Page 35 of Long Time Coming

She reaches over and rubs my arm. “Of course.” Pulling into the lot, she parks in the field next to the bar since there are no closer spots. We do last-minute lip gloss touch-ups in the mirror before stepping out. Hooking her arm in mine, I walk with her toward the front door. She pulls it open but turns back to say, “And don’t worry, we are Tagger Grange–free tonight.”

“I appreciate it.”

She’s holding the door for me, so I walk in but stop just inside to wait for her. “Beer?” I ask. “It’s on me.”

“Shiner, please.”

I turn around, but I can’t force my feet to move forward the moment my eyes lock on those greens set on me from the other side of the bar.Damn him . . .

Why is the universe so cruel to me?

I turn in a rush to push Lauralee back out the door, but she’s been working out and holds her own against my tackle. “What the hell, Chris?”

Stepping back, I realize I just made a minor scene he most definitely caught. “Can we go?”

“We just got he—oh!” Her gaze hangs over my shoulder as her jaw drops open. “Wow. Um . . .”

My heart thumps, my breathing comes in rapid-fire from my chest, and my thoughts scramble as I try to figure out how to handle this situation. I freeze, pretending nothing is out of the norm.

She whispers, “He’s behind you.”

“Walking or standing?”

“He can hear everything you’re saying, Pris,” he says.Crap.His voice doesn’t hold the humor that he usually carries around me, but more the same tone by the river.

I lock eyes on Lauralee as panic overtakes me. She wraps her hands around mine. “I think you should talk to him,” she whispers, “and put whatever has you so twisted behind you.”

“Sure, why don’t I do that, Benedict Arnold.” Through clenched lips, I mouth, “What happened to us . . .” I signal behind me with a nod. “Being Tagger Grange–free tonight? That sure flew out the window fast.”

“I can still hear you,” he says, his dulcet tone slinking under the chip on my shoulder and begging me to turn around.

I cross my arms in defiance. “Maybe you should stop eavesdropping then?” I say loud enough for him to hear.

“I’m sorry, Pris.”

Turning just slightly to the side, I steal a peek at him from my periphery.“For?”

“For hurting your feelings. It wasn’t my intention.”

Call me a sucker, but an apology gets me every time. I don’t know why I find people who own their mistakes so heartening, but it’s something I value in a person. So it would be hypocritical to hold Tagger to a different standard. I turn all the way around with my arms still crossed and question him under a perfectly styled arched eyebrow. I made the effort tonight before I knew I’d be running into him. I see Benedict has left me unsupervised, which could be bad for Tagger. “What was your intention, then?”

“Not to hurt you.” He lifts his hat and holds it against his chest. “Not to rock the family dynamic. Your family means a lot to me. They feel like my own.”They, as in my brothers and my parents.Not me. He says, “I don’t want to piss off Baylor or your dad.”

“Maybe they don’t get a say in who I kiss in rivers or have sex in barns with or date at all. It’s not their decision to make for me. I’m not a kid anymore. It’s my decision. Mine alone.”

His brow furrows, and he narrows his eyes at mine as he puts the hat back on his head. Staring at me, he seems to have lost the words on his tongue.

I ask, “What?”

“Who are you having sex in barns with?”

I thought it was when he called me babe the first time, but it wasn’t. It was right now. Right here in Whiskey’s. The jealousy seeped into his tone against his permission, and although he shed that expression for indifference, I caught it clear as a bell.

Tagger Grange has a jealousy streak when it comes to me.

And this time, I’m no fool. That random comment about sex in a barn bothered him.

I grin like an idiot because this victory tastes better than being called babe ever could. I straighten my shoulders and try not to strut, but yeah, it’s impossible. I’m a freaking peacock with my feathers on full display as I walk past him. With a poke to the chest, I say, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

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