Hooked (3 page)

Dinner. Together. Alone. This could be considered kind of a date. No? His pulse began beating faster, from fear or anticipation he wasn’t quite sure. Luke had jumped on the back of some of the rankest bulls in the world without an eighth of the anxiety he was experiencing now. This one woman had his hands shaking.

No doubt about it—dating was a lot harder than bull riding.

They walked a little while in silence, the combined sound of their boots echoing off the walls of the now nearly deserted hallway. Meanwhile Luke wracked his brain for an icebreaker. Should he save the conversation for the restaurant where he could be face-to-face with her or try to make small talk now? Hell if he knew. He’d never really had a first date with Lilly. They’d known each other forever, until one day they’d simply gone from friends to more. Coincidentally, about the time she turned legal and became a woman to him, rather than his best friend’s little sister.

Annie was Luke’s friend, kind of. They’d spent a lot of time working together for years now, so at the very least they were work friends. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to turn the friendship into something more—if she wanted that. He reminded himself he didn’t know what the hell Annie was thinking as she kept her head down and walked a quick and steady path toward the door at the end of the hall.

They neared the exit that led to the parking lot. A security guard nodded to them as Luke pushed the door open and held it for Annie. He may not remember what to do on a first date, if this could even be called that, but he knew the manners his mama taught him and he always opened a door for a lady.

It wasn’t until they were outside, under the electric lights illuminating the rows of parked cars that Annie glanced sideways at him. “So, good ride tonight.”

“Thanks.” Luke matched his pace to hers, which was pretty fast considering she was a head shorter than his own five foot eleven inches.

“I thought he was going to get you there in the end.” She smiled, obviously far more relaxed talking about the action from the day’s event than she’d been when they’d discussed having dinner together. He’d have to remember that.

“Yeah, me too. But I figured what the hell. Those people paid good money to sit in the front row so why shouldn’t they get the extra excitement of a bull rider landing in their laps, right?” Luke shot her a grin, knowing full well she’d seen how close the bull had come to hooking him with a horn and throwing him over that railing. In fact, he definitely would have been hooked if he hadn’t jumped over the barrier just in the nick of time.

“Extra excitement, huh?” Annie laughed. “You certainly gave them that.”

The sound of her laugh caused a little flutter in his belly. Damn, he felt like he’d been hooked all right, and not by any bull either.

She paused in front of a beige sedan and clicked the doors open with the control attached to her key. Luke glanced inside at the light-colored interior and immediately regretted not taking the time to change his clothes. It was too late to change now. He brushed any dirt from the ass of his jeans the best he could with just his hands before taking a seat in her rental car.

Oh well. Annie had been around bull riders enough to not be bothered by a little arena dirt. At least he hoped so, anyway.

In the driver’s seat, Annie pulled the seatbelt across herself, and Luke was reminded to do the same. His mind had obviously fled along with his ability to make conversation with a pretty woman.

She started the engine and then turned to look at him. “So?”

“So?” Luke’s mouth felt dry. Sitting in the dimly lit car, all he could think about was leaning forward and tasting those perfectly shaped lips.

“Which direction is the restaurant? North or south on the highway?”

Luke felt like an idiot. “Oh, um, sorry. North, toward the hotel.”

She nodded and shifted into reverse, navigating the car out of the space as Luke resisted the urge to leap from the passenger door and go back to the guys in the arena. At least he knew how to talk to men. If the start of this date, or non-date, was any indication, he was going to be single for a long time to come.

Glancing out the window and wondering if the persistent silence in the vehicle was as uncomfortable for her as it was for him, Luke just had time to read the name of their exit before they sped by the sign. “This is our exit coming up.”

She nodded and slowed the vehicle while Luke’s brain scrambled for a plan for this evening. Maybe a nice big drink would do them both good. Hell, it couldn’t hurt.

“This is it. Right there. See the sign with the longhorn on it?” He hooked a thumb in the direction of the restaurant, part of a chain of barbecue places strewn throughout the country.

