“Sir,” Gavin addressed Hairy Arm respectfully, even if he flexed his muscles like a junkyard dog’s hackles. “The bartender has your tab ready for you and your party. You can settle it up front.”

  Hairy Arm straightened, taking some of the cologne cloud—mercifully—with him. “We’re not leaving—”

  “You will be if you don’t allow these ladies to enjoy their evening in peace,” Gavin warned, his arm still wrapped possessively around her.

  The touch was for a good cause, of course.

  He was helping her send the interloper packing, and probably doing a faster job than they could have managed on their own. Even Kendra, with her big-city street sense and willingness to go toe-to-toe with anyone, couldn’t have ousted him as quickly as Gavin. Because even now, Hairy Arm huffed his way back to his own table, muttering curses.

  Sadly, no matter how many strides the sisterhood made forward, some misogynist creeps only paid attention when a fellow Y-chromosome carrier did the talking.

  A moment later, the bartender arrived with an icy bucket of six longnecks from the craft brewery owned by the Kingsley family. Lauryn recognized the Gargoyle King labels as cocktail napkins and frosted mugs were passed around.

  “Courtesy of Mr. Kingsley,” the barkeep announced as he straightened from the task and nodded to Levi just before the owner disappeared into the back office. “Let me know if you’d like anything else.”

  Distracted by the free drinks, and curious about the way Kendra’s harrumphed how “some people were too proud to come over to the table to say hello,” Lauryn missed the moment when Gavin gave her shoulder one final squeeze and vanished again.

  A new party had entered the bar, too, so maybe Gavin had stepped outside when the door was open.

  She hadn’t even had a chance to say thank you.

  Or tell him she needed to talk to him. Not that she would have shared the conversation she’d had with her dad this evening. At least, she didn’t think she would have. Maybe she just wanted to apologize for being one of those people who’d made up their minds about someone before gathering all the facts...

  “Which do you want?” Hope was waving a beer bottle under her nose, her pink Henley sleeves rolled up enough to show off the colorful ink of the animals scrolling around one forearm. “The lager or the IPA?”

  “Lager,” Lauryn decided, attempting to shake off thoughts of Gavin to focus on her girlfriends.

  If anything, her hormones racing out of control tonight was more reason than ever to seek advice.

  “So...” Kendra cast a speculative look her way. “You and Gavin Kingsley?”

  “Definitely not.” How many times had she told herself she shouldn’t get attached to the town’s bad boy billionaire? Even without his father’s inheritance, he was a wealthy man in his own right. She’d read his bio for the bachelor auction. She knew about his personal investments in his brother’s start-ups. And his own business—the stud program—already had a staggering net worth, assuming he untangled it from the Kingsley family to keep a portion of it.

  Streaking Saint alone would make him a very rich man.

  Hope exchanged a wry look with Kendra across the table while the jukebox switched to an old country romance ballad. Then Hope pointed her beer at Lauryn and said, “Yet he just draped himself all over you a minute ago, and you didn’t even blink.”

  Sighing, Lauryn remembered this was why she came. She needed the help and advice of friends. Especially this week, when she was already feeling the annual melancholy that came with the impending anniversary of her foster sister’s death in another two weeks.

  After making sure Gavin was nowhere within hearing distance, Lauryn’s gaze snagged on an older couple who’d moved onto the Stockyard’s small dance floor to twirl a slow two-step, their eyes locked on one another as if they were all alone. A hollow pang filled her chest.

  Then she bent her head closer to her friends and told them everything. The panic attack, the kiss, the unexpected side of Gavin she’d uncovered and—toughest of all—her fear that her father had carried an old, baseless grudge too far.

  What she didn’t understand was why.

  When she finished her story, Kendra gave a low whistle. Hope chewed her lip.

  “Well, what do you think?” she prompted them, reaching for a second beer. She would only have a few sips. But the tale had taken more out of her than she’d realized. “I should ignore the hot looks, shouldn’t I? Run for cover? I keep reminding myself that he has female admirers chasing him from here to Kalamazoo.”

  Hope laughed as she scraped her dark curls into a ponytail and tugged a scrunchie off one wrist to tie it. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean he’s chasing them back. You can’t really hold it against a man for being charming and attractive.”

  “Can’t you?” Kendra asked, though her attention was fixed behind the bar, where Levi Kingsley was deep in conversation with an older woman in a fringed jean jacket and black Stetson. “The Kingsley men all seemed to inherit their father’s sense of entitlement.”

  Lauryn frowned, thinking about Gavin’s determination to leave town and not take a cent from his brothers for the legacy that should have been his. “I’m not sure I agree—”

  Kendra whipped back around to face her, setting her bottle on the table with a too-hard thud. “Sorry. You’re right, and I’m off topic. What I don’t understand is why you don’t just go for it with Gavin? You want him, and from the hot, possessive looks he was giving you tonight, it’s clear he wants you too.” She shrugged, her expensive-looking navy blazer hugging her figure as she moved. “You already know there’s a chance he’s a player, so just go into things with eyes wide open. Enjoy some fun while it lasts.”

