Page 9 of A Rancher's Bride
Josiah looked shocked. “Kelli. With you. To the gala.”
His exasperation was rising. “Do I need to use smaller words? Who else would I take? Neither Caleb or Walker can go, and Dustin would be fairly useless. Ashton would kick my ass if I asked him to attend something like this. Kelli will do awesome.”
His friend was staring as if he was still working on the first part of Luke’s statement. Then Josiah shook it off, amusement spreading over his face. “Fine. You’re right, Kelli will do awesome. But…you didn’t tell her about the gala yet, did you?”
“Of course not. You pointed out not even thirty minutes ago that’s not a good idea until I get the official acceptance.”
Josiah nodded slowly. “Then take a word of advice. Don’t start any weird shit until it’s time.”
Luke thought about it before sighing in exasperation. “Oh.”
“Yeah,oh.” Josiah raised a brow. “You do know what you’re doing?”
“Look. I need somebody with me who will impress the hell out of people who know horses, and Kelli fits the bill. We can make up the rest of it as we go along.”
“Just seems to me— Never mind.” The twist to his lips said Josiah was holding back some sarcastic comment.
Luke folded his arms over his chest, now thoroughly annoyed. “Kelli and I have spent tons of time together. We get along like a house on fire.”
His friend raised a hand, motioning for one of the waitresses to come take their order. “Yeah, because burning shit down is definitely the way to impress people.”
Luke laughed, staring across the room at Kelli a little more intently than before. Josiah had made a good point about waiting.
But as soon as Luke got the official word, he’d make sure she was fully on board. It shouldn’t be too difficult. Kelli was fun to be with, and they would have a ton to talk about with all the rest of the horse-loving crew.
Josiah poked him to get his attention. Luke gave the waitress his order, then he and his friend fell into a friendly debate over which were better, red-hot wings or sweet Thai chili.
His gaze drifted over the room, keeping an eye on things. And if he happened to end up checking where Kelli was a few times, there was no harm in that.
The itchy sensation at the back of his neck was nerves. That’s it, nerves. He lifted his beer and drank deeply, while over the edge of the glass rim his gaze returned again to a slim cowgirl who never seemed to stand still.
3
Something was seriously wrong. Kelli peered around her friend Tansy, jerking back before he spotted her, but there was no denying the truth. Luke Stone was watching her.
“Girlfriend, if you bump my beer arm one more time, you’ll be wearing it,” Tansy warned.
“Sorry.” Kelli peeled her eyes away from the tempting man, twisting her body toward the other side of the room so he was nowhere in her line of vision.
Tansy’s sister Rose leaned in close to examine her. “You feeling okay? You look flushed.”
Good grief. The two of them were like bloodhounds wanting to sniff out everything Kelli definitely didnotwant to talk about. She deliberately raised a brow and gave Rose a dirty look. “You seemed flushed when you finished dancing with a certain tall, dark cowboy.”
Rose smirked but she didn’t look away. “Dancing is a vigorous exercise if you do it right.”
“So’s sex,” Tansy quipped. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot who I was talking to.”
A snort escaped before Kelli could stop it.
Rose turned an evil eye on her sister. “Do you mind?”
Tansy just grinned then turned her attention back on Kelli. “Don’t spill my beer, but if there’s anything on your mind you want to talk about…”
An opening Kelli was unwilling to take. Her obsessive thoughts about a certain man would not see the light of day until she was ready to move. It had been the only way to survive the years of shattered hopes—she didn’t need her friends knowing she was a hopeless romantic.
She scrambled to find something else to distract them. “Luke says he might let me help train Chili Pepper.”
The sisters exchanged glances before letting out huge sighs and turning back to the dance floor. “And on that change of topic, Kelli is once again back to discussing all things horsey.”
