“That’s a part of it. But our main consideration is to have us in a place where you don’t have to pretend to be on a date with only one of us.”
Leesa felt her heart trip. She’d been able to empathize with her bff and with Carrie. She couldn’t imagine how galling it would be to have to pretend to love only one man if she loved two.
She met first Jason’s gaze and then Phillip’s. When they’d planned this evening, they’d been thinking, specifically, of her. Of her comfort and her feelings. That was a damn good start. “Let’s go join the family, then, if there are any in there.” She knew of course there would be, simply because that was how the Benedicts rolled. Then something occurred to her. She put her palm on Jason’s chest. “Provided, of course, you don’t mind having a little ‘cousin-speak’ hurled your way. I have a sense that appearing with me, so that everyone will know we’re on a date, might make the two of you a couple of prime targets.”
“You know what? I think we’d both be honored. Unless, of course, that kind of attention would bother you.”
“I was a sergeant in the United States Army. I’m made of tough stuff.”
She liked the way both men grinned and the way they seemed to relax into the plan.
“On weekends, apparently, there’s a lineup. Especially if there’s live music,” Phillip said.
“I’d heard Ms. Stone was beginning to schedule bands and solo artists for Saturdays.” Leesa liked what she’d dubbed the “news feed” active in Lusty. She’d heard all about how Angela Stone had finally begun to hire entertainment for Saturdays only. Reports were that, so far, it had gone well and that, in another month, she planned to extend that to Fridays, as well. When there wasn’t a live band, the management provided a DJ, who played a mix of country and rock. This night she could hear an old favorite, "From the Ground Up" by Dan and Shay as Jason opened the door and a single bouncer sat just inside on a stool. His gaze scanned them, and then he nodded.
Leesa thought he took his work seriously, because he returned his gaze to the interior of the roadhouse. She’d heard there wasn’t much occasion for the bouncers to exercise their authority here.
The music wasn’t overly loud, and when Bailey Benedict saw them as they entered, she grinned and then pointed toward the back. The parking lot outside had already told them the roadhouse was doing a good business tonight. As they headed toward the back, Leesa liked the way her hands were both held and that Jason led the way toward “Benedict Central.”
I feel protected between these two men. That wasn’t something she’d felt often before in her life. Neither was it something she’d have ever thought would make her go all soft and gooey inside.
She’d grown up a loner, despite being the oldest of five kids. Or maybe being a loner was because she was the oldest. That sense of isolation had followed her in her career, and she wondered, in that moment, surrounded by so many people, a lot of whom she knew, if the isolation had become more than a habit—if it had become her personal defensive wall.
And then there were waves and greetings and invitations to “come sit” reaching them from the back of the restaurant. Benedicts, Kendalls, and Jessops shifted, and Jason led the way to the bench seat along the back wall that faced the room, where there now was enough space that Jason slid in first and drew her in after him. Phillip followed, and Leesa found herself sitting between her dates.
They were seated across from Chance and Logan, and beside Char, Jesse, and Barry. Leesa returned the waves of Ginny and Maggie, both of whom were surrounded by their husbands, to her right.
The Jessops were represented by April, Marc, and Jeremy, as well as Chloe, Grant, and Andrew.
The families of Lusty, Texas, were proof positive that date night didn’t have to be relegated to the weekends.
“Here you go.” Bailey gave Leesa a menu—but not one to either her brother-in-law or her cousin.
“So we can share,” Jason said. He grinned at Leesa.
“Ah, got it. So if I hold it open and up like this…” Leesa let that trail, because both Jason and Phillip leaned in nice and close.
“What are y’all doing behind that menu, there?” Chance asked.
“Boy howdy, you Yankees are beginning to sound like real Texans,” Ginny said.
“They are, aren’t they? I wonder if they practice at home before they come out on nights like this,” Adam said.
Leesa snickered. Jason raised his head and looked over at his brothers. “We were perusing the options is what we were doing. The lip-smacking sound you heard was merely a response to all the tasty possibilities. On the menu, that is.”
Jason had said that with a totally straight face. Leesa couldn’t hold back her laughter. She laid her head for a moment on Jason’s shoulder. The sly look he sent her, wrapped in a wink, just increased that sense of female softening within her.
“What looks good to you?” Phillip asked her.
“Other than my dates? I think I’m in the mood for a chicken quesadilla.”
“Is that spicy?” Jason asked.
“Not usually, no.” Leesa grinned. “Some folks like to put hot sauce on theirs. Now, if you order the salsa with it, that can make your taste buds dance.”
“I’ve always been a fan of spicy foods, but J. Coop, not so much,” Phillip said.
“It’s not my tongue or my taste buds that mind so much,” Jason said. “It’s everything else.”
“My mother has a delicate stomach, so she doesn’t use a lot of seasoning,” Leesa said. “My dad and brothers both ensured there was a bottle of hot sauce on the table for every meal.”
“Did you get to make much Tex-Mex food in the army?” Rick Benedict, one of Maggie’s husbands, asked.
“Not generally, no. The
