Page 42 of Hot For You

They chatted on the way to town and Jo-Jo’s. Carilyn was looking forward to meeting more of Cody’s relatives and friends. From the way Cody talked about his cousins, they seemed like a cohesive family. They had their differences like any family, but they were all fairly close.

She liked when he told stories about his family. It made her feel like she was a part of the town and his life. And as she thought that, she wondered if just maybe she was starting to get too comfortable there and care for Cody too much.

When she grew quiet, Cody said, “Are you all right, Carilyn?”

She nodded and gave him a smile. “Great,” she said.

It wasn’t too long before they reached town and made it to Jo-Jo’s. After parking, they walked into the bar. It was a weeknight, and Cody said it wasn’t as crowded as it would be on weekends, but it was still busy.

A tall, leggy, beautiful woman approached them. She had hair that was a darker shade of red than Carilyn’s and her figure-hugging sparkling dress was short, showing off her long legs and her gorgeous figure.

“Carilyn, this is Jo Burke McBride,” Cody said. “She’s married to my cousin, Tate.” Cody turned to the woman, “Jo, this is Carilyn Thompson. She’s Leigh’s friend from Kansas and is staying while Leigh is in Europe.”

“Great to meet you.” Jo’s smile was brilliant. “Welcome to Prescott, and welcome to Jo-Jo’s.”

Carilyn liked Jo at once. “Your place is great,” Carilyn said to Jo. “It looks like you have fun around here.”

“That we do.” Jo’s smile was sensual as she looked at a tall, dark-haired man with green eyes who reached hem. “This is my husband, Tate.” In turn she introduced Carilyn to Tate and they shook hands and greeted each other. According to Cody, Jo and Tate were around ten years older than Carilyn and Cody, but they certainly didn’t look it to Carilyn.

“Have a seat over here.” Jo nodded to a corner. “That’s where ‘the girls’ and I sit whenever we’re having a girls’ night out.”

“That sounds like fun,” Carilyn said with a smile.

“The first round of drinks is on the house,” Jo said as they reached the table.

When they were seated, a server with a nametag that read “Tanya” arrived and took their drink orders. Dark-haired Tanya had a cute figure and her skirt was almost as short as Jo’s dress.

Carilyn decided on a pineapple mojito while Jo ordered a cosmo and the men asked for domestic beers.

They had barely settled in when another cousin and his wife arrived. Garrett and Ricki had just married a few weeks ago.

Carilyn was surprised at how easy it was to not think about Firebug or Leigh’s ransacked house or her burned up car…much. A couple of times the thoughts flashed through Carilyn’s mind, but she easily slipped back into listening to the cousins and their wives as well as Cody.

After her second mojito, Carilyn excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. She headed across the bar and down a hall to the restroom. Five minutes later she opened the restroom door to leave.

As she entered the hallway someone ran into her from behind, almost knocking her off her feet. She braced her hand on a wall to steady herself.

“Are you okay?” A pudgy guy, who looked like a stereotypical geek, moved into her line of vision and peered at her, his hand on her upper arm, a look of concern on his round, bearded features. “Sorry for running into you like that.”

With a smile, she said, “No problem. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Let me buy you a drink.” He looked down at his feet, his longish hair falling into his pale blue eyes. He glanced up again. “It’s the least I can do.”

“Thanks, but you don’t need to do that,” she said.

“But I want to.” He gave her a pleading look. “Please?”

Feeling uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her, she fixed a smile on her face. “I’m here with someone and he’ll miss me if I don’t come right back.” The man’s face fell and Carilyn couldn’t help but feel bad. “I appreciate the offer, though.”

He nodded. “Yeah, sure.” He turned away, headed down the hall and then vanished into the crowd beyond it.

She let out her breath and shook her head. That was weird. She felt bad for some reason, but there was no sense in letting the guy get his hopes up by allowing him to buy a drink for her. It had been clear that he was interested in her beyond trying to make up for running into her.

When she returned to the table, Cody smiled at her. His smile faded a little as she slid into the booth next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She gave him a bright smile and pushed thoughts of the geek to the back of her mind. “I’m ready for another mojito.”

She had just finished her third mojito when Cody asked her to dance. He took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor. She felt a little tipsy and warm inside but was still steady on her feet.

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