A Fallow Heart (Tommy Creek #2)(32)

God, he was tantalizing. Panties must drop wherever he went. In fact, the pair she wore suddenly felt a little strange and ultra-sensitive against her skin as if they were tempted to slither down her legs and fall away on their own accord.

“So, Em said you’re in Dallas now.” Clearing his throat, Cooper reached past her for more peanuts.

When his elbow came within a fraction of an inch from brushing her already sensitized breasts, she drew in a breath. The sound must’ve touched his ear because he turned just in time to see how close he’d come to grazing her. His eyes flared and he opened his mouth, lips forming an apology, but he changed his mind at the last moment and decided to ignore the close encounter.

She prayed she wasn’t nipping. But from the way he zipped his attention back to facing forward, rushing out a heavy, uneasy breath, she feared the worst.

Jo Ellen took her turn to clear her throat. “Yes, I uh, I started my own business there.”

Gaze darting back to her, Cooper stared hard before a slow, appreciative smile worked across his feature. “Did you?” She could see it in his eyes, he was genuinely happy for her. “What kind of business?”

She hesitated. If he called all her hard work a rent-a-hostess, she’d have to…she’d have to…well, she wasn’t certain what she’d do, but it wouldn’t be pleasant. It’d probably be embarrassing, tearful, and very, very…unpleasant. Stomach knotting with apprehension, she explained her job. But instead of snorting or even giving a polite, disinterested nod, letting her know he’d totally lost interest, he watched her as if enthralled.

“That’s amazing, Jo Ellen.” He looked proud enough to make her chest swell with honor. “I bet you’re perfect at that. I can easily see you organizing a high-society party.”

A quick frown knit her brow. “You can?” Because only cheap rent-a-hostesses did such menial tasks; or because he’d always seen her as some kind of prissy highbrow?

She should’ve known better than to think he’d in any way demean her, though. Loren Gerhardt would only raise a perfect gentleman. “Sure,” he told her, his grin broad. “You’re the most…elegant person I ever met, a natural hostess. I bet all the rich socialites are knocking each other down to get you at their parties.”

Her heart fluttered and her cheeks heated. “Well…I have been heavily booked,” she couldn’t help but brag. Just a little. Hell, she’d worked her butt off to deserve those bragging rights. “To spend the week here, I had to decline a dozen different requests. And I’ve got a job as soon as I return. It’s going to be a tight squeeze but the senator wouldn’t take no for an answer; he even doubled his offer.”

Cooper’s sexy blond eyebrows arched. “A senator?” He let out a low, appreciative whistle. “You have caught the attention of some big names. And it sounds like you love your job too.”

“I do.” She smiled. “I really do.” But even as she grinned and swelled with happy warmth, a part of her shriveled with disappointment. This might’ve been what she’d always wanted professionally, but her personal life had suffered the consequences.

She flashed her twin a glance, all cuddled up with Branson as they sat together, nearly sharing one stool on the other side of Alexa and Dexter. A part of her mourned, realizing she might’ve sacrificed too much, lost too many golden opportunities when she’d put all her time into starting her own business. Another part of her equally mourned because in all honesty, she knew she still never would’ve found what Emma Leigh had obviously found with Branson, even if she hadn’t been so busy working.

Travis had broken something inside her ten years ago. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to trust a man like that again. She just couldn’t commit. And if she couldn’t put a commitment into a relationship, she didn’t even want to bother.

“Bathroom,” Alexa said abruptly, rattling Jo Ellen from her declining thoughts. Before she could ask what her cousin-in-law meant, Alexa’s hand grasped her elbow and jerked her off her barstool, dragging her toward the ladies’ room.

“Um, okay,” Jo Ellen answered, stumbling to catch her balance as she tripped along behind the nearly sprinting pregnant woman. She threw Cooper a worried cringe, hoping she hadn’t insulted him by dashing off in the middle of their conversation. But he lifted his eyebrows in amusement and waved a couple fingers at her in farewell.

“Em,” Alexa called as she dragged Jo Ellen along. “I said bathroom.”

Emma Leigh lifted her face from where she’d been flirting with Branson and frowned. “But I don’t have to go.”

Alexa darted a dirty scowl over her shoulder and roared, “Now!”

“Geez, all right, okay. I’m coming.” Emma grumbled as she slid off her stool. After slapping a quick, departing kiss to her husband’s cheek, she hurried to catch up. “What’s the big fuss anyway, Lex? You had Joey with you. And I’ll tell you right now, I don’t group potty.”

Jo Ellen frowned at her sister, prepared to berate her for being obstinate when Alexa clearly wanted their company, but as soon as the bathroom door closed the three of them inside the dim, dank lavatory, Alexa burst into tears.

“I wet my pants,” she bawled, though the muted words sounded more like I met my mants through the two layers of fingers she held horrified over her mouth.