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Brody turned to leave, and it took all my resolve not to grab his hand and pull him back. I bit my lip as he walked away, all giant shoulders, lean hips, and lemon cologne. I bunched my hands. All I wanted to do was chase after him, wrestle him to the ground, and kiss the life out of him.

“So, exactly what is it we’re looking for?” one of the bird watchers asked me, their voice ringing clearly through the spring air. I didn’t know about the rest of the Tit Peepers, but all I wanted to find was my heart intact by the end of Brody’s stay.

19

BRODY

Isucked back on the cool beer in my hand and glanced around the Crow. It was good to see the old place so full and lively. The scrum at the bar was three people thick, and the hot air pulsed with energy.

Coop let out a raucous laugh. He sat in the booth with the girls we met the other day. They were stationed on either side of him. We were all supposedly on a “date,” but I’d barely said a word. I was just a reluctant passenger along for the ride.

The girl Cooper set me up with threw yet another flirty smile. She’d spent a lot of the evening clinging to my arm. In the end, I’d invented a story about a frozen shoulder to keep her at a distance. She was sweet, pretty, and hanging on my every word. But all I could think of was Ro. The blush on her cheeks yesterday afternoon as she’d stepped out from behind the bush in that ridiculous turquoise jacket.

I hadn’t expected to see her. Alex had driven into town with news. She’d heard my team was in high-level meetings and called in the doctor who treated my leg. After my injury, I’d signed a waiver for the the management team to discuss my recovery with the doc. However, after Alex’s heads up, I stillcouldn’t get hold of anyone. Not even my agent. My gut had resembled a churning mess ever since.

It had taken all my strength not to tell Ro. Fill her in on what Alex had said and share my worries. But she’d said we shouldn’t spend unnecessary time together, and although I didn’t like it, I’d honored her wishes.

I tipped the last of my beer down my throat and wiped my lips with the back of my hand. The same feeling I’d had the morning after our night together sat at the back of my throat. A kind of strangled tightness. Ro had rejected me for the second time. Made me feel like a mistake she’d rather forget.

The first time, all those years ago, after her prom night, she’d sent me a note. A sweet apology for putting me in an awkward position, but she’d made it clear that I was leaving town and should focus on my career, not any fumbled kisses we’d shared. I’d seen the sense of her words, but they’d cut me deep. I’d replied, writing her a note telling her how I felt, but like a coward, I’d never sent it.

This time, her reasons were all about Cooper and me, her gran, and that I didn’t need any complications before returning to Denver. I sighed. If only she knew how tenuous my comeback prospects were. I huffed a wry laugh. At least she’d turned me down to my face this time.

A raucous cheer from one end of the bar disrupted my thoughts. The emcee had introduced the next rider to take a turn on the mechanical bull. It was Ginger, one of the waitresses at the Crow. With her gyrations, most men in the place stopped to watch. After a giggling start, within ten seconds, the bull tipped her off unceremoniously into the crash pads on the floor.

As the crowd laughed and cheered, a movement of people and a buzz of conversation at the door caught my attention. I craned my neck around the long oak bar, tightening my eyes intothe gloom to see what or who had caused the noise and the low whistles.

Within three heartbeats, Eve wiggled into the center of the bar, giving Daisy Duke a run for her money. The corners of my mouth lifted. I could see why Ro loved her so much. Her infectious smile and zest for life radiated into the surrounding air.

I killed my smile, though, when Ro followed her into the bar. Her eyes darted around, and she looked like she’d rather be anywhere than the Crow. She had on a cream cowboy hat, her long, dark hair pulled into pigtails, and a cropped white top with a pair of tiny denim shorts. The largest thing about her outfit was her silver cowboy boots and the outsized bag that no doubt held her current crochet project. I swallowed.

Every eye followed her as she trailed Eve to the bar and I clamped my teeth together. Three or four guys stepped forward. I assumed they offered the girls a drink, and a low growl on the other side of my so-called date sounded out.

“What the actual hell is my sister wearing?” Coop sat forward, poised like a coiled spring. I reached over and put a hand on his arm. I’d be a hypocrite if I denied thinking the same thing but for entirely different reasons.

The cowgirl outfit was so un-Ro, but so incredibly hot and tight and …

“Calm down,” I ground out. “She’s with her friend. It’s a bull riding night. They couldn’t exactly come in tea dresses and pearls.”

Cooper let out another low growl. “Damn, Eve. She’s nothing but a bad influence. Next thing we know, Ro will join a motorcycle club and get herself a tattoo.”

I huffed a laugh. “I don’t think Ro’s about to get a dragon across her chest or anything.”

Though a little quad skate on her butt cheek would look amazing.

Cooper shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “But she’s not experienced. Not worldly like Eve. She won’t know what’s going on in those guys’ heads.” I didn’t like to point out that his sister was anything but a child and that she didn’t need Cooper’s, my, or anyone’s permission to be out and looking so damn sexy. Although it came from a place of love, my best friend was too protective of his younger sister.

“I’ll tell you what. Enjoy your night. I’ll keep an eye on Ro, I promise. Make sure nobody steps out of line.” I furrowed my brow. I hated how Neanderthal I sounded, but if Coop thought I was watching out for his sister, I’d have an excuse to be near her without questions.

He nodded. “I appreciate it, man. You’re a good friend to her.” Cooper returned to his date, and a bitter taste crept into my mouth. If only he knew just how far Ro and I had taken our friendship. My chest ached at the thought of our night together. The way she’d clung to me, cried out my name as she came undone around me. The way I’d held her all night.

I searched for her in the crowd. She was at the bar now. The multicolored lights that hung over its top cast soft colors on her skin. She and Eve tipped back shots, and the glow in her eyes as she grinned at her friend twisted my heart. I wanted her to look at me like that—carefree, able to smile at me without worrying what her gran or her brother would think.

A group of men huddled around the two of them, vying for attention, and I wondered how many of those guys she’d dated thanks to Mrs. Woodcock. As if she sensed me watching her, she lifted her gaze and found me across the room.

Her eyes widened for a second before her cheeks glowed pink, and she pulled down at the bottom of her top. Damn. Iwanted to tell her she didn’t need to. Didn’t need to be self-conscious. She looked adorable just the way she was.

Ro’s eyes drifted to the woman between Coop and me. She was a little drunk now, cackling loudly with her friend. Ro’s face was unreadable, but she returned her eyes to mine, and a slight furrow cleaved her brows before she turned her back on me.