  Lauryn hadn’t expected a green light. She’d thought maybe her friends would share what they knew about Gavin. Or help her scour his social media for clues about the real him. Or—actually, she’d had no idea what to expect.

  Then again, she’d only just begun trying to knit together a serious friend group in the last year, as part of her ongoing path to healing from losing her closest friend ever. This kind of thing—drinks with the girls on a Sunday—was new to her.

  As was advice on her romantic life since, so far, the guys she’d dated had been safe choices. Sheriff-approved.

  “Hope?” Lauryn turned to her other friend. Hope Alvarez was as down-to-earth as they came. Before she’d gone away to veterinary school, she’d raised her own sheep and goats. Even now, she bred award-winning sheep in her spare time. “What do you think? Am I crazy to consider this? Especially with Dad giving me hassle for reasons known only to him?”

  A smile curved one side of Hope’s lips as she spun her empty beer bottle in circles on the table. “Gavin is great with horses, so he can’t be all bad in my book. Sorry if that’s a weird metric for applying to guys.”

  “No. I appreciate that insight, actually.” Lauryn’s equine-therapy days had taught her that horses were discriminating judges of character. “I just hate that my parents have turned my friendship with Gavin into a reason not to attend Studs for Sale.”

  She hadn’t realized until she said the words aloud how wrong that felt. How much it hurt. Or how much she’d counted on the support of her family. She’d worked hard to be someone they could be proud of.

  Hope covered her hand, her silver rings a cool weight on Lauryn’s fingers. “Your dad can be a good man and still wrong about this. It’s okay to trust your own instincts.”

  The advice settled around her, resonating.

  “I guess you’re right.” She squeezed Hope’s hand. Then reached for Kendra’s and squeezed hers too. “Thanks, you guys.”

  Some of the tension that had been riding her ever since the argument with her father seeped out of her now. The fun of the night out, and the soft guitar strains of another romantic country ballad, soothed her insides.

  Just in time too. Because a moment later, she spotted Gavin heading her way again, his brown eyes locked on her.

  Stirring her senses.

  “Incoming,” Kendra whispered again, only this time it wasn’t a warning so much as an invitation.

  A possibility.

  Releasing her friend’s hands, Lauryn licked her lips. Ready for whatever happened next. Because as long as she kept her eyes open and her heart on lockdown, she looked forward to everything tonight had in store for her.

  Nine

  As Gavin made his way toward Lauryn’s table once more, he assured himself his intentions were good.

  Honorable, even.

  He’d given her time to catch up with her friends, refusing to descend on her the moment she set foot in the bar like the jerkoff who’d hit on her earlier. But something about the posture of her friends told him they’d finished the intense discussion they’d seemed to be having earlier. The veterinarian was now pointing out some of the ink on her arm to the suit-clad publicist across the table while Lauryn swayed her shoulders in time to a country love song, her gaze stuck on an older couple who’d hit the dance floor for every slow tune in the past hour.

  As far as Gavin could tell, he wouldn’t be interrupting. And he really did just want to apologize for the way he’d reacted when they’d kissed.

  Stopping just short of her chair, Gavin rested one arm along the back of the stool while he extended his other hand to her. “May I have this dance?”

  Okay, so his good, honorable intentions were easier to accomplish if they could speak privately. If it meant having Lauryn in his arms at the same time because they were in a bar and she’d been swaying to the music, that was just a happy coincidence.

  “I’d like that.” Her breathy words were a soft huff against his cheek where he leaned in to hear her.

  She slipped her fingers in his palm as she slid off the barstool, her pretty dress hugging her curves as she moved. When her hazel eyes locked on his, he felt the spark that always ignited when she was near. Only now, it felt hotter.

  Because she didn’t break her gaze? Or was it because of the sexy little grin she gave him before she sashayed ahead of him toward the dance floor?

  Whatever it was, he couldn’t ignore the subtle twitch of her hips as she moved, the hem of her dress caressing her thighs as the fabric swished. His heart thumped harder while he scavenged around his brain for those good intentions.

  She spun toward him once she reached the wooden dance floor his brother had built near a small stage that featured live acts on Fridays and Saturdays. Tonight, the jukebox and the older couple were their only company as Gavin embraced her, dropping any pretense of two-stepping his way through this conversation.

  Lauryn looped her arms around his neck in return, her body drawing closer to his like she wanted to be there. She felt soft beneath the thin material of the dress, her skin warm right through the silky fabric.

  “Are you enjoying yourself this evening?” Gavin asked, knowing he wouldn’t be able to focus on the apology he wanted to make if he kept letting his thoughts wander down the dangerous terrain of how Lauryn felt against him.

  “Yes, it’s good to spend time with friends. I haven’t made enough space for that in my life.” Her fingers played idly with the hair at the back of his neck, and he wondered if she realized the effect she was having on him. “Thank you for the help ousting our visitor earlier. We could have handled it—”

  “Of course you could have. But you shouldn’t have to put up with being hassled in the first place.” Sensation streaked down his spine from the featherlight touches of her fingers. “Especially when—as you said—you’re out to catch up with friends you don’t see often enough.”

