“My husband passed away a few months ago,” Carrie answered, making Caleb feel like a complete jerk.
“I’m sorry—” he started.
“No,” Carrie said, flashing a half smile. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Spencer said. “This little girl is going to have more folks looking out for her than any child would want.” Addressing Caleb, he said, “How are you liking things at the paper?”
Thankful for the change of subject, Caleb replied, “I like it a lot. How did I do in that sales call this week? Gerald didn’t warn me I’d be the one doing the talking when we met up with you.”
Spencer nodded. “Sounded like a man who knows his stuff to me. Nichols is definitely the guy to teach you the ropes. I think he’s been selling since snake oil was a thing.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.”
The waitress returned to the table to get Carrie’s drink order. Spencer spoke for her and seemed protective of the expectant mother. Lorelei didn’t appear to mind. Caleb wondered exactly how close these friends were.
After taking a long draw off his beer, Cooper said, “Who am I dancing with next?”
Carrie threw her hands in the air. “Don’t look at me. Unless by dance you mean walk slowly around the edge of the floor taking a pee break once a minute.”
“This one is mine,” Spencer said, sweeping Lorelei toward the hardwoods.
Cooper looked at Snow with raised brows. “Guess that leaves you and me.” Glancing Caleb’s way, he said, “You mind, bro?”
The look of sheer terror on Snow’s face made his answer clear. “Go for it, man. But bring her back with all toes intact.”
“What?” Snow exclaimed.
He dropped a hard kiss on her cheek and said, “If his hands get too low, knee him in the groin.” Before she could argue, Cooper gave a “Yeehaw!” and hurried her to the floor. Caleb knew he shouldn’t piss off the woman he planned to seduce in less than an hour, especially when he’d waited so long to have her. But then again, she looked so hot when she was pissed.
“That was nice of you,” Carrie said, reminding him that he wasn’t alone.
He gave her a crooked smile. “She’ll hate me for it, but she’s a better dancer than she thinks.”
Shaking her head, the future mom said, “No, I meant for Cooper.”
“How did I do a favor for Cooper?” he asked, the smile fading as he searched the floor for the man in question. Caleb hadn’t considered the possibility that the gearhead had more than a passing interest in his wife. Several ideas for how to handle the situation came to mind, most of which involved ripping the mechanic’s head off.
“Relax,” she said. “I don’t mean like that. He loves to dance and is always the third wheel with Lorelei and Spencer.”
“Oh,” he answered, continuing to monitor the space between Cooper and Snow as they passed by. “Why doesn’t he bring his own date?”
“Cooper has eyes for only one girl, and she doesn’t come here.” Carrie kicked her feet forward and back where they hovered a foot off the floor. “She never comes to Brubaker’s.”
Their conversation the day of the auction came to mind, and the mechanic’s answer that he hadn’t won the right girl. Yet.
“Why doesn’t he ask her to come?”
Light blue eyes met his with a look of gentle pity. “That’s what the rest of us keep asking, but he won’t do it.”
Watching Cooper hoot as he twirled Snow into the back of another couple, he said, “The guy doesn’t strike me as the shy type.”
Carrie chuckled. “Me neither, but he has his reasons, I guess. I’ve been tempted to say something to her, but I’d hate if someone did the same to me.”
“You know her?”
“She’s my OB,” the woman answered. “Needless to say, I see her regularly these days.”
A mechanic with tattoos and an OB doc did sound like an odd combination. But then Snow claimed the two of them were opposites and Caleb didn’t see it.
The up-tempo song faded into a slower tune, bringing Cooper and Snow back to the table. Spencer and Lorelei remained on the floor. “Here you go,” Cooper said, presenting Snow like a prize. “All body parts present and accounted for.”
Snow used a small napkin to dab beads of sweat from her forehead, but the grin and flush on her cheeks said she’d enjoyed the dance more than she was probably willing to admit.
“Anytime,” he replied, tucking his wife against his side and whispering for her only, “How about we make this date a little more private?”