Page 7 of Josephine and Clay

I glance at her, amused. “You always this hard to get information out of?”

She finally looks at me properly, an almost playfulness flickering beneath the surface. “You always this interested in it?”

“Depends on the person.”

That pulls another almost smile from her, but she looks back at her drink instead of answering.

Good.

Whatever this is, it stays easy. No expectations, or digging into things that don’t need to be shared. Perfect.

“What about you?” she asks after a beat. “You from here?”

I take a sip before answering. “Sometimes.”

She glances back at me, eyebrow lifting slightly. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Sure it does,” I say. “I pass through. Stick around when I have to. But yes, I did grow up here.”

“And tonight?”

“Tonight,” I say with a shrug, “I’m celebrating.”

Her gaze flicks over me again, slower this time. “What are you celebrating?"

“A new niece.”

“Aww.” Her face softens. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” I tilt my head toward her glass. “What are you drinking?”

She tells me, and I signal the bartender for another.

“You don’t have to—” she starts.

“I know,” I cut in lightly. “I want to. You intrigue me…”

“Josie,” she fills in.

I smirk. “Nice to meet you, Josie. I’m Clay.”

CHAPTER TWO

Josephine

APRIL 20TH

I should leave.

That thought has been circling my head for the last half an hour. Maybe longer. I don’t quite know when Clay sat down now, but since then anyway.

Long enough for my drink to go warm in my hand. Long enough for my mother’s warning voice in my head, don’t ever get tangled up with rodeo boys, to start sounding annoyingly reasonable.

And long enough for me to do absolutely nothing about it.

Because he’s still here. Still leaning beside me at the bar like he has nowhere else to be. Like the rest of the room doesn’t exist and I’m the only thing worth paying attention to.

It’s distracting.