  “You’re right.” Her smile unfurled, the sign of her happiness making him feel like he’d won something more significant than any rodeo buckle. “I appreciate not having to waste our energy chasing off some presumptuous stranger. It gave us more of our evening to talk.”

  He was curious about what that conversation had involved. He’d noticed—in the handful of times his attention had found itself fixed to her throughout the evening—that she’d been doing most of the speaking. Was something troubling her?

  The idea worried him as they shuffled slow steps around the dance floor. The older guy winked at them as he and his partner twirled past.

  Gavin’s grip tightened on Lauryn’s waist. He didn’t want to be another presumptuous guy trying too hard to get close to her, so he didn’t think it was right to ask her about her conversation with her friends. Instead, he reminded himself what he’d wanted to discuss with her in the first place.

  “I owe you an apology.” He couldn’t stop his thumbs from grazing light circles where they rested just above her hips. “That’s half the reason I asked you to dance.”

  “An apology? What for?” Her head tipped to one side as she gazed up at him, her full lips looking incredibly kissable.

  The memory of her taste flooded his senses, the need for a repeat of that kiss urging him to pull her closer. Press all of her to him while he tested the soft give of her mouth once more.

  “For ever suggesting you’d kiss me to prove some kind of point.” He shook his head, still disgusted with himself about that. “If I’d been thinking straight, I would have known that’s not something you would do—”

  A ghost of her earlier smile returned. “Why weren’t you thinking straight?”

  The coy look in her eyes was a teasing aspect he hadn’t ever seen on her before. He liked it.

  Tremendously.

  “Are you flirting with me, Lauryn? Right in the middle of my heartfelt apology?” Everything about the bar faded away, his senses narrowing to only her.

  “Maybe. Is it working?” Her hazel eyes blinked up at him.

  “Too well.” He couldn’t resist reaching up to trace a touch along her cheek. Tease his fingers along the line of her jaw. “Well enough, in fact, that I’m going to feel severely disappointed if it’s the alcohol talking.”

  She laughed, her legs brushing against his. “Considering I only had one sip of a second beer, I seriously doubt that.”

  Desire for her surged. He had to remind himself where they were. That tonight wasn’t his date night with her. He couldn’t just act on the hunger she stirred simply by being in his arms.

  What had changed between them to make her feel comfortable with him this way? Enough to kiss him? Flirt with him?

  He knew she’d avoided him because of his reputation in the past. Had she really begun to see beyond the hearsay of a few people who had it in for him? Namely the sheriff and his own father? He’d wanted her to get to know him before the bachelor auction. Maybe she really had.

  Gavin bent to speak into her ear through the veil of silky chestnut waves. “You can’t begin to imagine how much I’d like to take you home with me tonight and show you how thoroughly you’re affecting me.”

  The shiver that went through her trembled through him too.

  When her eyes found his again, the green depths glowed brighter. Hotter.

  “Maybe we should go out on that date I promised you,” she suggested, her steps slowing to a stop.

  He hadn’t realized the music ended until that moment, his thoughts too crowded with images of her in his bed. Beneath him. Over him. Shouting his name on a hoarse cry as he teased her release free...

  “A date.” He repeated the words that sounded entirely too tame for what he wanted with her. He couldn’t seem to let her go even though the jukebox switched to a fast-tempo country rock song. “That’s a good idea. We’ll talk through exactly what’s happening between us. Figure it all out.”

  Her lips parted. Her breath came faster. She stood so close he could see the pulse pounding faster in her neck.

  “Sounds like a plan.” Giving him a jerky nod, she slipped by him to walk back to her table.

  Gavin followed a step behind, wishing he had the right to kiss her goodnight.

  But he couldn’t lose sight of why he’d remained in Silent Spring in the first place. As much as being around Lauryn Hamilton tempted and tantalized him, he needed to figure out what role she’d played, if any, in him being disinherited.

  And if she hadn’t done anything to taint him in his father’s eyes, Gavin still wondered if she’d known for years that he would be losing his place in the family legacy. Because that would hurt too. He’d spent so long trying to prove himself to people.

  He didn’t think Lauryn was playing games with him—he’d meant what he said when he’d apologized for assuming her kiss was a test. Yet something had shifted her opinion of him, and he wanted to know what that might be.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he assured her as he delivered her back to the table with her girlfriends, both of whom were now on their phones, heads bent together as they scrolled through their screens. He lowered his voice for Lauryn’s ears only. “So you can make good on that promised date.”

  “Do that.” She laid a hand on his chest, steadying herself to arch higher on her toes so she could speak close to his ear as well. “And you can make good on some of those things you mentioned to me too.”

  If there’d been any doubt in his mind about her intentions for this date, they were gone now. A fire blazed over his skin where she’d been touching him a moment ago, her words replaying in his head.

  He’d wanted this damned date so she could get to know him better. To show her there was more to him than the heartbreaker reputation.

  But right now, he couldn’t imagine any scenario with Lauryn that didn’t lead them into bed so they could excise the attraction still scorching him from the inside out.

  * * *

  Anticipation shivered over Lauryn’s skin as she neared the small airfield where her outing with Gavin was set to begin.