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“Yes, well, your opinion is way off the mark.”
“Dio,” Nicolo said dramatically, “you mean there is no more sea breeze at Marbella?”
Damian started to laugh, saw Lucas’s face and changed the laugh to a cough.
“Very amusing, both of you.” Lucas waited until the bartender put the new bottle of ale in front of him and removed the old one. “It was simpler to hold the meeting here.” He paused. “And if you want to fry eggs on sidewalks, the place to do it is the southwest.”
“Florida, from what I hear. I once read an article and this guy said—”
“It’s so hot in Texas,” Lucas said, “you could definitely fry an egg on the sidewalk.”
His friends blinked. “Texas?” Nicolo said.
“If they had any sidewalks in Texas, that is.”
“Hey, Austin and Dallas and a lot of other places would be pretty upset to hear you say—”
“Texas,” Lucas said coldly, “is nothing but sagebrush and rattlesnakes baking under the sun.” He took a long swallow of ale, frowned and signaled to the bartender that he needed another bottle. “If I never see it again, it’ll be too soon.”
This time, the look Nicolo and Damian exchanged began with What’s he talking about? and ended with Maybe we better find out.
“You have something personal against Texas?” Nicolo asked with caution.
“Why the hell would I?”
“Well, I don’t know, it’s just that you sound as if—”
“I met a woman in Texas.”
Just like that, what had been gnawing at Lucas’s gut all day, hell, all day every day since Alyssa left him, was right there in the open.
Nicolo looked at Damian. Your turn, the look said. Damian sighed, then cleared his throat.
“And?”
“And,” Lucas said, nodding his thanks at the bartender when the guy delivered a new bottle of icy ale, “and, nothing. Just, I met a woman a couple of months ago. In Texas. That’s all.”
Damian folded his arms and glared at Nicolo, who gave an imperceptible nod.
“That’s all? You met her a couple of months ago and now you hope you never see Texas again?”
“Damn right.”
“Does she have a name?”
“Alyssa. Alyssa Montero McDonough. Look, forget I said anything. The lady’s history. She doesn’t mean a thing to me.”
“Oh. Well, in that case—”
“We met because my grandfather said he wanted me to buy a horse, except it turned out what he’d wanted me to buy was a bride.”
Damian opened his mouth. Nicolo kicked him in the ankle.
“Well, of course, I’m not an idiot. I wasn’t about to get trapped into marriage. I told that to Alyssa. I kept right on telling it to her, even after I took her to Spain.”
This time, it was Damian who kicked Nicolo.
“I ended up doing some stupid things. Incredibly stupid,” he said, his voice turning husky. He looked up, jaw set, clearly ready for trouble. “And then Felix said something he shouldn’t have and the lady in question showed her true colors and left.”
