“Well, if you’d have bought that cowboy hat, like I asked you to ... maybe I wouldn’t have to go looking for it elsewhere.” She shot Luke a wink.
Despite his laughter, he was pulling her out of Wade’s embrace moments later and plastering her to his side. Such a caveman.
You love it.
She did.
“Come on, Wade, take us to the alcohol.” She gestured for him to lead the way.
As requested, he took them to the back of the house where a huge tent had been erected. Off to the side was a bar with so many bottles of booze, she felt her liver twitch. It was going to be a good night.
As they gathered around the bar, and Luke went about making her a drink, she noticed Wade’s attention drift. Not just drift but leave the party entirely. Instead, he fixated on the house. Bella followed his gaze, all the way over to a petite, dark-haired woman dragging a huge laundry bag through the backdoor.
“Who’s that?” she asked.
When he didn’t reply, she felt her smile spread as she asked again. This time Wade jolted, shaking his head before turning his attention back to Bella.
“What?”
“I said ... who’s the woman? You know, the one you’re making goo-goo eyes at?”
“Darlin’, I ain’t making goo-goo eyes at anyone; I don’t even know what goo-goo eyes are.”
Just as she was about to reply, the woman reappeared. She’d lost the bag and had emerged from the house carrying a stack of folded towels. Bella looked at Wade. Yep, just like she thought, his gaze was back on the woman.
“Ah ha!” She pointed accusingly. “You’re doing it again!” She could practically see the hearts in his eyes. “Youlikeher!”
“Bella,” Wade warned.
“Youloveher!” She giggled. This was awesome. She might not even need alcohol at this rate. “Come on, who is she?”
“If I tell you, will you promise to stop?”
Not a chance.“Sure, so?”
Wade let out a heavy sigh. “She’s the new live-in maid. My brothers hired her a week ago—her name’s Riley.”
“You asked her out yet?” Bella wasn’t taking the dirty look he was giving her personally.
His glare and lack of any real reply told her he hadn’t. So she decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Riley?” she shouted across the yard. Then shouted again, ignoring Wade’s hand that was now gripping her arm. “Riley?”
The woman’s head whipped to Bella, and the deer-in-headlights look she was giving her almost made her feel guilty. But not enough to stop her from gesturing her over.
“Bella,” Wade scowled, “what the hell are you doing?”
Bella fluttered her lashes at her friend. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna declare your undying love to the woman.”
As soon as Riley was near, she felt Wade stiffen. Actually go stiff. She never thought she’d see the day that the most laid-back Evans brother would go from calm and collected to a tightly wound spring. In an instant.
She got it though. The closer the woman was, the more beautiful she became. Shiny, straight dark hair was pulled into a neat bun. Black-rimmed glasses framed a delicate heart-shaped face. Even the jeans and tee she was wearing tugged at her curves in all the right places. No wonder Wade was captivated.
“Hey,” she greeted the very confused-looking woman, “I’m Bella. Nice to meet you.” Riley managed a “Hi” before Bella continued. “Wade mentioned that you started at the ranch a week ago, does that mean you’re new in town?”
“Um, yeah.” Riley shyly nodded.
“Me too,” Bella offered up a warm smile. “I moved here a few months ago, so I’m still getting the lay of the land, so to speak. Maybe we could hang out sometime?”
“Uh—” She’d scared her. But she wasn’t done yet. Besides, she was getting good at making friends, and you could never have too many. “Yeah. Sure.”
“Amazing, what are you doing tomorrow?” Bella ignored Wade’s kick to the ankle. “Wanna come to a wedding?”
This was going to be fun. Who said small towns were boring?
