A Wild Ride (Thompson & Sons Book 4) (9 page)

“There’s got to be some good people moving into town,” he insisted. “You just need to find them.”

She pulled her feet up on the bench and wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her chin on top so she could stare out over the field beside Katy and Gage’s house. A sea of tiny blue flowers spread like dashes of reflected sky all around the edges of their yard. “Traders Pub is hosting a speed-dating session this coming Thursday night. I wasn’t going to go, but I guess I should.”

He didn’t comment about that, just gave her the lecture she’d already given herself a dozen times over the last hour. “Set up your future dates in public places. Mike is going to have a bird when he finds out what happened today.”

She was on her feet in an instant, both hands landing on his shoulders as she narrowed her gaze. “You will
not
tell Mike.”

“No, I won’t,” he agreed.

What was going on?
“Then why would Mike have a bird if he’s not going to find out?”

“Oh, I didn’t say he wouldn’t find out. I said
I
wouldn’t tell him. Dale, on the other hand, will probably have a few choice thoughts on the matter.”

He wouldn’t. “You’re
not
going to tell my brother-in-law about my disastrous date.”

“Right again,” Troy said, wrapping his hands around her hips and pulling her into his lap. “I won’t tell him,
you
will.”

Not fucking likely.

“Sweetheart, you need to let your brother know what happened, even if it’s just for the sake of the women who work with the jerk.”

Shit. She hadn’t thought about that.

“He’s not a criminal,” she insisted.

“No, but, he’s an asshole, and he didn’t stop right away when you said no.” Troy reached up and brushed a finger over her cheekbone. “You’re strong, and you’re smart, and you’ve got just enough
don’t give a damn
to get out before things got dangerous. Someone else might not be as lucky.”

She nodded, letting out a long unhappy breath before leaning toward him and resting her head on his chest. She snuck her arms around his torso. “That is going to be one hell of an awkward conversation.”

“If you want backup, let me know,” he offered, curling his arms around her and holding her tight.

It felt right to be wrapped up together with him. For the first time since she’d walked out on Jordan, she felt as if she could breathe. It took a few minutes, but some of the tension in Troy’s body faded. He’d been so worked up, and it was good to know he was returning to a normal state of mind as well.

“Thank you for coming to get me.”

He stroked her hair, the familiar touch soothingly good in all the ways she needed at that moment. “Anytime, babe. Anytime.”

Nicole slipped into the passenger seat of Laurel’s teeny car. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re on time,” Laurel assured her, heading down the road toward Traders. She glanced over. “You look pretty.”

“I feel like an idiot,” Nicole protested. “I couldn’t figure out if I was supposed to dress up or dress down or what. Speed dating. Ugh.”

“I doubt it matters the specifics what you’re wearing. You get, what? Five minutes at a time? The guys won’t notice more than your smile and your boobs, not necessarily in that order.”

Nicole laughed. “I can’t tell if you say these things on purpose to shock me, or if it’s part of your natural charm.”

Laurel made a rude noise. “Trust me, the inappropriate comments come naturally. I’m trying really hard to turn over a new leaf and
stop
speaking before I think.”

“I’m trying to cut down on swearing,” Nicole confessed. Along with the whole lot of other bad habits, but even as they headed toward another step in her dating adventures, Nicole wasn’t sure this was the right decision.

Her run-in with Mr. Handsy the other day had been a very unpleasant wake-up call. It wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d hoped to change her path. Her sisters had made it look easy, but then, Nicole hadn’t been paying much attention when they’d starting dating—she probably hadn’t noticed Cyndi and Jodie dealing with bullshit until they found their Mr. Rights.

She was committed to at least try the evening.

A quick peek at Laurel made her pause. “You don’t look as if you plan to take part tonight.”

Laurel’s pale cheeks flushed. “I changed my mind. I’m not looking for anyone to date.”

“Oh,
really
.” Nicole twisted in her seat, interested in what was causing her friend’s blush to continue to rise. “Is that because there’s someone you’ve got your eye on?”

Laurel indicated a turn, her full attention on the road.

“You do. You have the hots for someone already,” Nicole teased.

“Have you ever tried speed dating before?” Laurel asked.

“Nice try, but changing the subject isn’t going to work. Who is he?”

A low melodic whistle began as Laurel pursed her lips and ignored the question again.

This was getting fun. Nicole leaned an elbow on the dash and grinned. “Come on, you must tell me.”

“Get used to disappointment.”

“We could double date,” Nicole offered enticingly.

Nothing worked. They were pulling into the parking lot at the pub, and Laurel
still
hadn’t shared a name.

Nicole was impressed. “You might be a lousy liar, but you’re good at keeping secrets.”

Laura flashed a smile. “Give me a call when you’re done, and I’ll come get you.”

“You could’ve told me to drive myself, you know.”

“Are you kidding?” Laurel passed Nicole an envelope, leaning across the passenger seat to offer it.

“What’s this?” Nicole asked, shaking it lightly.

“A list of questions to ask. I did a Google search for you.” Her smile widened. “I figured you might not have thought about preparing.”

Nicole checked the first couple of questions.
What do you do for work? Where are you from?

It looked innocent enough. “Thanks. Great idea.”

“You’re welcome. And I expect
all
the dirt when you’re done.”

It was good to know the evening would be entertaining for one of them, no matter what. “Troublemaker.”

Nicole passed through the doors on the side of the pub that held the pool tables and dartboards. Usually the room was set up with a mess of tables scattered everywhere for people to sit and chat while they drank. The dance floor and more active entertainments were on the opposite side of the building, separated by a wall.

