“Fantastic, thanks so much. Have a great rest of your day.”
“You too.”
Daphne disconnected the call and Cerise held her phone close to her chest. While there were a lot of hurdles to get over, she’d started the race. One thought kept going over and over in her mind ... the case worker’s comment about how being in a relationship would help her case.
She wouldn’t do what Daphne cautioned her against, getting into a fake relationship, but if she did, then Brodie would definitely be the man she would ask.
Trivia nightalways guaranteed a full house at Buck’s Roadhouse, the only bar in Hunt, and tonight was no different. As he walked in, Brodie noticed the groups of people getting ready to participate. When he came in the past, he watched but never joined in. Sometimes he sat with some of the guys from the VFD, but most normally he bugged out before it got too intense. There were some people who took it very seriously and others who were simply there to meet up with their friends.
And then there was Cerise. He hadn’t expected to see her but there she was, sitting at the table with a group of people he didn’t know.
Where was Finn? Surely Poppy hadn’t decided she wanted her nephew back again. Without thought he strode over to where she sat and brushed a hand down her silky, midnight-colored hair.
She jumped and turned around, eyes wide with surprise. “Brodie, give a girl a warning, will you?” She softened her words with a wink.
He stuffed his hand in his pocket when all he wanted to do was twist a lock of hair around his fingers and give her head a little tug so that he could lean down and kiss her. He blew out a breath. Yeah, not the place for those thoughts. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me. Just surprised me.”
While Cerise may have been okay with him touching her, a look around the table had him taking a few steps back. The people she was with were sending him daggers. If he were in their position and a person he didn’t know came up to a female companion and touched her without asking, he’d knock them flat on their back before they could say “howdy doody.”
“Well, I...” he shifted back on his heels. “I just wanted to say hi.” He took a step back to head to the bar.
“Hey,” her hand grabbed his. “Don’t go. It’s good to see you.” Her smile was open and friendly. Like it had been when she’d come to ranch, glitter highlighted her cheeks and the bottom of her eyelids. Even her lips glittered from the gloss she’d put on. Would it be flavored? He wouldn’t mind finding out.
Brodie immediately squashed those thoughts. But he couldn’t really forget them. During the last week, since the day he’d spent with Cerise and Finn, she hadn’t been far from his mind. He cursed the fact he didn’t have her number to call andcheck in with her. No way was he going to ask Mitch. The guy had already given him a hard time when he’d found out about Cerise’s visit.
“Would you like to join us?” she asked.
He chanced another look at the people seated at the table. There was not one welcoming smile. Cerise was completely oblivious to what was going on with her friends.
“No, but thank you. I just wanted to see if you were okay. Where’s Finn?”
Her smiled softened at the mention of her foster son. “He’s spending the night with a friend from school. Apparently, this sleepover was arranged before he came to live with me. No way was I going to tell him he couldn’t go.”
“I’m glad. I was worried, because ... you know.” He didn’t elaborate because her friends were not doing a very good job at eavesdropping discreetly and he had no idea if they knew the full situation surrounding Finn and Cerise.
Her hand squeezed his forearm and heat coursed through him. “Thank you for being worried. I appreciate it.” She gave his arm another squeeze before dropping her hand.
He clenched his fists to stop himself from reaching down and taking hold of it again. “Always. Anyway, I’ll let you get back to you friends.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”
“It’s fine. But I know there’s dancing after the game is over ... save me one?” Where the invitation came from, he had no idea, but now that he’d asked it, he was glad.
“Definitely.” She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
The urge to place his hand over the place where she’d kissed him was strong, but he tempered it, especially with the group watching them.
He nodded to the table, turned on his heel, and headed to the bar, his hand digging into his pocket and pulling out his dice again. He sat on the stool, rolling the plastic squares in his hand.
“What can I get you, Dice?”
He smiled at Buck, the owner and namesake for the bar he was in. “I’ll have whatever pale ale you’ve got on tap.”
“Coming right up.”
Brodie swiveled his stool to face the room, keeping his gaze firmly off Cerise and her friends. As he looked around, he spied a couple of ranch hands he recognized from the other dude ranches surrounding Hunt. In the corner, he saw Mitch and Nadia, their heads close together, while their entwined hands rested on the tabletop. They were oblivious to every other person in the room.
