“You got it.” Wade grabbed a pint glass. “Brooks? What can I get you to drink?”
“Water’s fine.”
After Wade got our drinks, we took them to a corner booth.
Brooks stretched his legs out and he was tall enough that I felt his foot against mine. I reached for my pint and took a sip of beer and had no desire to fill the silence with idle chitchat.
Neither did Brooks, apparently, because he remained quiet too. But he decided to study me with an intensity that had me warming all over.
My belly felt like marshmallow fluff.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked, my cheeks hot, my eyes bold.
“I think you know,” he said, his voice low.
He shifted his leg, so it pressed against my knee. And then his hand went underneath the table to grasp my leg.
I jumped.
The door to the bar opened and a dimpled woman Muddy’s age entered. She looked around the room for a second and when her eyes landed on me, she grinned and immediately started toward the table.
“You don’t call?” she said in way of greeting.
“It was a last-minute decision to come,” I said, sliding out of the booth and enveloping her in a hug. “How are you, Lucy?”
“Can’t complain.” She pulled back and grasped my arms to peer at me. “You doing okay?”
I frowned but nodded. “How did you know I was?—”
“Muddy.”
“Ah, of course.”
Lucy let me go and then her attention turned to Brooks. “Hello.”
“Ma’am,” he replied as he made a move to get up.
She waved him down. “None of thatma’amstuff, Brooks. You guys having a bite to eat?”
“We just ordered the ribs and meat combo,” I explained.
“Ah, so it won’t be out for a few minutes,” Lucy said.
“Yep. You want to join us for a drink?”
She shook her head. “I want to show you something. Brooks, you mind if I steal her for a second?”
“Go for it,” he said.
Lucy turned and headed to the door, waving to Wade as she went.
“Well, come on,” she called to me.
I looked at Brooks and raised my brows.
“Don’t look at me, I have no idea what’s going on,” he said.
I took a drink of my beer before setting it down on the table and then scrambling after Lucy.
