Alice’s Beau-dar went off. And for once, it was a rather pleasant sensation.
Like most of the cowboys in Verde County, Beau knew the layout of Tony’s like the back of his hand. He didn’t even need to let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting as he led the Rancho Cañada Verde ranch hands past the dance floor. It was Bryce’s last night, and they were going to live it up.
Molly Newsom yanked on his sleeve. “Dance with me, Beau!”
“And I’m next!” Vanessa Ramirez said.
It was ladies’ night. And normally, Beau would hit the dance floor the moment he walked through the door and stay there until it was time to go home—usually with a lady in tow. But as far as the town of Big Verde was concerned, he had a girlfriend. Also, he really didn’t feel like dancing, and even though it was Bryce’s last night in town, Beau would rather be with Alice.
He’d missed her.
“Sorry, ladies. I’m not hitting the dance floor tonight,” he said.
“Oh my God,” Vanessa said. “Is it true? You’re dating the librarian?”
Bryce slapped him on the back and laughed. “It’s true. He’s out of commission.”
Vanessa pouted, but then she smiled and grabbed Bryce’s hand. “Come on. You’ll do in a pinch.”
“I’m always picking up your slack,” Bryce said with a wink.
“It looks like quite a sacrifice.”
“Get me a beer,” Bryce hollered as he followed Vanessa onto the dance floor.
Two of the other guys also found dance partners, so Beau and Worth headed to the bar. “Let the single guys dance,” Worth said. “You and I are going to warm some barstools while our women warm our beds. And honestly, if it weren’t Bryce’s last night in Big Verde, I’d be in mine right now, snuggled up with Caroline.”
“I understand,” Beau said, surprised that he really did. And then he stopped in his tracks. A familiar brown ponytail was swinging this way and that on the other side of the bar.
The toes of his boots automatically rotated in that direction, and he forgot all about beer and Bryce and what he was doing here.
Worth grinned, following Beau’s gaze. “Oh. I see how it is.” He slapped Beau on the back. “I guess I’m on my own tonight.”
Alice looked up. And instead of wrinkling her brow, which is what she used to do whenever she saw him, her face broke out in a huge smile.
“Beau Montgomery,” Carmen said when he arrived at the table. “What are you doing at Tony’s on ladies’ night?”
“The more important question is, what is my girlfriend doing here?” Beau said, sitting next to Alice and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Being a lady, of course,” Maggie said with a mischievous grin.
Was it weird that none of this felt weird?
Carmen stood up. “Care for a beer?”
He’d forgotten he’d even wanted one. But before he could answer, a beer bottle appeared out of nowhere. He looked up to see Worth. “Figured you’d want one.”
The women immediately began fawning over Worth, calling him Baby, which was his rodeo name. He’d retired from bronc riding at the ripe old age of twenty-one in order to settle down and marry Caroline.
Alice, however, wasn’t fawning over the young cowboy. She was staring directly at Beau, and it damn near stopped his heart. For a moment, he thought he might have to pound on his own chest.
She leaned in. “Where on earth did you find that awful picture?”
“What awful picture?”
“The one of me when I was fourteen.”
“What was awful about it?”
Alice rolled her eyes, but what was so funny? He’d snapped that photo himself, at the ripe old age of ten, and then he’d stuck it in a birthday card that Alice had given him and Bryce for their tenth birthday. Congrats on reaching double digits, boys! It had been for them both, but Beau was the one who’d stuck it in a shoebox and kept it.
Even at ten years old, he’d known there was something special about Alice Ann Martin. She’d made him laugh. Sometimes she’d made him mad. But she’d always made his heart beat like a bass drum. Just like it was doing right now.
Even if the relationship was fake, his feelings were real. And this could become a problem.
“Are you okay?” Alice asked, eyebrows drawn into a frown. “You don’t look so hot.”
“I’m fine,” he blurted, lifting his hat to wipe the sweat gathering on his forehead. “Would you like to dance?”
The last time he’d asked Allie to dance, she’d basically called him a child and sent him on his way. But he wasn’t a child anymore. He was a man, and Alice was the woman who held his heart.
Heck, she was the woman who’d always held it.
Chapter
Twenty-One
Oh God. Was he really asking her to dance? Right now? In front of everyone?
At least there were no snickering kids holding up dollar bills in the distance. Because Beau wasn’t that cocky teenager anymore. And she wasn’t the insecure girl in the photo. They were exactly what they’d been telling everyone they were: two people who enjoyed each other’s company. Why shouldn’t they share a dance?
“God, woman. You’re killing me. I can practically hear the Jeopardy! music playing. Give me your answer.”
“Are you wearing steel-toed boots?” She wasn’t really joking. Because, while she could do an adequate two-step if she concentrated, she had a feeling it would be difficult to concentrate while dancing with Beau.
Beau grinned and held out his hand. “I’m not worried about you stepping on my toes. I’m a good enough dancer for both of us.”
“And so modest,” Alice said. “Just don’t try to be fancy.”
“I don’t have to try. The fancy just leaks out naturally.”
Uh-oh. She was in trouble.
They went onto the dance floor, and Beau took her in his arms. Crisp, starched shirt. The woodsy scent of his aftershave. He placed a big warm hand at the center of her back and started moving without any fanfare at
