Page 24 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
“I need to gas up,” Karen said. “Meet you at Longhorn’s?”
“No problem. I’ll grab us a table.”
Only by the time Karen got there, not having a reservation had turned out to be a problem. Julia was standing outside the door—
Chatting with Zach.
Karen glanced around to see where Finn was because she was pretty sure the two men were like bookends. Find one, you’d find the other.
Julia spotted her. “Hey. We’ve got about forty minutes before they can sneak us in.”
Zach flashed her a bright grin. “I hear you’re celebrating getting this really fantastic job. Oh, and I hear your supervising boss is one hell of a guy.”
“I didn’t say anything about that.” Julia sounded confused.
“He’smy boss,” Karen offered dryly.
Julia nodded slowly. “Ahh. Let’s hope the man isn’t delusional.”
A sharp snort sounded behind her, and Finn appeared. “She’s already got your number, Zach.”
The powerfully built man in front of them laid a hand over his chest with as much dramatic flair as Karen’s little sister would have. “Not a word of it was a lie.”
Finn lifted his chin toward the restaurant doors. “You ladies want to join us?”
Confusion hit first, then cautious curiosity. “You just happened to have a reservation for four?”
“Sort of?” Zach hesitated, glancing at Finn as if looking for direction.
Julia offered Karen some serious wide-eyed ‘you need to call the shots on this one’ signals.
She took a deep breath. This was about enjoying a good steak. She didn’t have to make a decision about forever. “We would love to join you.”
“Back in a minute.” Zach disappeared through the front door.
Finn turned to Karen. “I know this is your sister, but we’ve never been introduced.”
Julia thrust forward her hand. “Julia Blushing. EMT trainee, former dude ranch resident, and youngest Whiskeymouse.”
A laugh bubbled up before Karen could stop it. “Dear God, we need to deal with Lisa.”
But Finn grinned. “Well, there’re lots of lovely things to unwrap in that introduction. I think I like your version of the nickname better than the one I heard before.”
Julia looked confused for a moment as if going over what she’d said.
She smacked a hand against her forehead. “Whiskeyteer. I mean it’s a cute name, but damn if it’s not a mouthful.”
The door opened and Zach poked his head out, gesturing inside. “Come on. They’re adding a couple of place settings for us.”
Longhorn Steakhouse was one of the best places to go for a meal if you had a little money to spend. Karen had been there a couple of times since Tamara moved to the Heart Falls region.
She’d never been up the tall staircase at the far end of the room.
Never knew the private room at the top of the stairs existed. A decent-sized table rested in front of a massive picture window that faced west toward the Rockies.
Four place settings waited, one at either end and two along one side. Zach pulled out the chair for Julia at one end then made his way to the far side, which left Karen next to Finn.
“You obviously have an inside track with management,” Julia said as she looked around with appreciation. “Thanks for the invite. This is amazing.”
