“Speaking of that sweet little boy of yours, who’s babysitting?” Jess asked.
“Manny’s watching him tonight. You know, daddy bonding time.” A waitress set down some warm pretzel bites with cheese and some chips and dip. “Hey,” Gina said, “is that the world-famous MacNamara’s artichoke dip? Oh, I shouldn’t. This darn pregnancy weight.”
Jess passed over the dip and chips. “Gina, it’s girls’ night out. Indulge a little.”
“Did it ever occur to you,” Maggie said to Bella in her practical voice as they all dove into the appetizers, “that you always pick men you don’t have a chance of really falling for?”
“I do not!”
“Yeah, you do,” Sam said. “Ones who don’t have a prayer of sweeping you off your feet.”
“It’s true,” Gina said. “I’ve been trying to tell her that for years.”
Okay, that was it. Her sister was definitely never getting invited again. “Just because you’re a mom doesn’t mean you have to mother me,” Bella said a little testily.
“I’m not mothering you,” she said, dragging a chip through the dip and scooping up a hearty amount. “I’m just trying to help you.”
“It’s not exactly easy to find Prince Charming like you all did,” Bella said, gesturing to Jess, Sam, and Gina.
“You did, too, sweetie,” Gina said to Maggie, now patting her hand. “He just died.”
Oh dear. Bella shot an apologetic glance at Maggie, who gave Bella a little wink to indicate she wasn’t offended by Gina’s usual bluntness.
“All we’re saying is keep an open mind,” Jess said. “Maybe your past has made you too cautious. Afraid to surrender your heart. So maybe don’t think about such high stakes—just focus on having fun. And try to be open and adventurous, okay?”
“Yada yada, whatever,” Bella said. This was worse than going to the dentist. But maybe they were right. Maybe she was a little romantically constipated. She supposed she had managed to seal more than a few layers of plaster around her heart these past few years. Oh, okay, for more than a few years. After Roman, she’d done her best to try to open herself up again, but she’d felt like she was just going through the motions. Maybe it was time to put herself out there a little more.
Just then, a tall man in jeans and work boots opened the door to the bar. Oh no, showtime. She sat up straighter, wiping the margarita juice off her chin. Scanning from the ground up and trying to check out the newcomer without staring, Bella suddenly realized the tall, strapping man who’d just walked in was not Zeke the cowboy but none other than Roman himself.
Oh God. This town was getting more confining than Spanx in a size too small. Which she suddenly felt like hers were. She was nervous enough tonight. She could not live through her first blind date in three years with Roman armchair quarterbacking her from the bar the whole time.
“Hey, Bells,” her annoying sister said, draining her margarita glass and setting it down with a loud clink. “Looks like the love of your life just rolled in.”
Maggie elbowed her, and Sam immediately lowered her voice and said, “Wow, Bella. Who needs a cowboy when you’ve got him?”
“Hey! The cowboy’s cute,” Jess said. “I mean, at least I think he is from his picture. Wait and see.”
Bella cast her friends a dark look. “I would never be dumb enough to open up that can of worms.”
“It’s a really hot can of worms, if I might say so myself,” Maggie said. “And he’s staring at you, just FYI.”
Panic seemed to wrap itself around her rib cage, squeezing her lungs and making breathing difficult. Or maybe she really should have chosen the larger size of Spanx.
“My God, Bella, he is gorgeous. Have you talked to him yet?” Jess asked.
So much for Jess’s support. Now all her friends had turned against her. “Of course I’ve talked with him—he’s here to stay,” Bella said.
“Then what are you waiting for?” Gina asked.
“He’s been around, too, because he accidentally put a hole through our office wall,” Maggie said. “And he came back today and put another coating of patch on it.”
“That man can patch my walls any time,” Jess said.
“Okay, Jess, enough,” Bella said.
