“This particular girl is definitely not my type. Do you know she wants me to—”
“Harper Bay.”
Amber’s voice was low and sultry, like the smoky aroma of aged bourbon. She slid onto the bar stool next to Harper and crossed her long tan legs. The woman was always a light bronze, even now, in springtime. Had to be fake. Her denim miniskirt hardly covered her thighs as she sat. Harper tried not to stare.
“What’ll it be, beautiful?” Tom asked.
“Like you have to ask?” Her long brown eyelashes batted at Tom.
Harper’s jeans seemed tight. He wiggled uneasily on his stool.
“One cosmo comin’ up,” Tom said.
“So,” Amber said.
Harper cleared his throat. “So what?”
“You’ve got your little sister in a dither over this shower thing. She can’t stand the thought of you not being there.”
He let out a huff. “She’ll get used to it. Men don’t belong at baby showers. Why didn’t she have the shower months ago, anyway? Before Violet was born?”
“’Cause she and Chad didn’t want to know the sex. They wanted to be surprised in the delivery room. So I advised—”
“You advised? Another one of your cockamamie ideas?”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Totally blowing him off. Why did that irk him so much?
“I advised her to wait till the baby was born so people could bring gender appropriate gifts. It made perfect sense to Catie. Who wants a bunch of yellow and green baby clothes?”
“Yellow and green?”
“Yes, yellow and green. No one buys blue or pink when they don’t know the sex. Everyone knows that.”
He smirked. “Pardon me. I missed the lecture on baby shower purchasing etiquette.”
Amber pursed her lips. “Was that supposed to be funny?”
“Hardly. None of this is funny from where I’m standin’. I am not going to a baby shower. Case closed.”
Tom set the cosmo in front of Amber. “Simmer down, Harp. I’m going. It’ll be a great party.”
“Am I truly the only guy left in this town who thinks this is an atrocity?”
“I didn’t say that, but the baby is your niece. She’s my brother’s niece. So I’m going to pay my respects. Besides, Chad McCray throws a great party.”
“See?” Amber said. “Tom knows what he’s talking about. You’ve really upset Catie. Besides, couples showers aren’t anything new. They’re all the rage in Texas.”
“Well, we certainly want to do everything the way they do in Texas.” Harper shook his head. “But last time I checked, I’m not a couple.”
“Neither am I,” Tom said, “but I’m going. I’m tagging along with my dad and Lilia.”
“I’m not a couple either,” Amber said. “So what?”
Tom curved his lips upward in a lopsided smile.
Shit. He’s up to no good.
“Why don’t you two go together?”