“I changed my mind,” Dusty said to the bartender. “I’ll have what he’s having.” What the hell? She needed a little something wild to get her through this evening. There was Mary Ann to deal with. And Zach was eventually going to ask her why she had run that afternoon. She was surprised he hadn’t brought it up yet.
“You want to sit down?” he asked.
“Let’s go see what Chad and Sam are up to.” She gestured to a table where the two men were chatting with two young women.
“Darlin’, we’d be third wheels.”
“Come on.” She pulled on his arm. “They’re our brothers.”
“So?”
“I’m sure they’re dying to talk to us.”
“Doesn’t look that way to me.”
She led him to the table anyway. “Hey, Sam, Chad.”
“Hey, Dust.” Sam turned to his companions. “This is my baby sister, Dusty. Dusty, meet Sydney Buchanan and Linda Rhine.”
“And this is my big brother, Zach,” Chad said. “You all want to sit down?”
“We’d love to,” Dusty cooed.
“Sydney’s a barrel racer,” Sam said. “I’ve been telling her all about you.”
“Are you competing?” Dusty asked.
“Yeah. Day after tomorrow. You?”
“Day after tomorrow. Good luck to you.”
“You, too. Though I doubt you’ll need it. Sam told me about your best time. Thirteen point nine seconds is awesome.”
“Sydney’s real good, too,” Sam said. “Her personal best is fourteen point one.”
“That’s exceptional,” Dusty said. “I see you’ll be some real competition.”
“You want to dance, darlin’?” Zach asked her. “They’re firing up the music.”
“Sure.” Dusty shivered as Zach took her hand and led her to the small dance floor. “I didn’t know you danced.”
“I don’t. But I wanted to get away from that table.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to hang out with you.”
“So we’re not going to dance then?”
“Depends on what they play. In fact, excuse me for a minute.”
Dusty watched as Zach approached the deejay, whispered to him, and handed him a folded bill. As he walked back toward Dusty, the harmonious voices of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill began to sing “Like We Never Loved at All.”
“This is our dance, darlin’,” he said, taking her into his arms.
He didn’t try to hold her in the traditional dance pose. Both of his arms went around her body and pulled her close. She had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck. As her body met his, she melted into him. Soft cotton shirt. Warm hard man. So good.
“Mmm,” she heard herself say.