“That’s enough.” The bartender came out from behind the bar and grabbed Bo by the arm. “You’re going home, Bo.”
“I don’t have to!”
“Well, you don’t have to go home, but you’re not staying here. You’re cut off.”
“I’ll see you outside!” Bo roared at Jared as the bartender led him away.
“Fuck.” Jared made a face. “My wife is going to kill me if I wind up in jail.”
Was it wrong that I wouldn’t mind at all if it happened?
There was definitely something wrong with me, but for whatever reason, I didn’t give a shit. In fact, I was looking forward to it. I was one hundred percent ready to rumble and many of my teammates appeared right there with me.
The season was over, so management couldn’t suspend the whole team for getting arrested.
Could they?
Shit.
3
Isla
I’d just come in after a ride on my horse when my phone rang. I was sweaty and covered in mud but the name on the screen gave me pause and I took a deep breath before answering.
“Dax. Hello!”
“Hey, Isla.”
His voice was warm and friendly and made my insides do funny things. Why did that always happen when you liked a guy? I was an adult, professional woman, but the sound of Dax’s voice made me shiver with delight. I felt like an idiotic teenager, and I hadn’t been one of those when I’d actually been a teen.
“Did Ian tell you what I did?” I figured it was best to get the hard part over with, but I was cringing as I waited for his response.
“He did. Right before half the team got in a huge bar fight and wound up in jail.”
“Oh my god!” I said, shocked. “Are you okay? Was anyone hurt?”
“We’re all fine. Charges were all dropped, no one was hurt, and those of us who were involved chipped in money to fix the damage at the bar.”
“Bloody hell, I’m surprised at the lot of you.”
“We tried to avoid it,” he said, chuckling. “I swear, we gave this guy every chance to walk away, but he was spoiling for a fight and then he punched our friend Lennox. She’s a retired Marine and a bodyguard, so she can take care of herself, but it was the principle of the thing.”
“Was this last night?”
“Yeah. We got home around four in the morning, I slept for a while and now I’m up and calling you. I figured we should talk about this…situation you’ve put us in.”
“I’m truly sorry. My grandfather wouldn’t leave it alone and yours was the first name to pop into my head. I didn’t think he’d push me for a name in front of company and then my brain seemed to blank out and I stopped talking.”
To my surprise, Dax laughed. It was a genuine laugh, too, coming from somewhere deep inside of him.
“Is it funny?” I demanded, though I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit myself.
“I’m sorry. I’m just kind of picturing your grandfather lording over you, some nerdy guy with glasses trying to ask you out and you just blurting out my name in sheer desperation…” He started to laugh again and my own laughter amped up a little too.
“I think you’re making fun of me,” I said, sinking onto the closed toilet lid since I was too dirty to sit anywhere else in my suite.
“Maybe a little,” he said.
“So you’re not angry?” I asked after a moment.
“Angry? No, not at all. I think we have to come up with a game plan, but I was wondering how I was going to get through the wedding without a date, and now you’ve solved that issue for me.”
“Glad to oblige. The problem is going to be the inevitable questions from my grandfather—and probably everyone else—about your intentions.”
“It’s fine,” he said quietly. “We can come up with a standard answer and refuse to deviate. Something like, ‘It’s still new and we’re taking it one day at a time because of the distance and our careers.’ I think that’s a fair and almost honest answer.”
“You’ve put some thought into it, I see.”
“Well, Ian told me what your grandfather’s been doing, trying to marry you off, so I figured if I could come up with a way to help, beyond one date, I would.”
“Thank you so much, Dax. I’m truly grateful.”
“It wouldn’t be much different than what we already do, you know?” He continued without waiting for a response. “I mean, our friendship and such. Whenever you’re here in Vegas or I’m in Edinburgh visiting, we always hang out, go out, spend time together, so we can do a bit more of that and no one will be any wiser.”
“You really don’t mind?” I was practically holding my breath with excitement.
“Don’t be silly. It’s kind of like we already date when we’re in the same place. Just without the sex and stuff.”
I chuckled. “Well, that’s probably true, but now that you mention it, it seems a shame, don’t you think?”
“What?” He sounded confused.
“That we’re dating but we’ve skipped all the fun stuff.”
“Well, we haven’t skipped it so much as…haven’t gotten there yet?”
“Are you flirting with me, Mr. O’Day?”
“Do you want me to flirt with you, Ms. Campbell?”
“Flirting is fun,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as breathless as I felt.
“Then we definitely should,” he said, his voice dropping a little.
There was a strange, somewhat electrically charged silence and then I managed to find my voice. “When, um, when will you be coming to Edinburgh?” I asked.
“I have a few things to tie up here in Vegas now that the season is over, but I can come whenever. Why? Did you want me to come sooner rather than later?”
I wanted him to come immediately, but it felt weird to say that. “If you don’t come until just before the wedding, there won’t be much time for…flirting.”
“That’s kinda what I was thinking too.”
What was happening here? I needed to ask, right? Was I imagining this…flirting stuff? “Are you
