“He’s the biggest racist in town,” Darby jumped in.
“Doesn’t his family own the large ranch outside of town?” Raven asked, trying to remember more about the man. She knew that he’d gone to school with them and was a year or two older than they were. But outside of that, she was drawing a blank.
“And the local hardware store,” Darby added. “Benjamin Walker purchased up most of the businesses in town after the fire. The grocery store, hardware store, and even the gas stations. He bought them all for pennies after the fire and has made so much money. Not that they needed it. They were loaded to begin with.”
“What does Andre do?” Raven tried to remember something about the guy. He was extremely good-looking, almost a little too good-looking for her tastes. She leaned towards the more manly, outdoorsy alpha-male type.
“He’s studying in the city to become an actor, and works as a volunteer fireman. So do the rest of the gang with him,” Carrie supplied.
“Including Tony,” Darby added with a wishful sigh.
“God. Why don’t you head over there and ask the man for a drink already?” Carrie nudged Darby’s shoulder.
“Me?” She shook her head and looked a little scared.
“Ugh.” Carrie jumped up from the chair and headed towards the bar. Darby watched with a shocked and scared look on her face.
“Relax. You know she wouldn’t do anything to embarrass you,” Raven said, touching Darby’s arm. “You have it bad for this guy?”
“Tony has come into the diner every day for the past year.” Darby’s eyes turned towards hers. “Every single day. He’s sweet, sexy, and…” She turned back to the scene at the bar. “One of the nicest men I know.”
“And slow,” Raven added with a chuckle. “If he hasn’t asked you out once in the past year.”
“Yeah.” Darby sighed, then stiffened when Carrie motioned towards their table. The fact that she was talking to Andre and not Tony had assured Raven that her friend wasn’t embarrassing Darby.
Suddenly, the entire crew of men started heading towards their table. Raven wondered where Cade was since it appeared as if girls’ night had now changed directions.
The three friends were joined by Andre, Tony, and a guy by the name of Kevin. She remembered seeing both Tony and Kevin helping Cade out before. Kevin was shorter than she was by at least half a foot, and as thick as her uncle. He wasn’t bad looking, but he was a few years younger than she was.
The moment Kevin sat next to her and gave her a look of interest, she jumped up and made a quick excuse about needing to make a phone call.
Stepping into the quiet lobby, she punched Cade’s number. He answered on the second ring.
“Hey, I was just thinking of you,” he said smoothly.
“What are you doing right now?” she jumped in.
“Blue and I are sitting on the back porch,” he answered. “Why?”
“Come save me from a very awkward predicament. My girls’ night has now turned into an impromptu triple date.”
“What?” She could hear the frown in his tone.
“Just come to the bar. I’ll explain later. Save me from Kevin,” she begged.
“Kevin?”
“We’re at the bar at the resort. I’ll see you in ten.” She hung up when her friends called her back over to the table.
The next ten minutes were the longest in her entire life. She swore that she could even hear the tick of the second hand on her digital Apple watch.
She kept having to scoot her chair farther away from Kevin when he talked to her. Darby and Tony were huddled together, flirting, and Carrie and Andre seemed to be in a heated conversation. Which had left Kevin’s attention solely on her.
Without coming right out and saying she wasn’t interested, she sat in the corner and sipped her wine while her friends downed their second and third drinks. They’d switched from wine to shots and beers after the men had arrived. She’d stuck to the wine.
When Cade finally strolled in, she realized just why she was so drawn to him. The man oozed sex appeal in everything he did. Even walking into a bar.
“Hey,” he said, stopping directly behind Kevin’s chair, “you’re in my seat.”
Kevin glanced up and then between his friends, who all nodded. Then he slid over to the empty chair with a slight frown.
“Hi,” Cade said to her with a smile. “You look nice tonight.” He took her hand in his and then waved for a waitress.
“Thanks,” she said, trying not to fidget. She was still feeling seriously inferior to the rest of the crowd that had gathered in the bar.
Heather walked over and, after taking Cade’s and the rest of the table’s orders, she disappeared.
“So,” Cade said, leaning a little closer to her. “Girls’ night turned into something more?”
She rolled her eyes and lowered her voice. “Apparently, Carrie and Andre,”
Cade chuckled. “Old news.”
She shook her head. “To some. Well, Darby and Tony…” Cade’s eyebrows shot up as his eyes moved to the pair, who were laughing about something on Darby’s phone.
“That one’s news to me,” Cade offered.
“Yeah, when your guys showed up…”
“My guys?” Cade asked.
Raven shrugged. “Apparently you own anyone who works at the fire station.”
Cade smiled. “Does that make all of these people your workers?” He motioned to Heather, who was walking towards them with a full tray of drinks.
“Something like that.”
For the next two hours, the six of them laughed and enjoyed their time together. Kevin had made some excuse a few moments after Cade had showed up and left. Raven felt a little bad, but then Cade hinted that he had a live-in girlfriend, and Raven stopped feeling bad for the man, who’d obviously been on the prowl.
Almost four hours after her friends had walked into the bar, the three of them stepped into the elevator together. Andre and Tony were getting rides home from Cade, who had nursed a single beer since arriving. She wanted to kiss Cade good night, but since he was practically holding up Tony, she settled for telling him that she’d see him tomorrow night.
She had to admit, she was thankful that they had decided to stay in her rooms for the night instead of trying to drive back into town. After three glasses of wine, she could barely hit the correct floor number button in the elevator. Even then, she was giggling so hard at something Darby had said that she had to hold onto the railing to stop herself from sliding to the floor.
“I can’t believe Tony finally asked me out,” Darby said with a sigh as she rested her head back against the mirrored wall of the elevator.
“Finally,” Carrie snorted. “I heard you dropping hints all night.”
“He’s just shy,” Darby supplied.
“I didn’t think he was really interested in you at first, but the way that boy looks at you…” Raven tapped her heart.
“Like Cade looks at you,” Darby added.
“Girl, the way Cade looks at Raven is nothing like how Tony looks at you. Not yet anyway.” The elevator stopped. “Cade looks like he wants to devour Raven. Tony looks like a lost little puppy willing to follow Darby around anywhere.”