Home > Married by Monday (The Weekday Brides #2)(5)

Married by Monday (The Weekday Brides #2)(5)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“Here ya are, ma’am.” The bartender sat the bottles down. Eliza reached into her purse to pay. “Already taken care of,” he said nodding to the end of the bar. There sat two single men with button up western shirts and Stetsons. Eliza made eye contact with the one sitting closest to her. His dark hair and finely manicured mustache outlined a ruggedly attractive face. She lifted her bottle with a tiny nod.

“Did they buy the drinks?” Gwen asked.

“Seems so.”

“Should we go over and thank them?”

Eliza turned away from the men and brought the bottle to her lips. After a sip she said, “No need. They’ll be here in less than five minutes.”

Gwen held her bottle and smiled over the bar to the cowboys. “How do you know that?”

“Because you’re still staring at them which they’ll take as an invitation.”

Gwen dropped her glance to the floor and swiveled in her seat.

“My God, you really don’t get out much.”

Gwen’s cheeks turned red. “I’m pathetic.”

“You’ve been sheltered. Not completely your fault.”

Gwen sipped her beer. To her credit, she didn’t frown at the taste. “Sheltered and pathetic.”

Just how innocent are you? “Please tell me you’ve had boyfriends.”

Gwen’s jaw dropped. “I’ve had lovers. I’m not a virgin if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Why that’s a mighty fine piece of information, darlin’. I could swear you’re as innocent as a new born calf.”

Eliza and Gwen both shot their eyes to the rugged cowboy who had made it to their side in less than two minutes.

Gwen’s cheeks grew instantly red, and her eyes opened wide.

“Thanks for the drinks,” Eliza said, trying to remove the attention from Gwen’s outburst.

“My name is Rick. This here is Jimmy.” Jimmy was an inch or so shorter than Rick and a good twenty pounds thinner. Both were easy on the eyes.

“Eliza,” she said, “And my non-virginal friend Gwen.”

Gwen elbowed her in the side and Eliza laughed.

Rick and Jimmy were kind enough not to keep the joke going. “Mind if we join you?”

Eliza nodded to the empty seat on her right. Rick sat and Jimmy said, “I’ll keep an eye out for an open table.”

Gwen moved a little closer to Eliza when Jimmy stepped closer to her. This was going to get awkward in a heartbeat. “Why don’t I hold this,” Eliza reached for Gwen’s beer, removed it from her fingers. “And you two dance.”

Gwen leaned over and tried to whisper. “I don’t even know him.”

Eliza smiled and nudged her out of her chair. “Go. We’re here to have fun.”

Jimmy was already reaching for Gwen’s elbow.

“But I don’t know how to dance like that.”

Jimmy helped her to her feet. “Where are you from?”

“Outside of London.” Gwen sat her purse on the barstool.

Jimmy winked. “Well, English, I learned the two-step when I was five. I’m sure I can show you.”

“You sure?”

“C’mon.”

Eliza followed Gwen as she stepped on the dance floor. She stiffened when Jimmy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his frame. After only a couple of missteps, Jimmy successfully had Gwen swinging to the music in what appeared to be complicated dance moves.

“Do you always watch your friend so closely?” Rick asked.

“It’s in the handbook of girls. We go to the bathroom in pairs, tuck each other’s tags in, and we watch out for each other.”

“She doesn’t seem to be watching you.”

Eliza let her gaze drift to the cowboy on her right and smiled. “She’s just trying to keep from breaking your friend’s feet. Hard to do that and watch me at the same time.” Rick was cute. His accent adding to his smooth demeanor, but he wasn’t doing a thing for her libido. Chemistry was a bitch that way. On the outside, two people might seem to be right for one another, but on the inside, they simply didn’t fit. Or they exploded much like her and Carter.

Rick must not have felt the same. He settled into his chair and kept the conversation going.

****

Carter elbowed Neil into the back of the bar far away from Eliza and Gwen and did his level best to slip into the shadows.

From the look of Gwen’s faltering steps, the women had been in the bar for at least an hour, maybe two. Gwen’s hair was falling out of place and on occasion her voice rose above the others. She’d danced with at least three different men in the short span of time he and Neil had been there. If it was any consolation, Eliza dumped some of Gwen’s drinks into forgotten glasses on the table.

Neil’s white knuckles clutched the beer in his hands as he watched Gwen spin around the dance floor. “She’s drunk,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

“I’d say you’re right.” Carter took a pull on his beer, eyes glancing over to Eliza. She was talking with two men sitting at her table where she’d spent most the night. One of them stood and offered her his hand. She hesitated, but then stood and let him lead her to the dance floor.

Her tight little ass wiggled in step with the music as if she were born to country western dancing. Her partner kept his hands on her hip for about thirty seconds, and then they started to slip.

   
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