he straightened and took a step in her direction.
CHAPTER 22
Dylan
12 Days to Trial
He hadn’t reallyintended to go to Crow’s Nest that night, instead content to let her have a fun night out with her friend. But he’d started thinking about her drinking and trying to fight off the horny farmhands who favored the bar. Cat, pregnant and petite, wouldn’t be enough to help if she needed someone to physically step in, right?
Of course, that’s the only reason he was there. To protect her. It wasn’t that the thought of the farmers hitting on her made his skin itch and his stomach tie itself in knots.And it definitely wasn’t the idea of Sheridan meeting her there.
Dylan parked his truck in the open field next to the parking lot that a few other people had already begun to use as overflow parking. He walked into the familiar bar, listening to the guitar and fiddle riffs rolling through the rafters overhead.
He spotted her immediately, his eyes automatically finding her through the crowd on the dance floor. She was glowing, smile broad as she and Cat danced across the room, and he watched as she turned, red hair fanned out around her like flames.
He turned toward the bar, desperate for a chilled beer to soften the edge he’d been riding since Cat had given Kelsi those flowers.Hell, he’d been on edge ever since his mom told him Kelsi was back. He leaned against the wooden counter while watching her and Cat dance for a few songs. Just when he thought he would go ask her to dance, Sheridan cut in and spun Kelsi in his arms.
Dylan clenched the bottle tightly in his fist. He wasn’t really sure what was going on between them, but he knew that Sheridan would be an idiot if he didn’t see how amazing the woman he held was.
He forced himself to watch as she laughed with him and tried to teach him the beginner’s line dances. Dylan and Kelsi had mastered those before they were eight years old. He felt a perverse pleasure and hid a smirk behind the neck of his beer as the man stumbled over his own feet multiple times. Until he wound up in Kelsi’s arms again.
