Noah shrugged. “I don’t know. They just seem to go together. You know, like tequila and lime.” He plastered on a shit-eating grin and snapped a clean bar towel on Reece’s stomach.
“Hey!” The move surprised—and annoyed—Reece more than stung him. He yanked the towel from Noah’s grasp.
“I think they’re cute together,” Joy, leaning on the bar top, chimed in. “And did you see how he kept his eyes glued to her all night?”
Reece could feel Joy’s stare settle on him as he picked up a glass and polished it with the newly acquired towel. His annoyance mushroomed. Was she trying to get a rise out of him, and if so, why?
Doesn’t matter why because it’s not going to work.
Charlie threw back the last trace of beer in his glass. “He kept his eyes glued to her because Neve looked really hot tonight. Did she do something different with her hair?”
Joy ran on. “Yes,andher makeupandher nails. She also had on a new ensemble.”
“From the Vogue Vault?” the all-hearing, all-knowing Dixie butted in from across the room.
“Yep. I helped her scour the racks, and she got some great stuff,” Joy called over her shoulder. “For a small-town consignment store, it’s amazing what they stock in there.”
Joy was a fashion maven, so she ought to know. Not that Reece gave two flying fucks about women’s clothing, though hehadnoticed the plush off-the-shoulder sweater Neve had worn. It was the same steely blue as her eyes, bringing out their sparkle, and it had highlighted her curves and her creamy white shoulders. Had she been wearing a bra? An image of Cantrell finding out for himself had Reece tightening the glass in a death grip.
What the fuck is wrong with me tonight?Had to be the unwelcome twists and turns his day had taken.
Dixie glanced down at her own getup that brought to mind a neon-blue bar sign. “That’s where I get all my clothes.” Reece would never understand women’s fashion, especially when it varied so wildly from Dixie’s outfit to the subtle but alluring one Neve had worn. Not that Reece ever took notice of what Neve wore,exceptfor tonight. Yeah, shehadlooked hot. And he meant that in the most brotherly of ways.
Charlie fingered Joy’s sleeve. “Is that where you picked up this number?”
Joy grinned. “Like it?”
He shamelessly eyeballed a slight gap in her neckline. “Oh yeah. I’ll show you how much later when I take it off.”
“For fuck’s sake!” Reece exploded. “Will you stop with the sexual innuendos already?”
His comment did little except encourage a round of laughter—at his expense. “Those aren’t innuendos, bro,” Charlie crowed. “They’re my plans for later.”
“I wonder if Neve is getting ‘innuendoed’ right now,” Dixie added cheerfully. “Seems she wanted to leave a lasting impression.”
Noah twisted the knife. “I’d call it mission accomplished. It wasn’t just the eyeballs Cantrell couldn’t keep in his head. It was also the way he couldn’t keep his tongue in his mouth. Shit. I feel a sudden urge to get home to my woman.”
“Not yet, Romeo,” Dixie clucked. “We have cleaning up to do.”
Reece tuned out the back-and-forth that followed, instead registering the gut punches the conversation had delivered. Curiosity over why they bothered him so much hovered on the edge of his consciousness. Yeah, Cantrell was slick and rich and a total player, but Reece had never reacted so viscerally toward any of Neve’s dates before.
Because she barely dates, and when she does, it’s never serious,an annoying little voice piped up in his head. He told it to shut up. He could have sworn it answered him with a smirk.
And why the hell was he so focused on Neve lately anyway? He filled his lungs and exhaled long and deep.
Transference.
He was picking on her because she was an easy target who was alwaysthere,and she was tough enough to let it roll off her back. Or very forgiving. Or both. Not that she had to forgive him or tolerate his shit, but somehow she simply did because she was … Neve.
Was she his best female friend?
Yes. She totally was. And her reward, apparently, was to take the brunt of his frustration aimed at the actual source: Chelsea, the true culprit who had continued blowing up his phone with a flurry of texts during his drive to Durango and even into his shift at the bar.
Jesus Christ, what an utter mess he had made.
What he needed was to get back to what he loved and put the rest aside to be worked on later. Even though the woman in the woods hadn’t been terribly hurt today, when he’d recognized possible danger, instinct had taken over and propelled him to act. It had been a total rush, and a feeling of rightness had settled over him. Truth be told, his presence therehadmade a difference. Not only because she could have died from exposure if she’d been stuck there overnight, but because, without thinking, he’d known right away what to do and how to talk to her.
Cade could have gotten her out, but Reece understood his knack for calming people, for taking their anxiety down a few notches, and he used that gift like a tool. This particular woman had needed that skill. Cade’sanxiety would have fueled her own, and a manageable situation might have escalated into a panic fest that wouldn’t have served either of them well. Reece had witnessed it before.