Between her well-meaning but ridiculous friends and Roman, who was now parked on a bar stool in front of the big-screen TV, the torture in her life never seemed to ease up. She couldn’t help but notice he chose a seat next to a gorgeous woman, tall and skinny and model beautiful. Just then he turned around and caught Bella looking at him, but she didn’t turn away. I mean, she was here first, right? She was going to proceed with her evening whether he was there or not. He nodded. She raised a brow and gave a quick nod back.
She could do this. Separate the past from her life now. Work on her future. Ignore him. Yeah, right. Just like you could ignore a blister on your foot that bled and stung with every step.
“I’m really excited for Lukas and Roman to be living in the same town after all these years,” Sam said. “It’ll be nice to have some family around, you know? Besides, Mrs. Panagakos is beside herself.”
All three of her friends and her sister were staring at him. Bella finally snapped her fingers in front of their noses and said, “Okay, ladies, stop drooling. He is not my date, and I’d like to learn something about my real date before he shows up, all right? Jess, what does he do?”
“I think Gertie said he’s an underwear model. Or he works rodeo. I forget.” Jess stood up, glancing at her phone. “C’mon, ladies, let’s get out of here before he shows. Bella doesn’t need a crowd watching her.”
“Yeah, looks like you’ve already got someone keeping an eye out,” Sam said with a smile.
“I feel so much safer knowing Roman’s here if this guy turns out to be a jerk,” Maggie said.
“I can handle myself, Maggie,” Bella said.
“I know you can,” she said. “Just that it’s good to be cautious.”
“Have fun!” Sam said, tugging Maggie away.
“Bye, honey,” Gina said, giving Bella a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m so excited. We’re going to see that new Sam Claflin flick. I actually get to stay out until eleven!”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, G.”
Gina squeezed her arm. Lowering her voice, she said, “Maybe it’s fate, you know, Roman being here. Your chance to clear the air and start over again.”
“About twelve years too late for that,” Bella said.
“That’s what Manny and I said about getting pregnant,” Gina said. “We thought it was too late for us and then . . . surprise! So you just never know.” Then she rushed out after Bella’s friends.
Just then Zeke—or at least, someone wearing a Stetson—walked into the bar. Unfortunately, Roman zoned in on him, too, eyeballing him with hawk eyes. The man was handsome, just like Jess had said. Long and lean, wearing a blue button-up shirt with cuffed sleeves that matched his Texas bluebell eyes. Roman scowled and turned back to the game.
Bella stewed for a moment. Any decent man would leave, but he was going to be a pill. Well, what else was new? Ever since they’d run into each other, he’d managed to irritate her every nerve, between the run-in with the dog and the lost contact and the lake incident and knocking a hole in her wall, so why should tonight be any different? Fine. It was a public place. Let him sit there and do whatever, just so long as he left her alone.
Zeke saw her, but just as she held up a hand to wave, his gaze slid quickly over her and lit on the sexy woman at the bar. The woman next to Roman with a plunging neckline and shiny, lustrous black hair. And big red lipstick lips. And boobs. Nice ones. Bella cast a glimpse down at her own bosom, which wasn’t bad, but yeah, no competition there.
Oh, she couldn’t believe this was happening. Zeke or whatever-his-name-was thought that the hot woman at the bar was his date! And he preferred her.
Well, Bella wasn’t going to give up after one glance. I mean, he’d barely looked at her. She
had enough confidence not to be defeated that easily. So she got up and walked over to the bar where he was standing. Clearly he hadn’t asked the woman’s name yet. Simple mistake, right? One she’d soon set straight.
“Zeke?” she said, flashing her best smile. “Hi. I’m Bella.”
He ripped his eyes off of Megan Foxx long enough for the truth to register. “Oh yeah, hi.” His gaze raked her up and down, making her feel like he was evaluating a prize heifer. Or whatever cowboys took measure of. “Jess’s friend, right? I’m Zeke. Zeke Powell.”
Okay, this was worse than she thought. Not that he wasn’t polite, but when he managed to tear his eyeballs off Megan’s cleavage and look at Bella, in her cute denim dress and boots, the look he gave her held undisguised disappointment or, even worse—disinterest. She knew she shouldn’t have worn those boots.
