Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(32)

“You like Rooster?”

“Very much. Would you be willing to call Max on his cell?” She should have thought of that first thing.

“I would, but he left it here, charging.”

“Oh.” Every which way she turned, she hit a dead end. Lauren was fast losing hope. “Can you help me, Bethanne?”

Once more she heard the hesitation in the other woman’s voice. “I don’t know.”

“I feel wretched over what happened. Although we just met, I think given the opportunity we could be more than friends. I’d hate to leave matters the way they are. I can’t let him believe that I would use him.”

Bethanne paused as if she was giving consideration to Lauren’s words. “Max ran an errand this morning and apparently while he was out Rooster contacted him.”

“He did?”

“Rooster suggested they meet. He had something he needed to talk out with Max.”

Hope sprang up inside Lauren like Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. “So Max is currently with Rooster.”

“I believe so. Rooster’s call is all beginning to add up now that we’ve talked.”

“What do you mean?” Lauren asked.

“Well, it seems to me Rooster appears to have taken a liking to you as well.”

So Lauren hadn’t been imagining this attraction; it was mutual. Knowing this made her feel worlds better and more determined than ever to set matters straight.

“Do you happen to know where they’re having lunch?” Lauren asked.

“I do, but Lauren, this is definitely a guys’ place.” Bethanne mentioned the name, which was unfamiliar to her. “It wouldn’t be a good idea for you to go there on your own.”

“I don’t care.”

“You’re going to a lot of trouble.”

“It’s important.”

“Lauren, it’s a biker bar.”

She swallowed tightly; it could be worse. “Thanks for telling me.”

“All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Bethanne.”

“You like Rooster this much?”

Lauren didn’t hesitate: “Yes.”

“Good luck to you, then.”

“Thank you.”

Feeling better than she had all night, Lauren returned to her condo and hurriedly put away her groceries. As soon as she’d finished, she considered changing clothes but didn’t want to waste the time.

Dressed in designer jeans, a pink cashmere and silk sweater, and knee-high boots, she headed out the door, determined to find Rooster Wayne. No doubt she’d stick out in the bar crowd, but she didn’t care.

What was important was finding Rooster.

Chapter Thirteen

Rooster cracked open a peanut, chewed down the nuts, and tossed the shell onto the floor. A group of bikers gathered around a pool table in a hotly contested game. Their chatter and shouts echoed around the cavernous room along with the loud honky-tonk music that blared from speakers on the other side of the tavern.

Sitting on a bar stool at the counter with Max, Rooster waited for lunch. Hog’s Hideout was known for its grilled Philly sandwich, which he’d ordered for lunch with a side of slaw.

“You haven’t said much,” Max said, and tossed an empty peanut shell onto the floor.

“Not much to say.”

“I thought you were going to look up an old high school buddy while you were in town.”

Rooster shrugged. He’d forgotten all about that. “Didn’t feel up to it.”

Max leaned closer to the bar, paused, and then asked, “So, how’d your dinner date with Lauren go?”

Rooster wasn’t up to talking about that, either. “Not so good.” Even now he wasn’t sure why he’d contacted Max. It’d seemed like a good idea at the time, he supposed. In retrospect, it wasn’t. The mistake he’d made was mentioning Lauren in the first place. He’d been taken with her, and had enjoyed their Thai food experience. Max had jumped all over that, reminiscing about his first meeting with Bethanne. Well, Lauren was no Bethanne, and he wasn’t Max.

“What happened?” Max pressed.

He should have realized his best friend was going to hound him with questions. If the situation was reversed, he’d do the same. “Nothing much,” he said, downplaying the entire ordeal.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not necessarily.”

Their order came up, and for the next ten minutes they ate without communicating. When he’d finished, Rooster wiped his mouth clean with a paper napkin. It was the first food he’d tasted in nearly twenty-four hours. He hadn’t had the stomach for dinner after leaving Lauren, and he’d skipped breakfast, settling for several cups of coffee instead. He’d grown restless and unsettled, pushing all thoughts of the woman from his mind. It irked him that he’d allowed her to get under his skin and so quickly.

“You mentioned how you felt when you first met Bethanne,” he said.

“Yeah. It’s been a couple of years now, and that feeling hasn’t changed.”

Rooster could see the effect Bethanne had on Max every time the two were together. It was like a booster shot of enthusiasm for life. The two of them were good together. Seeing how Max had been willing to love again had inspired him. It’d given him hope that there was someone special for him, too. It’d felt right that first night with Lauren, right and good, but it wasn’t meant to be. He should have learned his lesson by now. He wasn’t good with relationships with women.