Chapter One
Never again.
A lump of disappointment swelled in her throat as Summer Heston did her best to smile at her blind date, knowing this one was a dud, too. Grace Warner and Rachel Wolf had talked her into a blind date with a new coworker of Rachel’s. It had taken both of them to convince her, and now she wished she’d trusted her instincts. She glanced across the table and caught Grace’s apologetic grimace. Everyone had “off” nights, even Grace. The good Lord knew Summer understood that. She was having an “off” decade.
This time I’ve learned my lesson.
At least this guy wasn’t as insulting as that jerk Kent Hargrove had been the weekend before. Kent had been rude and belittling to her until Jack Warner had rescued her by inviting her onto the dance floor. Kent had been gone when she’d returned. No, this guy didn’t speak to her as though she were an ignorant child. He just flat-out ignored her.
After arriving for their blind date at The Dancing Pony, Taylor Vance had taken one look at Summer when Grace and Rachel had introduced them, and the disappointment had been clear in his eyes and his body language. He’d made polite conversation with her, fiddled with his phone a couple of times, and then one of his wingmen had conveniently shown up. They’d been involved in a conversation about work from that point on. Unless she spoke directly to him he seemed content to pretend she wasn’t there.
Never again. It’s not worth it.
Summer had a feeling she’d just hit bottom in the dating world. She felt bad for Grace, who sat there with an expression that alternated between embarrassment and disgust. Even Grace’s normally stellar instincts as a matchmaker couldn’t hook her up with a winner.
Grace leaned over to Summer while Taylor continued his discussion with his friend and said, “I’m so sorry, Summer. He seemed like such a nice guy when I met him in Rachel’s office. I thought you would hit it off. I saw the way he looked you over like he was disappointed. It was rude of him and stupid of me to misjudge him. Can you forgive me?”
Summer smiled and waved a hand dismissively. She could get through this night, no problem. “At least he’s not verbally insulting me. We didn’t click. Some men just don’t care for curvy women.”
I’m never doing this to myself again.
“Not even beautiful, vivacious, and clever, curvy women,” Grace said, frowning at Taylor’s back. Summer couldn’t decide who Grace was more disgusted with, herself or Taylor.
The intro for “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” began to play, and Grace’s face brightened up considerably. Summer grinned as Ethan helped his pregnant wife from his lap then kissed her before she walked to the dance floor. Many others left their tables, including Rosemary, Corina, Bernadette, Juliana, Teresa.
Maya was still recuperating at home, having just been released from the hospital a few days before. Her men, Kendall, Boone, and Richard Warner, were understandably protective of her after she’d been shot by her deceased husband’s business partner. It had recently been discovered that he had also been accused of murdering her husband.
Summer turned to Taylor to let him know she was off to dance also, but he was so caught up in his conversation he didn’t even notice as she slipped from her chair. She decided to leave him alone.
As they walked together, Rachel asked, “Want to bet on which of the guys is going to take Taylor’s head off for ignoring you like that?”
“Oh, no.” Summer turned to look over at their table, but couldn’t see as the club was too crowded.
“I don’t want any drama tonight. I wish they’d just let this date fizzle out without saying anything.”
“I can’t promise you that. The guys don’t take kindly to seeing their women mistreated, and I can promise you that they take his behavior as an insult to you. He should have better manners.”
Summer glanced again at the table.
“Stop worrying about him and let’s have some fun,” Grace called as they joined the others on the packed dance floor.
The evening couldn’t get any worse, so Summer decided to let her hair down and have fun wherever it found her. Taylor bought into the “stick thin is beautiful” stereotype, and that was his loss. Summer knew what she’d looked like tonight in her silky turquoise dress when she’d stood in front of the mirror. She was going to enjoy herself. How much did she really value his opinion? She hardly even knew the man.
No more blind dates ever again.
The pounding beat pulsed in her blood, and she moved with the music. Away from Taylor, her self-confidence returned. It wasn’t like she’d been hoping for a commitment. But it sure would be nice to be the object of someone’s adoration for a change. She smiled softly at Grace’s pregnant, but undeniably sexy, grinding moves and got into the dance.