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Sue Ann Landers—who had been one of Mark’s conquests back in the day—was obviously a rockabilly fanatic, the bright crimson beehive matching her cat-eye glasses exactly.

“Faboo. The new girl is pregnant, cries at the drop of a hat, and spilled an entire tray of drinks on Miss Hattie’s church group. ”

“Wow. If I let her wait on us and don’t make her cry, do I get our pie for free?” Luke reckoned Rory couldn’t not make a deal. It must be in the man’s bones.

“You’re on.”

They ended up at a table in the back, out of the way. Bless her red head, Sue Ann didn’t want his chair messing up the flow, but that worked for Luke. Less gawking.

“Good deal. About the meatloaf,” Luke added when Rory looked at him strangely. “Now I don’t have to think of getting it just to impress you.”

“Nope. You get whatever you’d like. I am splurging on meat and cheese and amazing onions.”

“I like a patty melt, but breakfast all day is gonna be my choice.” He peered at the menu. Migas and pancakes. Maybe gross, but that was what he wanted. Hey, eggs went with pancakes, right? God, he’d missed the whole migas on demand thing. Life was good .

“You’re grinning wide,” Rory said.

“ Migas . People outside of Texas no comprende .”

“No shit?”

“Nope.” Wait. Okay, that was weird. Rory had to have traveled, right? Fairly extensively? He was rich, did business all over the world, right?

“Huh. People are strange.”

“You know it.” Luke nodded solemnly. “They had something similar in the Middle East, but it was weird and tomato-y.”

“They have a restaurant in Austin that has falafel and hummus that’s amazing.”

“I love falafel. I swear, it tastes like breakfast sausage.” The food had been one of his favorite things about being deployed.

“And the tzatziki. Uhn.”

“Yep. Cucumber and dill so strong it draws up your lips.” He hummed. “Yeah. Not gonna find that here.”

“Next time I go to Austin, I’m totally stopping. What’s your position on the Live Music Capital of the World?”

“No clue. I mean, I’ve been through there.” Luke felt a little small town at that.

“Maybe one day we could go. I go for business a lot and my sister is at UT.”

“Yeah? That would be cool.” In fact, it would be more than. A little road trip. Matty could feed for one day on his own, right?

“So, I really did come out to apologize. I think someone spiked my beer.”

“How?” He tilted his head, trying to figure out how someone could do that at such a busy party. With a longneck.

“I don’t know. I was the only one sick, but man, I thought I was fixin’ to die.”

“Sick how?” He knew a little bit about the kind of chemistry meds gave versus bad food .

“Well, it wasn’t like just food poisoning with the puking and pooping.

I was hallucinating. Sweating. My head felt three sizes too big.

I couldn’t coordinate my body parts. Obviously, I couldn’t shut my mouth up.

” Rory went bright red and Luke had to admit it was pretty damn cute.

“Don’t get me wrong, I meant every word.

I don’t have a wheelchair kink, but I’ve had some lovers who made me a very happy man who were in chairs. Still, it wasn’t appropriate.”

“It sure was a surprise.” Luke chuckled. “I assume you were under the influence of adrenaline and pain when you kissed me.”

“No. I did that because I wanted to.”

Now it was Luke’s turn to have hot cheeks. And ears. Along with his crotch. “Good. I mean, I damned well liked it.”

“I did too.” Rory just looked at him, straightforward as fuck, unashamed.

“Okay.” He leaned his elbows on the table. “So, before we go anywhere with this, I have to ask you something.”

“Shoot.” Rory held his gaze, direct as all get out.

“Why are you trying to buy out all the land? Matt is my big concern, but you’ve bought a lot, and you’re not developing it or moving the owners off.”

“Because I intend to make sure Doug Harris can’t have one acre more than he does right now.” The goofy, dear man he knew faded, leaving an ice-cold bastard with venom on his lips.

“So, this is all about Harris?” Luke watched Rory carefully. “What’s your beef?”

“We have history.”

The clipped answer spoke of a history of deep hatred. The expression in those bright blue eyes was forbidding enough that he dropped asking what history. “So, you’re just spending money for revenge? ”

Rory’s smile returned. “Consider it an investment in agriculture in our county.”

“Uh-huh. Remind me not to piss you off, man.”

“It’s a deal.” Rory leaned back in his chair, stretching gently. “Man, my hand is throbbing, and so is the leg with the stitches.”

“Shit, man. I could have brought lunch to your place.” Well, Matt could have brought him bringing it.

“I’m apologizing. I buy and bring and all.”

“Still, stitches.”

“I’ll live. I promise.” Rory winked at him, that smile making all sorts of things sit up and take notice.

Man, Luke was all of a sudden worried his body was gonna betray him.

Worse, he was afraid that Rory would be all over it. Maybe in a way he wasn’t ready for yet, and God knew, the man had stitches in his leg.

