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“Sorry.”
“Anyway, that’s why I’m calling.” She hesitated. “I have someone I want you to meet.”
Alarm bells rang loud and clear in my head. “No thanks. I’m good.”
“We’ll see.”
“Mom.” I made my voice stern and low. “No setups.” The last thing I needed was to break the heart or hurt the feelings of a daughter of one of Mom’s friends or colleagues. Better to keep my dating habits far, far away from family.
“The engagement party is next week. I’ll have your room ready. Come on Thursday. Party’s on Saturday night at Shepherds.” Shepherds was the fancy steakhouse inside the one upscale boutique hotel in my home town of Half Full. I could have put odds on the party being there. Of course, since Zara’s parents had some cash, the whole thing could’ve been hijacked to wherever they lived. They weren’t Corny wealthy, of course, but Zara’s dad was the kind of guy who wanted you to know he did just fine.
“Okay. I’ll come home Thursday.”
“Can’t wait to see you.”
“Love you.” I hung up and glanced around the yard. The barbecue was fired up, my teammates were happy and relaxed. And some of my enthusiasm for hanging out had been zapped, but I also needed to get home. I didn’t like to sneak out, but I knew they wouldn’t let me go, so I slipped out the side gate, hopped into my car, and headed home to study.
CHAPTER2
CLARA
DIAGRAMS ARE EDUCATIONAL
“This day has gone to shit.”
“Tell me about it,” my best friend Andie laughed on the other end of the phone.
“No. Seriously. I’m covered in bear shit.”
“You are the only person who can say that, you know. I mean, the only person who can say it and actually mean that you are literally covered in shit.”
“Well, that’s something, I guess. I do mean it somewhat figuratively too.” I was almost back to my truck, which was the only reason I had any service at all. It had been a brutally long day in the field, and I was hot, and sticky. And covered in...well, you got it.
“Hey, what are you up to tonight?” Andie had this way of asking about my plans with a lilt in her voice that made it sound like she had something absolutely incredible up her sleeve, like if I only said yes, my whole life would change.
“Showering. Picking up Katie. Probably not in that order, though.”
“What if...” she drew this out, and I knew she thought she was going to have to convince me about whatever it was. I unlocked the truck and slid in behind the wheel, starting it up and doing my best to sync Andie’s pause with the natural pause caused by the phone switching to the car speaker. “What do you think?”
“Sorry. Missed that.” As I pulled the truck out onto the highway, my exhaustion sank in. We’d been tracking a couple momma bears for a few days, and had finally gotten one of them collared late this afternoon. The rest of the crew had been just steps ahead of me pulling out and heading home. I needed some sleep.
“I said, what do you think about hitting the new club downtown? I got us on the VIP list.”
Oh god. That sounded legitimately awful. The groan I let out must’ve given away my complete lack of desire to shove myself into tight pants and then suffer through inappropriate come-on lines all night while doing my best to drink enough to handle the overwhelming insanity of a club while not drinking so much that I’d collapse from sheer exhaustion. Plus, there was Katie.
“Andie, I can’t tonight. I’m like the walking dead. I need sleep.”
I could practically hear the pout on the other end of the phone. “But you’re my wingwoman and I need to get laid.”
“Don’t we all?” I laughed. Andie and I had been best friends since high school, and we’d both followed the detour into the land of totally ill-advised marriages and having babies before we could gracefully handle a shot of tequila. The only difference now? She was really good at tequila.
“So, here’s our chance!”
“Honestly,” I told her as I navigated the highway offramp and headed toward home, “if the opportunity arose tonight, I’d probably sleep through it. Besides, I’m kind of tired of random hookups. There are no decent guys around Half Full. We’ve met them all.”
“That’s why a new club might mean fresh meat!”
“Hon...”
