“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Quint said as he parked the sedan in a sea of pickup trucks. The legendary country bar on the outskirts of town was large enough to park a fleet of semis in.
“You think?” Ree laughed, and the sound was musical. She’d calmed down considerably on the ride over. “Maybe we should have requested a pickup instead of this ride.”
“We would definitely fit in better,” he said with a smile.
“Am I about to learn something new about you?” she asked. “As in, you dance?”
“Believe me, I try not to,” he said. “And when you see my two-step, you might take those words back.”
“I’m sure you’re fine at it,” she said as he exited the vehicle and then came around to her side to open the door for her.
“At least I have an excuse.” He pointed down to his “injured” ankle with the bright white boot strapped on it.
“So do I.” She held up her left hand. “I’m pretty sure this gold band is a romance killer for strange men.”
“Who knows. It might entice them even more,” he said. He’d seen, heard and encountered all kinds of things during his years as a bachelor.
“That’s scary,” she admitted, taking the hand he held out to her and using it as leverage to exit the sedan.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he said, figuring he needed to slip into the newlywed role before they headed inside. He wasn’t kidding, though. She’d taken his breath away when he walked out of the bathroom earlier.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said with a smile and those same sparkly eyes that had him wanting to do things that could get them both in trouble.
Too bad, he thought. Then again, maybe not. Mixing his personal life with work wasn’t high on his priority list at the moment. Losing Tessa had hit him on too many fronts. Coworkers needed to be kept at a professional distance.
He put his right arm out for Ree to grab hold of. From the parking lot, he could already hear the music thumping inside. “Shall we?”
“Yes. And I hope they have good food because I could eat my own arm off right now.” She took the offering as he broke into a laugh.
“I’m not sure how many newlyweds have the kinds of conversations we do, but it sure would make the idea of getting married a whole lot more tempting,” he said, not that he planned to change his single ways any time soon. But no one could argue his point. Being with someone who made him laugh had just made his list of required traits for a serious relationship.
“Laughing is a good thing,” she agreed as they walked inside.
It was the dinner hour and the place was already hopping. There was no one on the dance floor just yet but the tables surrounding the sawdust-covered wood flooring were packed. There was no cover charge. A sign near the front door read Seat Yourself.
Quint found a counter-height table on the other side of the dance floor. A couple of plastic menus were sandwiched in between condiments and a container filled with napkins.
Ree wasted no time grabbing two before handing one over to him. “I could probably eat this menu.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “What looks good?”
“How about we start with the ground beef nachos and then I’ll have shrimp tacos,” she said after a quick perusal. “And a cold beer.”
The waitress turned up by the time Ree finished her sentence. She gave a quick recap.
“All of that sounds good to me. I’ll have what she’s having and whatever you have on tap,” Quint said.
The perky twenty-ish-year-old rattled off a list of options, and he stopped her when she got to his favorite, Guinness.
“Oh, that sounds good to me, too,” Ree stated with enough enthusiasm to convince him. “And water, please.”
The waitress set down four cardboard squares and he figured she was marking the table to let the rest of the staff know orders had been taken. There seemed to be several waitresses buzzing around, and the casual setting had him thinking there weren’t set stations.
“I’ll be back with your drinks,” she said before disappearing.
Quint reached across the table and took Ree’s hand in his, linking their fingers. The move was meant to make a statement to others. The electricity pulsing up his hand gave the whole scenario credibility. He poured on the newlywed loving gaze as much as he could without going overboard. In another circumstance, another situation, another time, he could see himself opening up to someone like her. Ree was special. If he hadn’t already done the best-friend-as-partner route and been burned about as hard as someone could be, he could also see himself going there with her.
His heart argued there were quite a few differences between the two. Tessa had been more likely to punch him in the arm or make fun of his anemic dating life. He would be more likely to be her wingman than her date. And he would defend his dating choices and frequency to the grave. So what if Tessa had told him over and over again that he should date women with more...how had she put it?...substance.
He did. There was plenty of interesting conversation. Okay, maybe not so much in the past couple of years, but he’d grown tired of the same get-to-know-each-other conversations. He could admit he’d been going through the motions lately without really putting himself out there.
The truth was that he had Tessa. The person he enjoyed hanging out with the most just happened to be the opposite sex. There were no romantic fantasies with her. Their relationship had been clearly defined from the start and had grown into a deep-seated closeness that rivaled most good marriages. Other agents had joked the two of them were like an old married couple, saying they’d skipped all the fun parts of a relationship and had ended up at the no-sex, best-friend stage of life.
