Breaking Him(30)

Cassie laughed and joked with me as we climbed in her truck, but Eli hadn’t moved. His head was tilted down and to the side, that blasted hat hiding his eyes so I couldn’t even try to read what he was thinking.

Then we were driving down the road, headed for town. We’d barely left and I was already desperate to get home again, to make sure Eli knew he had nothing to worry about.

When we arrived the band was already playing. The stalls and tents from the fair that day were still up but closed for the night. They’d been arranged in a large circle, a makeshift stage for the band at one end, dancing and mingling in the middle. Decorations and lanterns had been strung up as well, and they cast a soft, warm golden glow across everyone. It was beautiful. I wished Eli were there with me.

I spotted James at the same time he did us.

He rushed over and pulled me into a tight hug. “About time you got here, woman.” Then he grabbed my hand and dragged me away from Cassie. “Let’s dance.”

I laughed. “I just got here. I need a beer first.”

“Bullshit.” He snorted. “Abigail Smith doesn’t need Dutch courage to shake her ass on the dance floor.”

Half an hour later we were still there. James was a great dancer, always had been. He spun me around the floor, that wicked glint in his eyes, purposely ignoring the scores of females desperate for his attention. By the time we’d finished another dance or two, he’d have every available woman throwing herself at him—and some that weren’t available.

The song changed to a slow one, and he tugged me in close, wrapping his arms around me.

I grinned up at him. “You’ll start a catfight soon if you don’t start sharing yourself around.”

He shrugged. “I don’t get to spent time with my best friend very often. They can dance with someone else.” He gave me a squeeze. “You seeing anyone, Abi?”

I blinked up at him. He never asked about my love life, not since we had our ill-fated attempt at one. “Why do you ask?” I tried to sound light and breezy, but my belly squirmed at the look in his eyes.

He glanced away, then down at me. “We weren’t that bad together, were we?”

I jolted and stared up at him. “Where the hell is this coming from?”

“I don’t know.” His brow scrunched, and he rubbed the back of his neck like he wasn’t quite sure himself. “I’ve been thinking about coming home.” He touched my hair at the side of my face. “You’re what I think about when I think about home, I guess.”

I gave his arm a light slap. “I love you, you know I do. But we were terrible together.” I snickered. “Kissing me was like kissing your sister, and you damn well know it.”

The lines at the corners of his eyes crinkled, then he barked out a laugh. “Shit, it was bad, wasn’t it?”

“The worst.”

He mock shuddered. “Right, forget I ever mentioned it, and let’s go get a beer. I feel the urge to get wasted.”

He slung an arm over my shoulder and led me to the beer tent, leaving me to wait while he got us drinks. I snorted to myself when he was swarmed as soon as he hit the bar. I may not get hot under the collar for the guy, but I wasn’t blind, either. James was a good-looking guy. He was also funny, and if Kasey Cooper was right, a mountain lion in the sack. He was grade-A beef for this pack of husband hunters.

I was still chuckling to myself when I spotted Connor Jacobson a little ways away. I caught James’s eye and pointed outside. He gave me a nod, then carried on fighting off his tipsy fan club.

“Mr. Jacobson?” He turned at the sound of his name, eyes moving over me in a way that could only be described as appreciative. My skin crawled.

“Abigail,” he said too loudly.

His face was rosy, eyes on the droopy side. The man was hammered.

“Nice to see you, real nice.” He rubbed his hand over his mouth.

Jesus. “Sorry,” I muttered. “This isn’t the time to discuss business.” I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm.

“Now, now, don’t go rushing off, honey.”

This was going downhill fast. I needed to get away from this creep before he said something that could screw things up for me in a big way. I searched the crowd in the beer tent for James, but he was still surrounded by cooing females.

“I’ve been thinking…”

Never a good idea.

“You have a predicament.” He shuffled a little closer. “Maybe old Con can help you out of your mess.”

Old Con? What the hell? “I’m going to stop you right there, Mr. Jacobson. Unless you’re going to tell me the bank has agreed to extend my loan, I can’t imagine any other way you could help me out.”