“I have a table for us,” she said. “Want to sit down?”
He went with Bella, but not without a wink in Hot Girl’s direction. That was strike two. Bella probably would have left at that point, but, well, Roman was still glaring at them, even as he sipped his beer. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of gloating that she was the loser candidate.
“So, what do you do?” she asked as Scott took their order for a pitcher of beer and some of his famous hot artichoke dip.
Zeke assessed her for a good long time, as if he’d finally made up his mind that she wasn’t half bad, after all. Then he smiled a wicked, dimpled smile. “What do you want me to do?”
Odd answer. Before she could ask him if he was between rodeo jobs or underwear jobs, he asked, “Who’s the guy with one eyebrow over there? He your brother?”
“One eyebrow?” That sounded terrifying. Until she followed the direction of his head tilt. Roman. He did not have a unibrow, but he was frowning so darkly he looked like he did.
“Yeah, he looks like he wants to come over here and take me out. And I don’t mean for a date.” He leaned over the table and took up both of her hands in his. “You are a pretty little thing,” he said in his sexy Texan drawl. “How about we get out of here and go somewhere else where we can really get acquainted?”
His proposition barely registered, because Roman flashed her a look. It was his I’m-going-to-come-over-there-and-beat-the-shit-out-of-this-guy look. She knew it well.
“But we haven’t even gotten our drinks yet,” Bella said, disengaging her hands. “Besides, I want to get to know you better.”
“In the biblical sense, right?”
“Um, no, in the regular sense. Like, what do you really do for a living?”
“Well, right now I’m between jobs.”
“Okaaay. What did you used to do?”
“I worked in an office doing HR.”
“Wait a minute. I thought you were a male underwear model. Or a cowboy.”
“Honey, I can rustle me up any fine filly under the sheets and ride her ’til the cows come home. Wanna try me out?”
A loud scrape rent the air. Had Roman actually heard that? He’d pulled back his stool from the bar and was now stalking over.
“She’s not trying you out,” Roman said, leaning over the cowboy and resting his hands on the table. “Not now, not later. Beat it, butthead.” He turned to Bella. “Dating this guy is a big mistake.”
Bella stood up to get in his face. “He’s my mistake to make, isn’t he?”
“I just don’t like to see you underappreciated.” He was close, close enough for her to notice a tic in his jaw. And the smell of his cologne, which was really nice. And how tall he was, and how broad his shoulders were. She remembered clinging on to those shoulders, smoothing her hands over the smooth hills and valleys of muscle . . . Oh what was she doing? She needed to shut the gate on Memory Lane once and for all. And being this close was not helping.
“It’s not your business to . . . to appreciate me.” She poked him in the chest, which was very hard from all that muscle. “Or feel sorry for me. Or whatever it is you think you’re doing.”
“I’m not feeling sorry for you. I’m trying to save you from a jerk.”
“I don’t need you to save me, Roman, that’s the thing.”
“Whoa,” the fake cowboy said. “Do you two have . . . a thing going on?”
Roman ignored him. “I wouldn’t have come over here if you would’ve told this guy off.”
She’d been ready to, trust her. But something about Roman’s high-and-mighty attitude made her ornery. “Maybe I’m not looking to reject anyone.” She crossed her arms. “Maybe I’m just looking to have a good time.”
His big brows dove deep over that one.
She tipped her head in the direction of the bar. “Looks like that was what you were out for tonight. Sitting next to Megan Foxx and all.”
“I was minding my own business. She sat down next to me.”
“Right. Right.” She looked over to her right and was surprised to find the cowboy’s chair empty.
“You scared my date away,” she said.
He snorted. “Didn’t take much.”
Bella turned to see Zeke leaving the bar, his hand on Megan Foxx’s back. “My date left with your date,” she said, gathering up her stuff. “Unbelievable.”
“She wasn’t my date. She was just some girl—”
“Whatever. I don’t want to know about your exploits.”
