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“Come over and join me,” she offers to my amazement.
“I’m here to support my friend. He’s performing.”
“All right, the offer stands.”
Geez, here I go. “I have a booth if you want to join me.” Glutton.
“You don’t mind?” Eyes wide, she offers a crooked smile.
“Not at all.”
“I’ll tell them and grab a few drinks. What do you want?” Ava asks.
“Bahama Mama.” I return her smile.
I sit, chewing my lip for my ridiculous notion that being this close to Walker won’t affect me. It’s absurd to be jealous. I have no relationship with him. Well, except for the admiring him from afar. I need to get over my infatuation with him and get down to business.
“Excuse me.” The deep, rough voice startles me as he places a glass in front of me.
I look up to find Walker standing to the side of the booth. “Walker, please.” I motion toward the other side for him to sit when I realize someone’s standing behind him.
Ava steps around. Sitting down, she scoots around the bench, followed by a man. He’s taller than Walker but looks so much like him, I do a double take. “Reese, my fiancé Riley.” She points at him, then to Walker. “And this guy is my soon-to-be brother-in-law, Walker.”
My mouth hangs open as Walker slides in next to me. “Sorry, I thought you knew.”
“How? I mean, how would I know?” I stutter.
“Wait a second. Do you know each other?” Ava’s eyes are wide.
“This is the attorney from The Historical Society.” Walker grimaces.
Riley slowly nods, his smile growing wider. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Walker hasn’t taken his eyes off me. I swallow hard, trying to coat my ever-drying mouth. I chew the inside of my lip, trying to think of something clever to say. But when I open my mouth, this is all that falls out: “He’s suing me.”
Walker tilts his head. “I’m suing you?”
I fumble over my words. “I mean, I’m the opposition.”
“And we work together at the crisis center,” he says, spinning his glass on the table.
I straighten my hair. “Yeah, we work together.”
“Something like that.” He frowns.
“When does your boyfriend go on?” Riley asks, to my surprise. Walker takes a long drink from his glass as he glares at his brother.
I glance at my phone to find the time. “Should be right about now.”
“I hear he’s on the brink of a contract,” Ava inserts.
“He is.” I smile at Alden from across the room. “He’s amazing.”
And as if on cue, Alden dedicates a song to me. “This is for my favorite girl, Reesie Cup. I love you.”
“Come on. I wanna watch you shake your fine ass.” Riley slips his hand around Ava’s.
“If you think that’s gonna get you a piece of ass after today, you might be right.” She kisses him before leading him to the dance floor.
