“Later,” he told her. “We’ll grab a pint of ice cream and stream your favorite movie. You can cry then. I won’t judge.”
She breathed a laugh into his lapel. “You never do.” Tugging away, she raised her fingertips to her lower eyelids to ensure they were dry and her makeup was still in place. “It’s stupid to cry over something so material.”
The Bronco wasn’t material. She’d gone places and done all the things she’d dreamed of doing. Her gas-guzzling chariot had gotten her there. “Whatever you decide to do, I’m here for it. You want to sell? I’ll find a buyer. You need a new car? We’ll haggle with a dealer. You decide to say screw it and drop what’s left of your savings on a new engine? I’ll support you.”
“You’ve got way more important things to worry about.”
“Not true,” he said, slinging his arm around her shoulders and guiding her toward the din of voices raised over crashing country music. “You know, once we walk in here, I’m going to have to fight for a place at your side.” He set her hat back on her head, angling it just so. “So do me one thing.”
She swung her dark gaze to his, tipping her chin to see him from under the brim. “What’s that?”
He couldn’t help it. Letting his touch brush across the ridge of her cheek, he followed the angle of her jaw down to meet her chin. His thumb circled the point. He dropped it when her eyes rounded and her steps slowed, forcing him to match his pace to hers. “Save me a dance?”
She blinked at him, lashes thick and heavy as she searched his expression. Then she smiled in a way that reminded him of daybreak in Dark Canyon Wilderness. Glancing down, she extended her pinkie. “Promise.”
Chapter 13
Asea of hats greeted them inside the Bootleg, along with an upbeat blast of a country western two-step. On the busy dance floor, boots slapped in time to the Electric Slide. Spectators clapped and offered appreciative whistles and catcalls. Under the glassy eyes of mounted game and chandeliers made of crisscrossed antlers, weekend revelers drank and mingled.
“There she is,” Sassy announced after spotting Soledad waving furiously through the crowd to get her and Nick’s attention. “She’s already grabbed us a table.”
“All right,” Nick said, angling his body toward Sassy. In the crush around them, his hands went to her waist, and she tried not to shiver at his touch or forced proximity. “The line at the bar’s nothing to laugh at, so I’ll grab us a couple of beers and meet you over there.”
“Good luck,” she said before they parted ways. She needed some space. His touch still scalded her cheek, and she caught herself lifting her hand to cup it. She focused instead on fighting her way through the shoulder-to-shoulder crush. A few friendly locals stopped her to exchange greetings. Someone unseen tapped her south of the belt. Wisely, whoever it was ran before she could dislocate his digits.
Evander veered into her path, his standard top knot undone so that his hair flowed down to the shoulders of his rhinestone-studded western-style shirt. “Want me to claw his eyes out for you?”
She beamed. “You caught me. I was holding out for a hero.”
“Oh, girl, please,” Evander said with a roll of his eyes. “Your hero’s at the bar.”
She didn’t look for Nick even if she wanted to.
“You still owe me a line dance,” Evander pointed out.
“Come find me later,” she invited, winking.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Evander replied.
By the time she reached Soledad, she was nearly out of breath. “Wow,” she called, greeting her friend with a hug. “My dance card’s already full.”
“Girl, you look like a million doubloons,” Soledad said, holding Sassy’s arms wide for inspection. “That dress is fantastic. Where’d you get it?”
“A friend of my mom’s made it,” Sassy said.
“Give us a twirl,” Soledad said, raising their clasped hands over Sassy’s head. “You know you want to.”
Sassy laughed, suspecting that her friend had arrived early and was already three beers deep. She indulged her, spinning so that the dress’s tassels billowed in a festive circle around her. Wolf whistles flew in her direction, along with an indecent offer she ignored, stepping up to the high-top table Soledad had snagged for their party. Empty bottles stood like scattered soldiers across the surface. “I saw that dress in the window at Wagon Wheel,” she said, pointing to Soledad’s pretty ruffled floor-length number. “I’m glad I didn’t get it. Looks much better on you.”
Soledad looked around indicatively. “I’m not the one everybody’s eyeballing tonight.”
Sassy waved a hand. “Half of them are too drunk for sense.” The room smelled of beer and bad decision-making. The floor was already sticky, and peanut shells crunched underneath her boots. It was also a touch too warm since the place was filled to capacity. As an eating and drinking establishment, the Bootleg was far more questionable than Jessamine’s down the road. Yet it had its charms. “Nick went to order drinks.”
“Fletcher, too,” Soledad pointed out. “I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
Sassy smirked. “Tell the truth.”
Soledad let out a breath. “Okay. I’m nervous. Just…promise to go gentle on him. He’s… Well, he’s different.”
