“I knew them by name well enough to say ‘hi’ when we passed in the hall.” He was so downplaying his association. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of the app, or anything. He was damn proud of it and all he and his buddies had achieved. But he liked being Brodie Spelling, ranch hand.
“Man, I bet you wished you were friends with them to be able to get a piece of that pie. That app is addictive,” Tony continued. “Didn’t I hear something about them selling it and making a bucketload of money?”
“So, the rumors say,” he acknowledged.
“We still don’t know if it was the right answer,” commented Brad.
“It will be right, Brad. Remember you don’t know everything. And I still have video proof of you saying ‘Tom Brady’s the GOAT’ that I’m prepared to share around.” Cerise said all of this with an I’m-a-total-innocent look on her face.
Brodie laughed when Brad’s cheeks colored, but shared a little more to take the heat off the guy. “The guys are really down to earth, even with all the success they achieved at college. If you saw them walking down the street, you’d never guess they’d created a hugely successful app.”
Again, he was telling the truth. They hadn’t taken the popularity of their app for granted, knowing that the bubblecould burst any second when a new and better app came along. The fact it hadn’t was something he was forever grateful for.
“I bet you’re kicking yourself for not getting more friendly with them so you could have gotten in on the action,” Tony persisted.
“Ready for the answers from the last round? And who’s going to be in front? This round was tough and we will see some changes in the leaderboard.” John amped up the crowd. “Let’s get started.”
Brodie sat back, not worried at all that he answered the question incorrectly, and when John announced that Rutgers was indeed the college the app geniuses went to, he received high fives from everyone around the table.
Not long after the final answer of the tenth, and final, round was given, the table had celebrated their one-point victory, the crowd in the bar quickly dispersed. Brodie didn’t want the night to end because he’d have to say goodbye to Cerise and he wasn’t quite ready for that to happen. The dance he’d asked her to share went out the window when it became clear that that particular night, there would be no music after the event.
“What time do you have to get Finn tomorrow?” he asked as they headed out the door. Nadia and Mitch had already left, but before they went, Mitch had given him a chin lift and waggled his eyebrows in Cerise’s direction. Brodie had shaken his head at his friend’s antics, a gesture seemingly out of character for the normally taciturn surgeon.
“I’m not getting him until the afternoon. I have the morning to myself. Although I need to go to the hospital to talk about being put on day shifts for the next few months. Not sure how that will pan out. I may have to do the odd night shift, but hopefully, they’ll be accommodating. They have been in the past when I’ve had Finn. But if I’m going to adopt him, I’ll have to look for a more standard-hours job. There’s lots to consider. Iwant to do everything I can to make my house Finn’s home. I’ll do anything to make him happy. He deserves that. He doesn’t deserve the pain he’s going through.”
Was Cerise nervous? She didn’t tend to vomit words out without taking a breath, like she’d just done. “You’re going ahead with the plan to adopt Finn?”
They’d reached his truck and he was reluctant to finish the conversation. “Yep. I spoke to Daphne and she said while it won’t be easy, she’d support me with my application. She gave me a name of a good lawyer too.”
“That could get expensive. Are you going to be able to afford it?” Wow. How crass did he sound, asking if she had the money to fund the adoption?
“I haven’t met with him yet, but I’m hoping that we can come up with some payment-plan scenario. I’ve paid off my house, so I could use what my mortgage payment was toward paying the fees. It’ll be worth it if I can give Finn a stable home.”
The offer to pay for all her legal fees was on the tip of his tongue but he swallowed the words down. “That’s good. Okay, so this is my ride?” Actually what he needed to do was offer to walk her to her car. Why hadn’t he asked her when they walked out where she’d parked? The fact they’d headed in the same direction hadn’t registered with him.
“Oh good, mine’s right next door. By the way, this is a wicked-looking truck.”
“Thanks. I’m pretty happy with it.” Brodie grinned. He loved his Dodge RAM. It was big, black and had gleaming chrome bumpers. The windows were tinted, which he was told was needed to keep his car semi-cool during a Texas summer. The wheels were twenty inches and gave the truck a sporty look. It was over the top but not really out of place in Texas. He’d bought it not long after he started working at the first Dude Ranch he’d worked at and found his two-door BMW wasn’t suited for backcountry roads. Now that he’d driven a RAM truck, he didn’t think he’d ever go back to a sports car.
Cerise canted her head. “Pretty fancy truck for a ranch hand.”
When he’d rolled up in his truck, he’d received a few raised eyebrows, but most of the comments were aimed at the fact that it wasn’t a true truck until it had a few dents in it and was covered with an inch of dust. No one had said a word about the fact that he’d rocked up in a sixty-thousand-dollar truck. “Bought it when they were having one of their regular holiday sales. Got a good finance deal. The guys keep giving me a hard time about keeping it clean, but I don’t like a dirty truck.”
“Is that right? Well,” she paused, fiddling with her keys. “I’m glad you came tonight. Did you have fun?”
Brodie stepped a little closer and brushed the back of his knuckles along her soft cheek, careful not to mess up her glitter. “Yeah, I did.”
“Even though they gave you hard time about knowing those tech millionaires but not being in the inner sanctum with them?”
“Yeah, even then. I got to spend time with you. That’s what I enjoyed the most.”
Cerise ducked her head. The urge to taste her was overwhelming him. The scent of her perfume had driven him crazy all night. Along with the way her cheeks sparkled when the light hit them. And she’d reapplied her gloss before leaving so they shone temptingly in the sparsely lit parking lot.
“I liked being with you too.”
He slipped an arm around her waist, waiting a few seconds to see if she would pull away. When she didn’t, he raised his other hand and smoothed it over her head. “Can I kiss you, Sparkles?”
“If you don’t, I think I might have to hurt you.”
