Page 41 of The Spice Is Nice

He shot up from the table and joined her there, with a look on his face like he’d grovel on his knees for her. I couldn’t blame him; these Wylde sisters held us in a magic hold.

With one look at Ivy tonight, I couldn’t think beyond her tight red sweater and Wrangler jeans showing off every curve. Her sexy red boots had me wishing she’d wear them naked for me tonight. I stopped focusing on what was up with our friends and focused only on her.

The DJ broke out a ballad with a song calledRide It Slow.I knew the words and pulled Ivy onto the floor. This was perfect hold-your-honey-tight-and-sway music. I did that, one arm around her waist, the other holding her hand against my chest, and stared deeply into her eyes, singing the lyrics.

No calculation behind who was watching, what it needed to look like, whether we were selling the fakearrangement convincingly enough. Just her, warm against my abs, head tilted up toward me with an open and sultry expression. Like she’d take me right here if she could.

We weren’t faking it anymore.

I took my cowboy hat off, angled my head, and kissed the fruity and salty margarita from her lips, the last drink she had ordered. Her fingers curled against my chest, and the rest of the room went away until the end of the song.

“Take me to your room, cowboy,” she whispered.

“Anything for you.”

But then she went still and tense, her eyes catching something behind me. I followed her stare and caught the scene just in time?—

Knox and Daisy were arguing, and then she threw her drink in his face. She set her glass down with the careful control of someone who was two seconds from losing it, said something to him I couldn’t hear across the music, and hurried away without looking back.

Knox stood there, dabbing his face with a little napkin, watching her go.

“Ah, fuck,” I said.

“Yep,” Ivy agreed. “Let’s go do damage control.” She went after Daisy, while I went to console him.

Knox wasdeep in a spiral at the bar. Whatever he’d said to Daisy, it hadn’t gone well. By the time Ivy came back, hehad knocked back a few shots in a row and a beer, lamenting to me about love and what a farce it was and how he’d never find it.

Ivy took me aside. “She won’t come back. Won’t tell me what happened between them. She’s gone to bed,” she reported, side-eyeing Knox like they could never be friends after tonight.

“You know what’s great,” he said, swiveling and swaying on his stool. “You two. I mean, you just stopped hiding. Decided one day to let the world know about it and went for it.” He made a gesture that probably meant something in his head, his eyes glassy, staring at me. “Tired of being a coward about it, man. Should just say it. Walk right up to her and say it.”

“Say what?” I asked.

He opened his mouth. Then he looked toward the bar entrance, where Daisy had left, and whatever he’d been about to say stayed private. He shook his head. “Nothing. Doesn’t matter.”

It mattered. But that wasn’t my conversation to have for him.

“I need another round,” he blurted, words slurred, and motioned for the bartender, almost falling off the stool.

“Okay, I think it’s getting late and time to retire.” I got a shoulder under his arm, and Ivy followed. We walked him out to the lobby.

“So much for our romantic night,” Ivy said, with a quick glance at me.

“Oh, shit. I ruined it for everyone, didn’t I?” Knox blubbered. I’d seen him drink one too many before, but thiswas something else. Alcohol plus misery didn’t make good company.

“It’s fine,” I grumbled.

“Yeah. Fine.” Ivy rolled her eyes.

The elevator doors opened, but he refused to step in, steering us around toward the exit. “Just stick me in the truck or the horse trailer. I’ll sleep there in the parking lot under a sky full of cold Montana stars. Give you two the room.”

We protested, to be nice, but he insisted.

Outside, we steered him around a parking barrier, and eventually got him into the double cab of Ash’s truck.

“Hey Ivy, you know what? You’ll never find a better man than this guy right here.” Knox grabbed me in a headlock and ruffled my hair. “So don’t hurt him. Treat him right because he loves you.”

I escaped him, turning a shade of pink probably no man should. “It’s nighttime for you, buddy. Lay down. We’ll find you in the morning.”