Page 26 of Wrangling Hearts
“You’ve been looking at her all night. And then you letWestondance with her? Idiot.” She rammed her finger into my chest, enunciating her next words. “Stop. Being. A. Bitch. And ask Claire to dance.”
My lungs deflated, my shoulders dropping pathetically. “I can’t go ask her to dance,” I said quietly. “I’m competing against?—”
She held a hand up, silencing me. “I haven’t seen you look at someone the way you’ve been looking at her since she got hereever.” I opened my mouth to respond, to tell her she was wrong, but she cut me off again. “I’m not done. You obviously feel something towards her, so stop being a coward and go do something about it.”
I glanced back, finding Claire nursing a beer and chatting with Delilah, who kept glancing at Emmett on the dance floor with Louise. Poor guy, she was eating him alive. Delilah said something, and Claire laughed, the sound carrying over the thinned-out crowd.
That laugh did me in. Next thing I knew, I was striding across the park.
I locked eyes with Delilah first, and she smacked Claire’s arm frantically, getting her attention. Claire turned, beer bottle to her mouth, and her eyes went wide. She lowered the bottle and wiped her mouth. God, that mouth. How could something so vicious look so sweet?
Delilah stepped in front of her, arms crossed like a guard dog, acting as if I couldn’t toss her over my shoulder like a bag of feed. I hadn’t seen her in years, but she still had her signature light copper hair and seemed as bold and outspoken as ever, wearing her red leather jacket and skin-tight jeans. “What do you want, Beaumont?”
Claire fidgeted behind her. It was so unlike her that I ended up not answering Delilah and blurting, “Dance with me.”
She blinked quickly. “W-What?” I’d never heard her sound so unsure in my life. It only made me want to hold her close even more.
I held a hand out for Claire. “Dance with me,” I said, my voice more sure. Surer than it’d ever been.
She hesitated for a second before handing her beer to a concerned-looking Delilah. “Are you sure, bear?” Bear. I had forgotten they all called her that because she was like a mama bear. Fierce. Protective. Loyal.
But someone had to take care of the mama bear, too. And tonight, I wanted it to be me. Consequences and competitions be damned.
“Yeah,” she said, a little breathless, and when her hand slid along mine, sparks ran through me like I had grabbed a live wire. Her hand wasn’t soft, not entirely. Rough in all the places that were a testament to how hard she worked. And God help me, it was sexy as hell.
Claire smelled like flowers as I pulled her in close, probably the closest we’d ever been, definitely the closest as adults. The music cut, and then came the slow drawl of “Tennessee Whiskey.” I looked over to see my meddling sister waddling away from the stage, grinning like the devil.
“I’m gonna kill ‘er,” I chuckled under my breath, shaking my head.
Claire smiled softly in Anna’s direction, relaxing in my hold a little more, her guard dropping a little more. “How is she doing? Her family?” An unexpected pang of sadness hit me, knowing how far apart they drifted when they used to be best friends. All because of our fathers, because of that stupid merger.
“Good. Her son, Henry, is four, and she’s due in a few months with a baby girl.”
Her smile widened at that, her eyes meeting mine. “He’s cute,” she said. “I saw you with him earlier over by the ring toss.”
“He’s spoiled rotten, that’s what he is.”
She giggled, and I felt like the king of the world. But then her walls slammed back up, and she put more distance between us. “This doesn’t change anything, you know. So if this is some mind game, it’s not going to work.”
“This isn’t a mind game, Claire. I don’t need games to win.”
She rolled her eyes, looking away, before meeting my gaze again. Her eyes were so green up close, distracting enough that I faltered and nearly stepped on her foot, but she didn’t say anything. She just kept looking at me with this…I couldn’t even describe the look in her eyes, but it captivated me. Did she feel this thing between us? Whatever it was?
“You know this will be in theWhisperstomorrow, right?” Her voice had a husky rasp to it now.
“I don’t care,” I replied, pulling her closer. Needing it. She followed easily. I brought out our joined hands against my chest, and I knew she could feel how fast my heart was racing. I licked my lips, letting out a shaky breath. “I just know I saw you walk in earlier, and I haven’t been able to focus on much else.”
She cocked a brow, smirking. “Who’s the one looking now?” But I didn’t miss the subtle flush in her cheeks.
“I’ve been looking all night, Claire.”
Her playful expression disappeared. She swallowed roughly. “Beau…what are you doing?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. The question reverberated through me harder than any bass could. Because for the first time in my life, I felt truly out of control.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”
“Okay,” she said, and let me pull her in closer.
Everything fell away as I held her against me, her body now flush with mine. A perfect fit. My hand slid lower down her spine, stopping just short of being indecent. Further than Weston dared. “Am I a better dancer than Weston?”
