“I really like him,” Soledad explained. “He’s an artist from Moab making a fresh start here in Dark Canyon. He likes the slower pace.”
“Those pieces of his you showed me were promising,” Sassy noted, handing Nick her fork so he could finish off her greens. She pinched off a corner of the biscuit, checked the kitchen door to make sure Jessamine was out of sight and passed Riot the bite under the table. “He works with metal.”
“Huh.” Nick’s brow creased as he finished off the Brussels sprouts. “Interesting.”
Was it? Sassy studied him for subtext, but he reached for her iced tea.
A hand flew out of nowhere to swat his away.
“Ow!” Nick cried out.
Jessamine set a fresh glass in front of him. “Margot taught you better than to reach across the table. Drink your own.”
“Thank you?” he ventured as she filled it.
“Stop eating Sassy’s food and tell me what you want,” she charged.
He didn’t have to look at the menu board to know what she offered. Quickly, he rattled off, “Wild game chili with French fries and fry sauce on the side.”
“And the whelp?” she asked, pointing a finger at Riot, who cowered so far under the tablecloth only his snoot was visible. “What’ll he have? Can’t have those doleful eyes tempting my customers to pass good food on to him.”
“Turkey meatballs, no sauce?” Nick said, leaning out of reach in case she swatted him again.
“Hmph,” Jessamine said before turning her back.
“Christ and all the latter-day saints,” Nick muttered, watching warily as she stomped back to the kitchen. He rubbed Riot’s protruding nose in comfort. “Is she going to poison my food?”
“I’d still eat it,” Sassy opined, downing more mac and cheese.
“Where are you two going tonight?” Nick asked Soledad.
Was he interested in Sassy’s executive assistant? Envy fired along her neurons, making her drop gooey Monterey jack cheese into her lap. She picked up a napkin and swiped furiously at the stain on her favorite pair of bell bottoms. Soledad was as much her friend as Nick. Sassy wouldnotbe jealous. Carefully, she asked him, “Are you wanting to go dancing tonight, too?”
He turned his attention away from Soledad and combed his gaze across the sweetheart neckline of Sassy’s bubble-sleeved blouse. “Maybe.”
Her heart rolled belly up like a puppy looking for caresses. She swallowed.
He looked away.
Soledad looked from him back to Sassy then reached for her iced tea, eyes round. “Um… I think Fletcher wanted to try line dancing at the Bootleg.”
“Sounds fun.” Nick nudged Sassy’s shoulder with his own. “You like line dancing.”
Why are you being weird?She curbed the urge to hiss it at him. “When it’s called for.”
Soledad considered the two of them. “So…should we double?”
“Double?” Nick asked, confused.
“Double date,” Soledad clarified.
Nick’s lips parted. “Double date,” he parroted like he’d never heard the phrase before.
Sassy leaned toward him, lowering her voice to drop the words in his ear. “It’s like regular dating but with two couples instead of one.”
He snorted. “I know what double dating is.”
Sassy raised her hands. “Sorry. You looked clueless there for a second. Has it really been that long for you?”