“Don’t ‘whatever’ me,” he said, pointing a long index finger between her eyes. But it wasn’t threatening. It was hot. Oh my God, she was getting turned on by his . . . his caveman behavior. All that passion. Directed toward her. Even though it was anger, it was . . . breathtaking. She snapped her gaze away from his nice, full lips, realizing with horror that she wanted to kiss him. Or whatever him. Bad. She needed some serious help.
She narrowed her eyes, unwilling to allow him the upper hand. “Excuse me?”
“I just came in here to watch the game.”
“Well, I came for a date, and now it’s ruined, thanks to you. Just because you’re back in town doesn’t mean you’ve got any business interfering with my life. You have—you have boundary issues.”
He folded his big arms. Was he trying to look menacing? Because it was only making him look even sexier. “Yeah, seems like Mirror Lake’s not big enough for us both.”
“Stop making fun of me.”
He rolled his eyes. “That guy was clearly eyeballing anyone in the bar who’d go home with him tonight. You can do a lot better.”
“Oh? Just like you were hoping to do with Ms. Oops-I-Forgot-to-Wear-a-Bra- Tonight? It’s not your business if my date’s an idiot or not. Or if I decide I like idiots or want to go home with one. Just like it’s not my business that you wanted to nail that floozy.”
“I did not want to nail—”
“Good night, Roman.” She yanked her purse up over her shoulder. “You can watch the game in peace now. I—I hope the Yankees win.” Then she strode toward the door, red boots tapping, and left.
God, Bella was aggravating. Still, Roman couldn’t seem to peel his eyes off her as she left, hips swaying, dark curls bouncing, in that hot little denim dress she was wearing and those little red boots. How every time he came within a few feet of her he wanted to drag her soft curves up against him, trawl his fingers through all that silky black hair, inhale her sweet smell like a drug, and kiss the bejesus out of her.
Oh, he knew he was letting lust-brain get to him. He couldn’t seem to help it with her. Just as he couldn’t seem to help himself from diving headfirst into her business.
Dickhead cowboy.
Roman hadn’t even noticed Megan Foxx. He didn’t even have any idea if the Yankees were winning. He’d just noticed her.
Oh, he didn’t want to notice her. Or think about her. He should have just left, but he couldn’t seem do that, either. He couldn’t seem to develop anything close to a sense of detachment as far as she was concerned.
“Want a beer?” Scott MacNamara asked.
He could use one. To c
alm down. It would be nice to just be able to sit here and watch the game and try not to think about Bella. Scott suggested a locally made craft beer, and he said sure. Frankly, if Scott served him up some 10W-40 right now, he’d probably drink that, too.
Someone slipped into the seat beside him. Ethan. There went his calm-down period.
“I’ll have the same, Scott,” Ethan said.
“Hey, how’s it going?’ Roman asked.
“You got a sec?” Ethan asked.
“Sure.” He looked at the man he’d played basketball with senior year. He’d been the point guard and Ethan was the shooting guard, and they’d won districts. If things had been different, they might have been the best of friends. Their feelings for Bella had changed that. And judging by how protective he was of her the other night when they’d picked up the mutt, it seemed like not much had changed.
“Look,” Ethan said. “I’m going to lay it right on the line. I’ve been friends with Bella for a long time.”
Yeah, Roman thought. A lot more than friends. How the hell did that come about anyway? Just thinking about them together made him want to . . . well. That wouldn’t solve anything, would it? So he kept his mouth shut.
“She’s been through a lot, and I don’t want to see her hurt again. I have to ask you what your intentions are.”
“Are you asking me if I want to get involved with her again?”
Roman looked at the icy-cold beer Scott had just set down in front of him. Touched the frosty sides of the glass. He did not want a relationship with Bella, mainly because he wasn’t crazy. He had no desire to rekindle things with the woman who’d bulldozed his heart into oblivion.
“She had to deal with a lot after you left, and I wouldn’t want anything like that to happen again.”
Deal with a lot? What was he talking about? She’d broken up with him. She’d told him to leave. She hadn’t wanted him. Why did Ethan make it seem like it was the other way around?
Can't Stop Loving You Page 13