“You guys don’t stray much from your usual, do you?” Annie laughed and the sound did his worried mind good.

He felt himself loosen up a little and grabbed onto the topic of conversation. “Hey, why take a chance on something new if you already know what you like.”

That was probably a good way to describe his philosophy regarding women too. He’d stayed with Lilly long after he knew it was over because it had been comfortable. And now he’d dodged buckle bunnies and any other kind of entanglement with females since his breakup, and the reason was sitting next to him, turning off the engine of her rental car.

He’d found Annie intriguing as a person for a while. He’d always respected her as a professional. Now Luke wanted to get to know her better. See how things might work out since they were both free, single and young—okay, maybe he wasn’t so young for the profession he was in, but he was at least still young enough to enjoy life, and Annie.

Unfortunately, now that he’d set his sights on her, what had always been an easy, casual working relationship between them had turned into something very uneasy, as evidenced by his constant state of nervousness around her tonight.

“I have to agree with you there. I’ve had too many bad meals and more than one case of food poisoning over the years. It’s just the way you guys were all talking about how great this place was, I assumed it was someplace new you’d discovered.” Annie brought his attention back to their impending meal together. “Mustang never mentioned it was a Longhorns.”

Come to think of it, Mustang had made a particular point to tell Annie how good their meal was when they’d all been talking before the event. Strange. The food had been good, but that wasn’t what had impressed his friends last night. The other guys had been so into this place because the management seemed to only employ girls with huge racks on them, and the staff was allowed some liberties with their uniforms. They all wore the same logo T-shirts, but they also all cropped, cut and tied them up into different body-baring configurations.

His friend had always had a good appreciation for a well-endowed woman, but it made it even stranger that Mustang would push this place as a suggestion for Annie so strongly.

How the hell did he tell Annie that Mustang’s raves were probably boob induced? Luke felt his cheeks heat as he realized she seemed to be waiting for an explanation for Mustang’s enthusiasm over the chain restaurant. Deciding he couldn’t tell Annie the truth, Luke lied instead.

He shrugged. “I guess we were just really hungry last night and we probably had enough beer to make it seem even better than usual. You know guys.”

Yeah, right. Annie wasn’t dumb enough to believe that, especially once they went in and she got a look at the scantily clad waitresses.

The moment they walked inside, the hostess, belly button ring clearly visible beneath her tight-as-skin T-shirt tied up under her generous boobs, greeted them. “How many?”

“Two, please.” Annie’s eyebrows rose as she answered the girl.

With a look that traveled from the top of Luke’s hat down to his boots, the hostess nodded to them. “Sure thing. Follow me.”

“Now I see why you liked it here so much.” Annie’s voice was so low he had to strain to hear her over the noise of the crowded restaurant.

He blushed and tried to shrug away his embarrassment. “Like I said, you know how the guys are.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

What Annie didn’t know was Luke. Not well enough for his liking anyway. He didn’t want her assuming he was a horn dog. He wracked his brain for something to say that would let her know he wasn’t interested in the hostess, or the waitress the hostess handed them off to. Her belly was covered but her nipples showing through the shirt might as well have been flashing in neon the way they screamed out for attention. He shot Annie a look and noticed her smirking.

“The food better be as good as the view or all of you guys are never going to hear the end of this from me.”

“It’s good. I swear.” What else could he say to Annie? Certainly not the truth, which was that he would—and had—passed up every waitress in the place for a shot at something more with her.

They sat in a tight booth built barely big enough for two, but Luke figured the place was so crowded they were lucky to get a table at all on a Saturday night. Apparently it was very popular with both locals and visitors. He had no doubt the staff’s attire had a lot to do with it, but he hadn’t totally lied. The beer was cold and the food good.

The waitress handed them menus. “Can I get y’all something to drink?”

Luke wanted to answer, but he waited for Annie to order first.

Her gaze met his. “What are you having?”

Maybe she was waiting to see if he was going to drink or not. “They’ve got a local beer on tap. That’s what I had last night. I wouldn’t mind having that again.”

