The joke was on Dani, because I was already on Tessa’s bad side, and I hadn’t done either of those things. “I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.” She reached for her beer and took another sip. Maybe we were at the end of this conversation, but no, she took a deep breath again. “Also, if you decide to be Mr. overprotective, toxic masculinity, cowboy dude, can you please make sure Colin never bothers her again?”
I stared at her for a long moment.
Then, despite myself, I felt my mouth twitch.
She noticed.
“Oh lord,” she gasped. “The cowboy actually smiles. What is happening?”
I shook my head. “You’re something else.”
She grinned triumphantly. “I know. Now I think you should buy me lunch, Cowboy Daddy.”
I groaned. “Please don’t call me that.”
“Not a chance, it’s your name now.” Then she stood, turned on her heel, and headed toward the patio doors like she hadn’t just verbally dismantled me in my own damn establishment.
And the worst part?
I liked her. She was a fierce friend and wasn’t afraid to make sure everyone knew it. Dani was a person everyoneneeded in their corner. But I was never saying that out loud. I stood there for a solid thirty seconds after Dani left, staring at the fire like I’d just been hit by a pink-haired tornado with emotional brass knuckles.
“Cowboy Daddy, don’t forget my lunch,” she called out, and her voice carried easily from the patio into the main area.
“Jesus Christ,” I huffed. Of all the things I’d been called in my life, boss, rancher, stubborn bastard, pain in the ass, this was a new one.
I muttered the words once under my breath, just to confirm they sounded as stupid as I thought. I punched in a burger and fries for the woman. Given my luck today, she’d be a vegetarian and offended I hadn’t asked what she wanted.
“You alright, boss?”
I looked up. One of my bartenders stood there, eyebrows raised, pretending very hard she hadn’t heard everything.
“Yep”
She hesitated. “You’re kinda smiling.”
“I am not.”
“Okay,” she shrugged and laughed quietly.
I turned toward the back hall, pushing through the swinging door and straight into Holt, who’d clearly been waiting and clearly had absolutely no business listening as hard as he had been.
He didn’t say anything at first. He just stood there. I tried to walk past him, but he filled the doorway and smirked.
“Don’t.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said as he let me pass and followed me.
We took three steps. Three. Then he lost it.
“Cowboy Daddy,” he wheezed, doubling over, laughing so hard he had to grab the wall. “She said it with her whole chest.”
“She did not,” I growled at him.
“Oh, she did. I’ve never seen a woman assign a grown man a porn name before lunch.”
“I’ll fire you,” I muttered.
