Love, Exes, and Ohs (Cactus Creek #4)(23)

A big, warm body sidled up beside her as a deep, throaty voice stated with clear affection, “You outdid yourself tonight, Xo.”

Grinning, she shoulder-butted the tall, familiar frame, recognizing Lia’s oldest brother’s voice anywhere. “They outdid themselves. And thanks.” She looked around for the rest of the Spencer boys but couldn’t spot them. “You flying solo tonight?” Turning finally after greeting a few more passing regulars, she did a doubletake when she saw that Caine wasn’t just out of uniform, but dressed to impress.

She let loose an appreciative whistle. “You with a gun and badge is plenty hot as is, but when you put in this kind of effort, it’s almost unfair.”

Chuckling, Caine slung an arm around her shoulder. “High praise. And here I thought you wouldn’t notice.”

That was when it registered that he was standing awfully close to her.

Huh, that was…new. “What’s up, Caine? You seem different tonight.”

An understatement of epic proportions. He never flirted with her. And he’d always cite the reason why as him not wanting Isaac to kick his ass.

Didn’t stop her from playfully flirting with him from time to time though. All in harmless fun, of course. It was just amusing to push his big, gruff alpha cop buttons.

Instead of answering her question, he dropped his eyes to her lips and came in a step closer.

Holy shit.

After the momentary mesmerizing spell passed—she was only human—Xoey turned fully and narrowed her gaze on him. “Okay, that’s it. Am I witnessing a midlife crisis meltdown?”

A swift, peeved scowl transformed him back into the Caine they all knew and loved. “Criminy, I keep telling you I’m not old; I’m thirty-goddamn-six years old.”

She hid her laughter. Worked every time. “Then what’s all this about.” She waved a hand over his GQ attire, and pointed two pointedly forked fingers at his still smoldering gaze.

“Can’t a guy want to make a good impression on a blind date?”

“Ohhh. Gotcha. Wow, lucky girl. She may as well hand over her panties at the door.”

Now that the odd mystery was solved, Xoey went back to keeping an eye on things. “Did Dani finally wear you down and set you up with someone?”

“Nope. Lia did.”

“No kidding?” Interesting. She couldn’t see her tough little bouncer meddling in her equally tough brothers’ love lives. It’d be a hobbit-like journey to navigate through, without a doubt.

Caine, Gabe, and Max were all great guys, princes among men, but complicated as hell. Of course, Lia’s foster brother Drew, on the other hand, was strikingly uncomplicated. But he was also clearly in love with someone the entire town of Cactus Creek had been trying to learn the identity of for a while now.

Luckily for Xoey, her own three new brotherly figures—who’d followed through and become nearly as overbearing as the Spencer boys were with Lia since the night Xoey had given them dwarf names—were not nearly as complex. So far.

“So I’m trying hard not to take the panty comment literally but you’ve put quite the image in my head, sweetheart. Makes me want to walk you right over to the front entrance now.”

His eyes did that warm glittering thing again that had her rapid-blinking to keep from falling into a trance.

What in the world was going on?

That’s when it all slammed into her like a freight train.

“Lia’s Oh-Mate Bachelor choice for me is you?”

Laughter turned his features boyishly charming. “She didn’t mention the oh-mate part. Care to explain before I start guessing?”

“No,” she practically yelped. “And no guessing, either.”

To be fair, Xoey had told Lia that she wanted her last date set-up to be in Ocotillos. Considering the success of the last three dates, she figured if she felt an urge to poke a pen in her eye during, she’d have a full staff there to supply her with one.

But she never once thought Lia would blindside her completely.

“Lia wanted to warn you,” filled in Caine, as if reading her annoyed, slightly impressed expression accurately. “But I didn’t. So here I am. Since Dani’s here tonight, you’re free to grab a table with me, right?”

And of course, a two-person pub table just magically cleared right next to them.

Swinging her gaze back over to the bar, she saw several heads swivel away before she could catch them snooping.

Dani and Sienna.

…Who’d been talking to a guy at the bar whose side profile looked vaguely familiar.

It took a few seconds, but the puzzle pieces clicked into place with the resounding thud of a slamming prison cell door.

The yodeling ventriloquist.

Drinking beer!

As if suddenly feeling the full wattage of her glare, her first blind date from hell turned around and faced her.

Before jolting up and making a run for it.

Xoey waved over a young couple glancing covetously at the still-empty date table currently being guarded by an Ocotillos waitress. “Go ahead and sit,” she told them. “I’m going to be busy committing murder.”

Swiftly grabbing Caine by the arm, she dragged him over to Dani and Sienna at the bar, who were both suddenly very busy.

Dani was concentrating really hard on making sure the beer flowing from the tap stayed in the exact center of the mug she was filling, and Sienna was eating a bunch of pilfered cocktail maraschino cherries like it was her job.