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He grinned. “Good.”
“Besides that, it just seemed too strange to contact people I didn’t know.”
“I hear you. That’s why I stuck with the old-fashioned methods. You know, strike up a conversation, get to know someone, take her out—” He smiled wryly but she felt a tiny flicker of jealousy.
Wade didn’t seem to notice her lack of a reply. “I wouldn’t say every date was an unqualified disaster, but there was no chemistry. Maybe I’ve been on the shelf too long.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Thanks. Nice of you to say so.” He gave her a warm look that made her pulse flutter. “Anyway, I just stopped looking. I guess I realized that I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. Maybe because I felt obligated to respond to invitations or because I was trying to get on with the business of living.”
Cat could sympathize. “That’s not easy after you lose someone you love.”
His gaze became faraway and she regretted her comment, until he turned his focus back to her. “You know something? Right now if I didn’t have to leave immediately after I speak with Chase, I’d be asking you to have dinner with me.”
“And if you weren’t leaving, I’d say yes.” She drew in a breath, feeling like her old self again. A little headstrong. A lot flirty.
Wade looked at her intently. “Maybe you could give me a raincheck.”
“Of course.”
“It will be at least a week before I make it back, though,” he warned.
“Fine. We can figure out the details then.” She was feeling bolder by the minute.
“Not here at the ranch, though,” Wade specified. “Somewhere else.”
“The restaurant in Blue Moon is open again. That’s the closest place to headquarters.”
“That should work. Though I can’t say I know where Blue Moon is.”
“About an hour from here,” Cat said. “Nothing up to D.C. standards, but I hear the food is good.”
“That suits me.”
A pickup truck honked behind them, the loudness and closeness of it startling Cat. She turned as it pulled up alongside them.
Laredo lowered the window and let the engine idle, leaning out to talk to Cat. “Thought I’d better tell you, Chase just called Jessy, wanting to know where you were, Cat.”
“We’re on our way to the house now.”
“No need to call him back then.” Laredo shifted out of park.
“No.” She smiled and waved a good-bye. “Thanks, Laredo.”
Cat started forward again with Wade at her side. They reached the porch as the pickup truck accelerated onto the main road of the ranch. At the front door, Wade reached around her to open it, then followed her inside. A second later Cat heard the familiar clump of Chase’s cane.
He stopped, standing just outside his den. She couldn’t quite decide if he was annoyed with her or not. His expression was impassive.
“Did you just get here?” he asked Wade.
The other man nodded. “I arrived a little less than an hour ago.”
“I suppose you told him I was taking a nap,” he said to Cat.
“I certainly did. It was the truth. I had to make a quick trip to the commissary for some powdered sugar and—”
Wade interrupted her. “I invited myself along.”