Rory sobered. “You look like a thundercloud. Did I do something wrong?”

“No. No. Of course not. What could you have done?”

“Well, I promised to live.”

Luke hooted. “Matt might want you out of the way, but I’m getting to like you well enough.”

“I’m a basically decent guy.” Rory shook his head sorrowfully. “But that’s not the most ringing endorsement ever.”

“You didn’t let them hurt the horses.”

Rory went serious on him again. “No. No, I couldn’t do that. That’s a shitty way to get back at Matt or me or anyone.”

“That means a lot. Do you have any?”

“Horses?”

He nodded, and Rory shook his head. “No. I have enough land, but that requires a commitment to being home that I don’t have yet. ”

“You travel a lot?” He grabbed his iced tea, wanting something to do with his hands.

“Mostly between here, Austin, and Houston.”

“Ah. I got the impression you were like, a globetrotter. The way people talk you’re as exotic as a tropical bird.”

“I’ve been to Mexico, Canada. London once for a weekend.”

“Just a weekend? I had a layover in Paris once, but it was a military hop, so I saw nothing.”

“Just a weekend. I was interviewing for a position at a company there.”

“Doing what?” He hoped he didn’t sound too nosy, but he wanted to know. Everything.

“International law. They wanted someone less Texan.”

“No shit? They didn’t know the breed then.” They shared a grin.

“I’m not quite suave enough for London.”

But here Rory was high-dollar fancy. Weird. He guessed that was the way of the world.

“You’re damned smooth, man. Even drugged, you hit on me.”

“I did. I think you’re smoking hot, and I could turn your world upside down in the best way.”

“As long as you’re not trying to steal from my brother, and you give us both time to heal up a bit more, I’ll take you up on it.” Their gazes locked, and they stared at each other, ramping up the heat, until their food arrived.

“Fair enough. I want the people who work the land to keep it. This is my home.”

“I like that.” He did. A lot.

“And, to be fair, I want Harris to pay.”

“What did he do to you, Rory?” Luke scooped up food as if he was still in the military, but he saved his pancakes to savor.

“Is the food good? ”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s great.” He looked askance at Rory. “Eventually you’ll have to tell me.”

“One day. Not here. We’re having a nice lunch.”

Ouch. Okay, so it was a bad story. Another reason to dislike Harris, for sure. “I can see that.”

Now, time for pancakes. He poured on syrup, licking his lips.

Rory chuckled at him, the sound husky. “Damn, Luke. That’s dangerous.”

“Huh?” He glanced up, then laughed. “Sorry. I love pancakes.”

“I will keep that in mind.” Rory waggled his eyebrows.

“I bet you don’t forget much.”

“Nothing.”

Luke nodded, fork poised over his pancakes. “I didn’t used to, but these days shit falls out of my head.”

“You have a lot to work through, I bet. Deep stuff.”

“Less than I did a week ago. The horses help.”

“Yeah? You enjoy working with them? Have you always?”

“I wasn’t much of a 4-H kid,” Luke said. “I mean, I did my share with all the weird shit Preacher brought home, but I got out three days after graduation.”

“So you’re more like John than Matty?”

“I am.” He chuckled. “Well, I was. Now I have no idea what I am.” Now, his favorite part of the day was the horses. That made him feel important. Trustworthy.

Hell, the way they snorted at him impatiently, waiting for their feed and grooming, made him laugh every day.

“Seems to me you’re a cowboy.”

His cheeks heated. That was a hell of a compliment and not one he was sure he deserved. “Damn. Thanks.”

“Mr. LeBlanc?” A young woman and her kid, a boy of maybe eight, stopped at the table. “Sorry to interrupt, but Joshua here wanted to say something. ”

Luke looked at the kid, trying not to scowl. “Fire away, kiddo.”

“Thank you for your service,” Joshua said solemnly, then held out a hand to shake.

“You’re welcome, son.” Luke shook the kid’s hand and held his gaze.

Joshua nodded and they moved on, leaving him with a goofy grin on his face. From the kid it was sweet, not unnerving.

Rory didn’t mock, didn’t say a word actually, just nodded once.

“Every time someone says that I want to look over my shoulder to see who they mean,” Luke confessed.

“Yeah? I bet it’s weird. Do you miss it?”

“No.” Luke had thought he would. He didn’t, not at all.

“Good.”

He blinked and Rory shrugged in an incredibly expressive move. “I intend to seduce you and have a torrid affair. I’d like you to stick around.”

Luke’s surprise turned to laughter again, and he liked that, how he and Rory could just wheeze and slap their knees together.

“Pancakes are all you can eat,” Sue Ann said while refilling drinks.

“Yeah. I could have another serving, if you have time.” Luke was all over that. “You want to share some? Could be dessert for you.”

“I have time, and sure, why not? I’ll share a bite or two.”