“Okay, I’ll have the same.” She glanced at the waitress who nodded and was off to fill their beer needs. Annie looked down at the menu in her hand, almost like she was avoiding looking directly at Luke. “Hmm. I’m not sure what I want.”

“Their sampler is real good. It’s for two though…” Why did ordering a meal for two feel suddenly too intimate? Mustang and Slade had shared it the night before. It was really no big deal. Why should it feel so presumptuous to suggest he and Annie share it now?

She shifted in her seat. “That sounds good. I mean, if you want that. If not I’ll order something else.”

“No, the sampler’s fine with me.” Luke swallowed and found his mouth dry. Jeez, this shouldn’t be so hard. Why was it so hard?

Annie flipped her menu shut and Luke did the same. The waitress was as efficient as she was endowed, thankfully, and she was back with their two glasses of blessed brew by the time they’d decided on their order. She took their menus and, with a promise that their food would be right out, was gone again.

Okay, with the beer before him and the food on the way, it might not be so awkward. They’d talked about the beer on tap and then about the menu for a bit. Now maybe they’d talk about some bull riding. Then… Well, he’d have to figure something out. Maybe by then their meal would have arrived and they could talk about that some more.

Luke took a giant swallow of beer, as much to fill the silence as to give himself time to think of what to say. He would love to know more about Annie. Where exactly she lived when she wasn’t following the tour? If there was someone waiting there for her?

How the hell did he ask a personal question like that though? Did men ask women things like that?

“So, um, I haven’t seen Lilly around lately. Is she, uh, busy at home?” Beer glass in hand, Annie dropped that bombshell on Luke and then took a big swallow.

Meanwhile, Luke nearly choked on his own mouthful of beer. Apparently a person just came right out and asked a personal question like that. At least Annie did. And now it was his turn to answer her. Maybe this was a good thing. Just dive right in. Let Annie know he was both available and interested.

Again words seemed harder than they should to form, so he decided to keep it short. “We broke up.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Annie looked suitably saddened by the news, and he wondered what that meant exactly. She looked like she wanted to ask more but no question came. Instead, she took another gulp of beer.

Luke needed another brace of alcohol himself for this conversation. “So what about you? Anyone important in your life?”

To his surprise, she let out a short laugh. “No.”

He bit his lip and then waded in deeper. “Why not?”

“With all the traveling and strange hours, a job on the pro circuit doesn’t leave a lot of time for dating.” She was concentrating so hard on playing with the condensation on her glass that he had to wait for her to look up.

“You could always date one of us pros.” He forced himself to hold her gaze and not look away after that crazy suggestion.

Something that looked like surprise crossed her face before something else replaced it. What he couldn’t quite name. Interest maybe? He could only hope.

Finally she answered. “Maybe I should. Any suggestions who?”

Luke’s heart sped. “Yeah, I might have an idea.”

The waitress chose that moment to arrive with their giant platter full of mixed barbecue and sides, just when things were really starting to roll.

Annie straightened and leaned back in her seat to give the waitress room, which also took her farther from Luke.

Man, things could change in an instant, but Luke knew that from bull riding. He knew during a ride one small move could entirely shift the rider’s balance—either for good or for bad. His gut told him during that brief conversation things had shifted between him and Annie, and for the better. He just hoped they stayed that way in spite of the interruption.

“Another round?” the waitress asked, eyeing their nearly empty glasses.

“Yes,” they answered at the same time.

Luke’s and Annie’s gazes collided. As his pulse pounded in his ears, Luke realized things were definitely different for him. He found he had no appetite whatsoever for the food in front of him, but a huge desire for the woman across the table. Now all he needed to figure out was how exactly to go about getting her.

Chapter Three

Annie glanced sideways at Luke from her position in the driver’s seat. “Thanks for dinner.”

“You’re very welcome.”

He flashed her that gorgeous smile that never failed to make her heart race—unless of course he was delivering that smile to another woman, such as the waitress. In that case, it had the acid backing up into Annie’s throat until she was ready to spew fire wondering what else, if anything, Luke had shared with the boob-baring server.