Page 47 of That One Night
“I can’t sing,” Emery admitted. “Will that be a problem?”
“Don’t worry, most of my friends can’t either,” Sabrina told her, shrugging. “Anyway, you don’t have to sing. We’re just going to drink cocktails and check out the hot men. So are you in or what? It’s going to be fun.”
From the corner of her eye she could see Hendrix’s dirt bike heading down the farm road toward them. She hadn’t seen him for the past few days. It had felt like he was avoiding her, truth be told, but maybe she was being too sensitive.
He didn’t owe her anything. If anything, it was the other way around. He’d helped her finish another item on her list after all.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he came to a stop beside Sabrina’s car.
“I’m just asking Emery if she’d like to come out with me and the girls on Friday.” Sabrina shrugged.
Hendrix looked from his cousin to Emery, like he wasn’t surprised. “Where?”
“To the Moonlight bar.” Sabrina lifted a brow at him. “Karaoke night.”
Hendrix looked at his cousin a moment too long. Like he was trying to work out her intentions. “I can drive you,” he told Emery. “If you’d like.”
“You’re coming to karaoke too?” Sabrina asked, looking appalled at the thought of it. Emery bit down a smile.
“Pres and Marley keep hassling me to play pool. Seems as good a day as any to head into town and make them happy.”
Sabrina rolled her eyes at him. “Shut up. You just want to make sure we behave.” Sabrina looked over at Emery. “He’s such a killjoy.”
She didn’t look like she cared, though. Emery got the impression that nothing bothered Sabrina.
Maybe she should try being a little more like that.
“Yeah, well we’ll meet you there.” He looked over at Emery. “Won’t we?”
“We will.” She nodded, grinning. Her day was already looking up.
“Whatever.” Sabrina shook her hair out. “Your moods are so swingy they belong on a kid’s playground.” She poked his chest with her finger. “Just make sure you get her there on time.”
Hendrix’s eyes met Emery’s. “I will,” he murmured. And it made her heart gallop.
Because yes, he was just driving her to the bar to meet up with his cousin. It wasn’t a date or anything. But he wasn’t avoiding her, either. Whatever it was that was happening between them, she liked it. Way too much.
Hendrix was running late, dammit. A baler had jammed, and he’d spent the last hour fixing it, sweat soaking his skin. And by the time he’d gotten home he was covered in sticky dirt and bits of hay, and needed a long, hot shower.
Being late was the last thing he needed, because he didn’t want to give his cousin another excuse to be annoyed at him. She’d already called and given him hell for offering to drive Emery.
“I thought you wanted me to be her friend,” Sabrina had complained.
“I do. I also want to make sure she gets home okay.”
“You’re so aggravating,” she told him.
“Right back at you. I’ll see you Friday at seven.”
Truth was, he didn’t want Emery walking into the bar alone. He didn’t want other guys looking at her and thinking she was fair game.
Shewasengaged, he reminded himself. That’s why he was feeling protective of her. Not because he wanted her.
Squeezing that thought out of his mind, he pulled his dark t-shirt over his head and made a vain attempt to get his damp hair under control. His muscles ached. Before the baler broke he’d spent most of the day wrangling his uncle’s cattle, moving them to a shadier spot. A few of them hadn’t wanted to comply so he’d spent too much time coaxing them, then dragging them. And then he’d cleaned out the cattle sheds, then forking hay from the delivery van into the barn.
He rolled his head from side to side to loosen the muscles in his shoulders. A year or two ago he would have planned to drink his way through the pain, but the fact was he had to be up early in the morning to do this shit all over again.
Truth be told, he loved it.
