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He listened in as Evan tried to make small talk. His brother was good at flirting. That was certain. Colton lacked in that department, and he knew it. He figured if there was chemistry between him and a woman, then nature would take its course. He wanted her to look at him the way she was smiling and looking at Evan. But he was acting like a fucking mute and his one head was consuming his thoughts. Her breasts looked better than average. He had large hands and he wanted to feel plump, feminine flesh fill them. Ava’s fit the bill and then some. She had a great figure. Trim waist, yet wide hips and a full, round ass. He should know. He’d watched her enough at Dixie Chix the other night.
“How about you, Colton? Do you know what you’d like to order?” she asked him. His brother had to clear his throat to snap Colton out of his stare at Ava.
“I’m probably going to get a burger.”
“That sounds good,” she stated and he looked at her funny. Some women pretended to eat light to impress a man, and others pretended to eat a decent meal to impress the men. But once they got involved, the women either puked their food out or gained so much weight they were miserable. He’d seen it happen to some of his military buddies. Not pretty.
“Can I take your order?” the waitress asked. They gave their order, and Ava ordered the grilled chicken wrap with fries.
“The fries are so good here, aren’t they?” she asked.
“Yeah, I like them,” Evan said.
“Not worried about your weight?” Colton asked and Ava turned to look at him.
“Why, Colton, what are you trying to say?” she asked but with such a sweet smile, he felt like an asshole. Why the hell did I just ask her that? What the hell is my problem?
“Just ignore him. Colton’s in a bad mood. That chick who came over here has been hounding him for a date for the past week. She even showed up on the ranch yesterday,” Evan said.
“It must be tough, being so popular when socializing is obviously not your thing.”
“Not my thing?”
“Sure. It’s obvious.”
“What’s so obvious, miss social butterfly?” Colton asked with an attitude. This woman was challenging him, and she’d find out he wasn’t some pushover.
“You’re either socially dysfunctional or you’ve been burned in the past. Either way, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t assume that all women are alike.” Before he could retort, the waitress was bringing over their drinks. Colton had to admit that the woman had guts. He was a big man, and a mean-looking son of a bitch, which surprised him that women paid attention to him at all. Sure he had big muscles and was in superb shape, but still, he didn’t flirt or encourage it. Right now, he thought about pulling Miss Know-It-All into his arms and kissing her just to get the urge and need out of his system. He was certain that it would be one time and one time only.
“So, how about we take a walk through the park after lunch?” Evan asked.
“Sounds nice, but we’ll see. I should be heading back home. I’m kind of tired,” she admitted.
Colton felt bad. He was ruining this entire thing because of that woman who was bothering him.
“Hey, Ava, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be such a jerk. You’re right about one thing, I’m not used to having to watch my tongue and socialize with everyone. I enjoy being alone. I can leave and let you two go on with this date.” Once the words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back.
The waitress came over, delivering their food. Then Ava turned toward him.
“Colton.” He looked at her, and God, did her olive-green eyes look amazing. His heart did a little pitter-patter like never before. He could get lost in those eyes. He wanted to see those eyes light up from being with him and Evan.
“I’m sorry, too. I’ve had a bad few days and I’m under a bit of stress right now. I almost cancelled this date because of it all. Why don’t we forget about the first twenty minutes and just be ourselves. Friends first. It’s the way it needs to be.”
He smiled and nodded his head even though he wondered what she meant. Friends first? Did he just fuck up royally? He didn’t have women who were friends. Never did, and he wasn’t sure right now and with this particular woman, who got his blood boiling, his cock harder than a steel rod, and his heart beating like it was in a warzone, was the right time to start. He wanted to tell her no. He wanted to convince her otherwise, but one look at Evan and he dropped the subject, smiling and nodding his head. If there was a God, he’d get through this date without making a total ass of himself.
* * * *
Evan felt like ripping his brother a new asshole. What the hell was wrong with Colton? He had never seen him act like this before. He was like a ticking time bomb, a villain without a cause, the master of disaster, and he was going to ruin their chances in getting to know Ava. Evan started to think that Ava intimidated Colton. Either that, or the man was already so attracted to her that he didn’t know what to say or do.
They went about eating their lunch while a few people stopped by the table to say hello. Colton was annoyed once again, as some old friends of the family wished them well and told them how proud they were of his and Colton’s service in the military. They also were glad to see them back home in Delite.
“So, what took you guys so long to move back here? A lot of people seem to know you and your family,” Ava said as they waited for the check.
“We don’t have any family left,” Colton snapped at her.
“We just retired from the service six months ago. It was time. Colton’s thirty-five and I’m thirty-three, and we wanted to try and enjoy life a little. It gets harder and harder living in the desert and in a constant war zone.”
“I couldn’t imagine. I suppose after a while, you start wondering what’s next and just want to give up having that constant fear that someone might hurt you or worse, end your life,” Ava replied.