Looking back, he could see they probably weren’t too far off base.
“What are you thinking about?” Ree’s voice sliced into his heavy thoughts.
He shrugged. “Not much, I guess.”
She shot him a look that could have cut through steel. “Don’t feed me that line, Quint. I’m not stupid and I have eyes. You were zoned out in thought and I wondered what was running through your mind.”
Quint took in a deep breath. “Tessa. I was thinking about her.”
His comment really seemed to bring down the mood.
Ree nodded and gave a small, sad smile. “You must have loved her very much.”
“It would be the same if something happened to one of your brothers,” he admitted. “The pain is unimaginable.”
“It’s unthinkable to lose someone so young and vibrant,” she said. “As much as my brothers can be a pain in the backside, I can’t fathom life without any one of them.”
“I’m sorry about the mood shift, it’s just...”
Ree shook her head. “It’s okay. I actually think it’s good for you to talk about her. I mean, bottling it all up inside can’t be healthy.”
“Yeah? I appreciate your concern but we’re here for our date night. I don’t want to talk about my sister any longer,” he said, figuring he needed to provide a cover story in case anyone was listening. There were a dozen tables scattered around. The music was quiet enough to talk over but loud enough to make it difficult to hear anyone who wasn’t standing nearby. Try as he might, he couldn’t make out what anyone around him was saying unless he tried to read lips.
“Promise me you’ll talk to someone about her if not to me.” Her serious tone and concerned look made him think twice about what she said. He didn’t want to blow her off or pretend he wasn’t hurting anymore.
“Okay,” he said. “I will. And I’d like the person to be you.”
REE SQUEEZED QUINT’S hand in a show of support, trying not to give away the effect his words had on her. One look in his eyes said he would follow through with his promise. She wouldn’t mind if he talked to her about Tessa. If he wasn’t comfortable enough to do that, all she really cared about was making certain he spoke to someone. No matter what else, Quint had weaved his way inside her heart in the past couple of days of being together 24/7. She cared about what happened to him beyond this assignment.
The waitress showed with drinks. The appetizer soon followed. The music started picking up tempo and volume as the shrimp tacos were served. By the time their bellies were full, a band started setting up on the stage.
“How’d you hear about this place?” she asked Quint after placing her napkin on the table to indicate she was done.
“Are you kidding me?” he shot back and she could tell he was in a much more playful mood by the tone of his voice. “How do you not know about Honk-E Tonk? It’s one of the most famous bars in Texas after that cowboy movie ten years ago.”
“I thought it was called Gillespies,” she admitted.
“That was the name in the movie,” he confirmed.
She glanced around from side to side, scanning the room for the infamous mechanical bull riding pen. “Where is it?”
“Upstairs.” He motioned toward the wooden staircase in the corner that, now that she really looked at it, led to a loft.
“Can we do it later?” she asked before glancing down, remembering he was in a boot.
“You can,” he offered. “I’ll cheer you on from the sideline.”
“Deal.” Her heart literally gave a little flip.
“Did you get enough to eat?” he asked, gazing at her with those loving eyes again. This man was a little too good at this undercover thing. Staring into those sapphire blues, she could get lost and trick herself into thinking this was real and not make-believe. Wouldn’t do a whole lot of good to fall down that sinkhole.
Her cell buzzed just loud enough to hear over the music. She retrieved it from her purse and then checked the screen. Shane?
“It’s my brother,” she said to Quint. “I better take this.”
He nodded as she stood up, took the call and plugged one of her ears.
“Hello?” she said into the receiver, hoping Shane could hear her over the loud music. Fear gripped her that something might be wrong back home. Shane knew she was on an assignment and wouldn’t call unless there was an emergency.
“Hey, sis,” Shane began calmly as she got her hand stamped before walking into the parking lot. The sun was descending, creating a bright orange glow in the sky. She thought about Quint and almost texted him to come outside, wondering if this was the exact shade of orange that was his favorite. She imagined it came pretty darn close if it wasn’t a perfect match, and she saw the sheer beauty in it.
“Is everything all right?” she asked, bracing herself for bad news. There was no way Shane would interrupt her on an undercover assignment if his world wasn’t crumbling.
