“I’m fine, I promise,” I say, reaching out to touch his arm. But I regret it the second I do. He’s warm, hard, his muscles defined even under the plaid long-sleeve he’s wearing. I pull my hand back almost as if burned. I swallow. “I’ve honestly just been busy with the book,” I say. Which is true. I have. This week has felt like fire—in a good way. The kind of fire that only comes from a project that’s practically flowing out of your brain rather than being extracted from it.
Graham’s expression lightens, and a smile tugs at the corners of his lips. “Yeah?”
I nod, feeling myself lighten a bit too. “Yeah. I sent anothersceneoff to my agent, and she signed off on it. Said it was great and to keep going.”
“Dee, that’s great!” Graham says, gripping my shoulders and shaking me playfully.
I try to shrug off the compliment but end up laughing. “Yeah, I’m relieved, honestly.”
“So the lessons worked,” Graham says, his voice a bit quieter, although no one important is in earshot anyway.
I can feel the beginnings of a blush, and I look away. “Seems like it,” I admit.
I can feel his gaze on me—heavy, hot. There’s a pause, and then, “Hey, so uh—”
“You made it!” Harrison slams into me from the side, crushing me into one of his bear hugs and lifting me off the ground. He’s obviously already had a few.
Graham takes an almost unnoticeable step back.
“Put me down, Harrison,” I say through a laugh, and he does.
“Get my baby sister a drink, will you, Graham?” Harrison says while wrapping an arm around my shoulder and steering me toward the back. “We’ve got a table back here,” he says. I see Graham beeline to the bar.
Harrison leads me to the table where a handful of his friends from work are gathered. Some of them I know, and some of them I don’t. But they’ve all got one, distinct vibe in common. Cowboys.
“I’m Cora,” a woman with short, blonde hair next to me says, leaning forward slightly to be heard over the music. “I’m sure we’ve met before, but I’m terrible with names.”
“Delilah,” I reply with a smile. “And yeah, you look familiar.” She’s the only woman in the bunch, and I’m assuming she’s with the tall, sandy-haired cowboy to her left.
“My husband and I work on the ranch,” she goes on. “What about you? You dating one of these idiots?” Her eyes sparkle with humor.
Just then, Graham appears at the table, some fruity-looking drink in hand, which he shoves in my direction.
Cora raises an eyebrow. “Oh, you two …?”
“No,” I say quickly, just as Graham lets out a harsh, “Nope.” I throw him a startled glance before turning back to Cora.
“I’m Harrison’s sister.”
Cora nods, understanding washing over her. “Ah, I see the resemblance.”
Harrison says something from the other side of Graham that gets everyone’s attention and launches into some ranch story I couldn’t care less about. I glance down at the drink in my hand. “What is this?” I ask Graham.
He shrugs a shoulder. “Asked the bartender for a girly drink.”
I roll my eyes. I take a sip, make a show of pondering the moment, and then shrug. “It’s pretty good,” I admit. “Still have no idea what’s in it.”
Graham grins down at me, looks like he wants to say something else, but then Harrison claps him on the shoulderfrom beside him. “Tell them about that fucking storm, dude,” he practically yells. “It wasinsane.”
As Graham is pulled into the conversation, I glance around the bar. I take a sip of my fruity drink and observe. Lots of drunk people. Lots of dancing. Lots of people having a good time in general. I’m still on a high from my latest email from my agent, so the typical nerves I’d be feeling in a crowded place like this are gone.
A flash of blonde hair has my eyes widening, and recognition hits me. I begin moving across the room, only to discover a few steps in that the woman by the door is not, in fact, Sarah. I stop, purse my lips. Damn. It really would be much more fun if she were here. Besides, I still have a lot to catch her up on.
Everything, in fact …
“Hey,” a voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I turn to see a man standing behind me.
“Oh, sorry—am I in your way?” I say, quickly sidestepping him.
