The Bachelor's Baby (Bachelor Auction Book 3)(7)
Meg still hated her a little bit for daring to admire what she had already called in her head. It had been almost a week since their run-in and she hadn’t stopped thinking about him. She still felt foolish, but she was even more attracted now than she had been in those few seconds when they’d first met.
He disappeared behind the handful of men leaning on the rail overlooking the bar. “Did I tell you this used to be a bordello?” Meg asked Liz. “That’s where the ladies used to hang out—pun intended—inviting men to come up and see them sometime.”
“Really? That’s funny. You must know all of the bachelors, then. You and Blake always seem to know everyone,” Liz mused.
“Pardon? Oh, yeah, I guess we do.” She was searching the upper level for a glimpse of Linc but dragged her gaze back to the main floor. It was practically a Marietta High School reunion in here. Dillon Sheenan was behind the bar. Ryan Henderson had just appeared in chef whites. He was auctioning off a world-class meal. Rachel Cassidy was back in town after her divorce, which was great. Female doctors were a godsend for any small town. Rachel was sitting with her sister Susie and the rest of their circle, Lexy and Dayna, and—Oh, hey. Hannah was pregnant. Meg hadn’t heard that, but she looked five or six months along. Good for her.
Beau Bennet walked in with Heath McGregor. She’d always had a soft spot for Beau, not that he knew it or knew her as anything more than one of Andie’s cohorts. The way they’d lost their brother, Ben, in a drowning accident had always stuck with Meg, though. It was the first local news story she’d ever followed and, to this day, she thought about him and Andie when reporting a tragedy, always mindful there were affected friends and families behind headlines.
“It says he’s Lincoln Brady,” Liz read.
“Yeah, um—” Hearing his name made her flick her gaze upward again. “I don’t really know him, but I did meet him briefly the other day. He’s our new neighbor.” And he preferred Linc. Maybe he only let his friends call him that. He probably expected her to call him Sir.
Liz gave her a considering look, seeming to read significance in Meg’s fascination with the upper lounge.
Meg dropped her gaze, which was another involuntary revelation of guilt.
“The Circle H guy?” Liz murmured, looking upward herself, head cocked with fresh assessment. “I thought the consensus was that he seemed to know what he was doing, but he looked more like a city slicker. Takes one to know one, right?” Liz added with a self-deprecating grin that wrinkled her nose.
Meg thought he looked like a man intent on making a point as he appeared at the rail to scan the crowded tables down here. His gaze came to rest on her. He had a beer in his hand. No need for a stronger dose of liquid courage, his casual hold on the bottle seemed to say. He was merely whiling his time until it was his turn to climb onto the block.
Then he’d slay every female heart in this room, because he might have been tricked into doing this, but he didn’t falter from a dirty job. He showed up, worked hard, finished on time and on budget.
Actually, she bet he threw in a few extras. He looked like that kind of guy.
Someone should open a window. It was really hot in here.
“And it was a brief meeting, you say?” Liz asked, as she noted the blush staining Meg’s face.
“Very,” Meg lied, finally relaxing when Linc was distracted by the arrival of another one of the bachelors next to him. The men exchanged a handshake that held an air of commiseration.
“That’s Gabriel Morales,” Liz provided, pointing at the brochure. “Says he was one of the rescuers. Can we get these cheat sheets printed for everyone in town?”
Meg smirked. “No, you’ll have to build your database the old-fashioned way: gossip. People don’t say much about him, though.” Not anymore. His childhood had been quite the fodder for the town back in the day, but she left that alone. “I only know what was in the Courier when the accident happened. He’s a local, but he travels a lot for his work. He’s a professional rescuer. Sounds like it was lucky he was there when Josh had his accident.”
People were speculating on the intriguing coincidence that Josh’s mom, Molly, arrived on scene with Gabriel, but Meg didn’t repeat that either. Molly was being talked about enough as it was.
She hoped Gabriel was reassuring Linc that this really was a good cause, but the two men were just standing there looking remote.
Not that anything would spare Linc’s opinion of her at this point. He was never going to forgive her. She really ought to be over feeling awful about it. For the most part she’d conquered the worst of her abandonment issues. Working in television certainly grew you a thick skin where criticism and denunciation were concerned.
But something about Linc made all her rawest places feel exposed and disdained. She didn’t like knowing he felt actively hostile toward her.
Buck, the fast-talking good ol’ boy who oversaw every rodeo, estate sale and cattle auction in the county, took the stage. He wore his customary string tie and massive belt buckle along with a grin of delight.
This was going to be awful. Buck was about to have a field day and Linc would take out a contract on her.
After a few remarks that got everyone in their seats, laughing but paying attention, Buck introduced Jett Casey.
“He’s cute,” Liz leaned over to whisper admiringly while a subtle shift went through the crowd. Every woman sucked in her stomach and sat up straighter for the ex-Olympian.