“I was about to ask you the same question,” he stated, sounding a little offended.
“I can’t really talk right now but I’m fine if that’s what you’re asking,” she said, confused by how cautious he was being.
“Good to know because Preston called—”
“Hold on right there,” she said. “I’m not having this discussion with you, Shane. You’re my brother and I love you but this is out of bounds and completely inappropriate under the circumstances.”
“Well. I just—”
“Didn’t think?” She finished his sentence for him, steaming mad.
One of the kiddos screamed bloody murder in the background.
“You should go take care of that, Shane,” she said, leaving no room for doubt as to where she stood on this topic. “Your kids need you more than I do right now.”
“Got it,” he said. She hoped it was true, because she had no plans to discuss someone she was dating or not dating with her family. If Preston couldn’t keep their relationship between the two of them she had no plans to return his texts.
“Bye,” she said before ending the call. Her auburn hair had always been blamed for her fiery temper, but her brothers sure knew how to push her buttons. They were probably more to blame for her short fuse than a genetic trait.
Ree took a couple of minutes to walk off her anger before returning to the bar. The minute she stepped inside, she caught sight of the waitress talking to Quint. The woman twirled her hair around her finger, a sure sign of flirting.
A few calming breaths later, Ree was ready to face her second frustration in fifteen minutes. The way this date night was going she’d be home in bed alone by nine thirty. Okay, the thought made Ree giggle and lightened some of her frustration. She really was going all in emotionally with the fake marriage. Good. She needed to be invested in order to sell the relationship.
“Hey, sorry about that,” she said as she walked up to her “husband” and the waitress. She stopped beside Quint and wrapped her arms around his neck before planting a mind-blowing kiss on his lips. “My brother can be dramatic.”
“Everything okay with your mom? I was just telling Kelsey about your mom’s fall,” he said.
“Yes, she’s doing much better.” She had no idea what he was talking about, so she just went with it.
“I’m still impressed she decided to get on the ladder at her age to clean out gutters,” he said, subtly bringing her up to speed.
“My mom is the original DIY lady,” she quipped, smiling at Kelsey.
“Are y’all newlyweds?” Kelsey asked.
“How did you know?” Ree asked.
“Shiny bands,” she quipped. “Plus, y’all are way too adorable holding hands and cuddling up to each other to be old-timers.”
“Guilty,” Ree stated.
“How did the two of you meet?” Kelsey continued.
“A pizza place in Austin,” she said and then instantly realized that was their first-date story. Her cheeks might have given her away as a red blush crawled up her neck, the glow so bright she could probably land planes if she stood beside a runway. She could only pray the dimly lit room would provide camouflage.
“Actually, that was our first date, honey,” Quint said to cover her mistake. “We met at Tony’s New Year’s Eve party.”
“I just totally heard that wrong,” Ree stated. “Duh.” She made a show of smacking herself on the forehead. “I’ve literally been working way too many hours lately.”
The waitress laughed. She also seemed to know when to make an exit because she excused herself to go check on another table.
“Great job with the jealousy act earlier,” Quint whispered into her ear.
“Not so much on the first-date story,” she pointed out.
“Don’t beat yourself up. We didn’t rehearse that one,” he said but she couldn’t let herself off the hook so easily.
However, with his lips this close, his warm breath on her neck, all kinds of sensations skittered across her skin. Her body became keenly aware of his as he looped an arm around her waist and hauled her against him. He positioned her on his lap and held onto her, resting his hand on her back for a long moment.
If only the jealousy bit was an act. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that good an actress.
Her reaction also made her rethink responding to Preston’s text. Had she opened a hornet’s nest in responding to the first one?
With Quint’s arms around her, holding her, all thoughts of another man dissolved. She breathed in his spicy male scent, allowing all that was Quint to fill her senses. It would be so easy to fall for this man hook, line and sinker.
If only they hadn’t met on the job, she thought. But then, that might not matter. He was hurting and leaning into her for support. His emotions were running high and he was channeling them into her right now. The intensity she felt was for his loss and not because he couldn’t live without her. The way he made her feel like she was the only woman in the world right now didn’t mean there was anything real going on between them. He had to sell the relationship as much as she did. He was clearly doing his part, because a piece of her was starting to believe he’d fallen head over heels in love with her.
How was that for good acting on his part?
The feeling of eyes on her shifted Ree’s attention. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Was someone watching them?