Tonight the owners had rearranged everything, pulling every small table they had into a wide circle. Two chairs were arranged on either side so that each couple would have a moderate amount of privacy during their short opportunity to talk.

Low music played in the background, and the lights were dim enough all Nicole could see from the corner where the men had congregated were tall outlines and broad shoulders.

“You must be Nicole.”

She turned to face the speaker. A pretty young woman dressed in a frilly blouse held a clipboard in front of her. Her blonde hair was held back in a ponytail, and a pair of frameless glasses perched on her nose.

“I am. Nicole Adams.”

The woman checked off her name then motioned her to the right side of the room. “I’ll be your hostess for the evening. If you’d like a drink, you’ve got about five minutes before we’ll be getting started.”

Nicole grabbed a glass of white wine, chatting with a few familiar women. All too soon they were corralled toward the chairs, ladies sitting on the inside of the circle. The position meant that unless she craned her neck all the way to the left or right, she couldn’t very easily see the couples on either side of her. Her main focus would be whoever sat opposite her.

She took another sip of her drink, replacing it carefully on the table. Butterflies danced in her stomach, so she grabbed the notes Laurel had made, unfolding the paper in her lap like a talisman, cool and smooth under her fingertips.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be starting the timer in two minutes.” Their hostess spoke quietly over a microphone, her pleasant voice breaking through the low murmur of masculine conversation. “Gentlemen, if you could please make your way to your assigned starting position. You’ll have five minutes with each date. I’ll ask the gentlemen to please move quickly when you hear the bell ring. You’ll know it’s time to change seats when you hear this sound.”

A light, pixie-like noise rang over the speakers, and Nicole fought to keep from giggling. It was too much like the children’s book she’d just listened to her nieces reading on their iPad. The one where Tinker Bell rang a bell when it was time to turn the page.

She was still grinning widely when an older man settled into the seat across the table.

The bell rang, and they exchanged names. Nicole glanced at her cheat sheet. “What do you do for work?” she asked.

“Farm.”

Nicole waited, but that was the extent of his answer. He seemed extraordinarily pleased with it, though, smiling across at her as his gaze drifted over her face then down the front of her shirt.

Boobs and smile.
Nicole was going to hit Laurel hard the next time she saw her for putting the thought into her head.

It took forever before he spoke. “Do you like horses?”

“Not really,” Nicole admitted. “I like looking at them, but I don’t ride.”

His smile vanished. “Oh.”

Silence.

So much for the concept of
speed
dating. This was the longest five minutes of her entire life. Turning to see how everyone else was doing would be extremely rude, so she was stuck, desperately, for ways to make time pass quicker.

To the cheat sheet.
“Was there something you wanted to tell me about yourself?” Nicole asked frantically.

He thought for a second. “
I
like horses.”

Of
course
he did. “Any type in particular?”

His eyes narrowed. “You making fun of me?”

“Oh, no. Honestly
no
.” If a hole had opened in the floor at that moment and swallowed her, chair and all, Nicole would’ve been eternally grateful.

Silence. Then, “Brown ones, I guess.”

She bit her lips to stop from laughing out loud. Tinker Bell
finally
rang the fucking bell, and Nicole breathed a sigh of relief as Farmer John rose, dipped his chin once then shuffled to his right, hat held in hands.

Only fifty-five more minutes of this scintillating, oh-so-entertaining evening to go.

She reached for her wineglass, drinking deeply before leaning forward to replace it on the table and meeting the eyes of her next date—

Troy Thompson sat center stage, eyes set once again to
smolder
.

It was amazing how suddenly a mind-blowing revelation could overtake a man.

There he’d been, just a few days ago. Holding Nic in his arms to soothe her even as he fought the temptation to go back and run over Jordan a few times with the tow truck. It seemed so damn stupid that no one in the entire town recognized exactly what a jewel they had in Nicole.

No one but him…

When he’d been about twelve years old, he’d been standing in the garage next to a tall stack of tires. For whatever reason, the entire thing had begun to lean toward him, and he hadn’t noticed until the weight was so far off balance, there was no time to escape. It had crashed down on him—inevitable and body-impacting.

Just like the truth did at that moment. There was no one in Rocky good enough for Nicole except…

Well, honestly, no one but
him
.

So here they were, in the middle of Traders, her staring back with just enough anger in her eyes to send a flush to her cheeks, and he was about to become her own personal set of tires.

So to speak.

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

“Innovative question,” he said with admiration. “I’m currently taking part in a delightful endeavour called
speed dating
, where the goal is to ask questions to discover if the person sitting across from you is someone you’d like to get to know better for a meaningful relationship.”

“So fucking full of beans,” she muttered.

Full steam ahead. “What’s the most important thing to you in a relationship?” Troy asked.

“We’re not doing this,” Nicole snapped. “We’re not playing some bullshit game just because you want to.”

Troy pointed a finger at her. “Hey, I paid my money to be here, same as you. Seems as if you could at least
try
to be polite, and answer my questions.”

“
Fine
.” Nicole leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “Have it your way. I want a relationship where my partner knows family is number one.”

“Good to know.” Troy leaned his elbows on the table. “Personally, though, I’d put my partner first and family second. Because it’s got to be the two of us and what
we
need first. Family comes after that.”

She stopped and seemed to consider what he had said. “Huh.”

“Surprised?”

“Yes. I didn’t know jackasses could talk.” Nicole ignored his chuckle, instead glancing into her lap. She brought a piece of paper to the edge of the table, reading rapidly. “What’s one thing about you that you’d like me to know?”