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Bobbi chuckled. “See? Missed opportunity, Anna. You could’ve had two for the price of one.”
Anna’s cheeks flared red. “Yeah, right!”
I forced a chuckle. “We’re close, but not that close.”
Wes didn’t say anything. Bobbi raised her eyebrows at him.
“What?” he said lightly. “I was just trying to picture it.”
Anna whacked him with her purse.
“Let’s take the pictures, like Bobbi suggested,” I said quickly.
I pulled Anna into my side, but before I could get a single snap off, Wes crowded in on my other side, with Bobbi beside him. He slipped his hand behind us, squeezing my ass, and I fought to maintain a complacent smile as I raised my phone higher, to get all of us in the frame. I snapped the picture, then examined the shot.
Wes’s smile was devilish, and mine was a little incredulous. Anna looked uncomfortable and Bobbi amused. She was certainly enjoying her role as Wes’s date, I thought uncharitably, as I glared at her hand resting on his chest in the photo.
“All right, how about we get you all seated?” the hostess said.
“Good idea,” Anna said quickly, obviously wanting to move on with the evening.
We were directed to a four-seat table in the center of the room, making me feel strangely on display for the whole town. I recognized several of the couples seated around the room. Most of them were older: Lula Miller and Tom Moore were a well-known couple in town. Moore had run the hardware store until finally ending the feud with his son to retire and pass the business on. His grandson Evan was dating the assistant football coach at Granville High. Dirk and Paula Goodman were on the other side of the room. Paula was the woman who sold sex toys that I’d told Laurie about. I’d been curious enough to check out the website she shared with virtually everyone, and her best sellers were dildos branded with romantic tropes like The Boy Next Door and The Bad Boy.
Wes leaned over, spotting where my attention had landed. “Think she has a stepbrother model?”
“Doubtful.”
He grinned. “Too bad. Your birthday is coming up.”
I shoved him away with a laugh, only to spot Anna and Bobbi watching us a little too closely.
“Want to share with the class?” Bobbi asked.
I swallowed, uncomfortably aware of how close Wes had sat down next to me. His knee pressed against mine under the table.
“I was just commenting on Paula’s side business,” Wes said with a grin. “That would be one way to spice up a date night.”
“I think we’ve got plenty of spice without it,” I muttered.
I didn’t intend that to be a commentary on my sex life with Wes, but the searing look he sent me told me that he agreed.
The server stopped by the table, saving us from any further questions from Bobbi or Anna. We all placed our drink orders, and when Anna took the conversation in a safer direction, asking about the park project, I gladly talked shop for a while.
We ordered our meals and ate, mostly without incident, but I couldn’t help noticing that Bobbi had engaged Wes in a private conversation, bending her head close to whisper to him. He laughed softly, intimately, in a way usually reserved for me. I tried to focus on what Anna had to say, but my gaze was drawn to him, a scowl forming on my face.
“Once again, I’m competing with your brother,” Anna said.
I blinked back to attention. “Sorry. I’m just tired tonight.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I guess it’s good this date is just for show,” she said. “Because I’m remembering all the reasons it didn’t work out the last time.”
I winced. “This isn’t the same.”
Anna didn’t look convinced, and I suddenly wondered if she was right. I’d harbored feelings for Wes for a long time. Even when I’d dated, I’d dropped everything and rescheduled plans to make time for him. He had always been my top priority, and my girlfriends—most of them short-lived—had always come second.
I couldn’t imagine putting Wes second to someone else, though. Not because he was my stepbrother, but because he was so much more.
I guess, even when I was in denial, he always had been.
