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“I’m sticking to iced tea tonight. For a while, anyway.”
The bartender handed her a tall glass of tea. “There you are, gorgeous.”
The muscles in Chad’s jaw tensed. Who the hell was he, anyway, calling her that?
“See you later, Chad.” She walked away, her hips swaying gently beneath her silky sheath.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked.
“You can keep your hands off her, first of all,” Chad said, between clenched teeth.
“Sorry. She your girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Your sister?”
“Hell, no.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“She’s…aw, hell, I don’t have to explain myself to you. Give me a…what the hell is that froufrou pink martini called again?”
“A cosmo?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. A cosmo. And a Fat Tire. Damn, make that two.”
He chugged the first one and took the remaining beer and the cosmo back to Amber.
And there was Catie again, chatting away with Amber.
Damn it all to fucking hell.
* * *
He was walking toward them, Marnie at his heels. It had taken every ounce of strength Catie possessed to act so nonchalantly at the bar. She was secretly thrilled when the hunky bartender called her gorgeous and hoped Chad had noticed. Then Amber had called her over, and it would have been rude to ignore her. She really was a nice girl, even though her platinum blond hooks were sunk in the cowboy Catie wanted more than her next breath of air.
“Thank you, Chad,” Amber said, when Chad handed her the cosmo. “Did you know Caitlyn’s entering the rodeo queen contest too?”
“Christ,” Chad said. “What is it with you two? That contest is stupid.”
“Then why’d you agree to judge it?” Catie asked.
“I got forced into it?”
“By whom?” Amber asked.
“By my brothers. By the mayor of Bakersville. By the whole damn universe. Sheesh.”
“Calm down, goodness,” Amber said. “According to Caitlyn, it’s quite an honor to judge the thing. And an honor to win, as well.”
“Catie, what the hell are you filling her full of?” Chad took a swig of his beer.
“Nothing, Chad. I’ve lived here almost my whole life, and you know what a huge thing our rodeo is. It’s the pride of Bakersville, and it’s every little girl’s dream to represent the town at the rodeo.”
“I’d bet it was never your dream,” he said. “Your dream was to ride like the wind atop your mare. Ladybird, right?”
“Well, I have to admit, I never considered it before. But I’ve been gone for a while, Chad. I think it would be an honor to represent my town as rodeo queen. I think it would mean a lot to Amber, too, being new here.”
