Reaching his hand out for mine, he winked and said, “His mistake just became my gain.”
With a flirty grin, I set my drink down and placed my hand in his and let him lead me to the dance floor. The last place Jase would ever expect me to be is a bar in Llano. I had to admit when Lauren mentioned this place, my heart began to race at the idea of maybe seeing Jase. I just hadn’t planned on seeing him with another girl.
Lucking out, the next song was another slow one. Spinning me around, the guy pulled me closer and asked, “What’s your name?”
“Taylor. Yours?”
“Brad.”
Oh yuck. Why did he have to have the same name as my dad? Crap.
“Nice to meet you . . . um . . . Brad.”
“Pleasure is all mine, Taylor. I can promise you that.”
Ugh. Men.
He pulled me closer and I was praying to God this guy had something in his pocket and it wasn’t what I thought it was poking my stomach.
Blah.
For a few seconds I totally forgot why I had agreed to dance with him. I quickly looked around until I spotted Jase. He looked miserable and somehow that comforted me.
“So, you couldn’t possibly be from around here.”
Turning my attention back to the cowboy, I smiled. “No. Fredericksburg originally, but I live in Austin now.”
His brows lifted. “Austin? What do you do?”
“I’m a financial analyst.”
“Fancy.”
With a slight chuckle, I shook my head. “Not really.”
His smile was nice, warm almost. I’d give anything to have it affect me in some way.
“What brings you to Llano?”
I glanced around for Lauren and Colt. “My best friends live in Mason. They wanted to check out the band playing here tonight.”
With a nod of his head, he accepted my answer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jase walking by. Turning my head in his direction, I watched him as he walked up to another guy. They talked for a few moments when the girl he had been dancing with walked up and stood by his side. My chest tightened as I watched them.
“It’s actually kind of cool you live in Austin.”
Without taking my eyes off of Jase, I asked, “Why’s that?”
“I live there too. That means if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to talk you into dinner one night maybe.”
Trying not to be rude, I glanced up at him and grinned. “What brought you to Llano?”
“Hometown. Visiting the parents.”
I pressed my lips together to keep my smile back. For some reason I thought it was kind of sweet he was home visiting his parents. Why, I had no idea.
“Well, if we both live in Austin, I guess that means never say never,” I offered.
Brad’s eyes lit up while I quickly moved my attention back to Jase. The girl was talking to him and placed her hand on his arm. I couldn’t help but notice his reaction when he stepped back, shook his head and said something to her. The look of disappointment on her face was evident.