Counting on You (Amarillo Sour, #1) Page 22

  “Hey, you.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her up against his side. “Dexter was just telling me about the time you had to use Harry Potter metaphors to get a kid to understand . . . what was it, equations?”

  “Something like that.” Dexter clumsily fell to his feet and grabbed his glass. “You can have my seat.”

  “Oh, it’s okay, I’ll—”

  But he was stumbling away, ears pink before she could get it out. “How much has he had to drink?”

  “Enough to be lucid, but unfiltered.”

  “Oh yeah?” She’d been to plenty of FACs where Dexter had been a little too candid with his conversation. She could only imagine what confessions he’d made to Ian. She imagined they were more scintillating than how she’d taught Jacob to do the Pythagorean theorem. “Anything juicy?”

  “Maybe . . .”

  “Care to share?”

  “I don’t know . . . it’s pretty good.” Ian gave her a gentle squeeze and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “What will you give me to make it worth my while?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

  “I might have something in mind . . .”

  She’d trust the man with her life—and her heart—but she couldn’t totally trust he wouldn’t ask something completely ridiculous of her. Ever since he’d been promoted to VP, ever since her reunion, he’d become committed to the notion of work-life balance. Apparently that commitment had brought out a playful side of him that occasionally bordered on the scandalous. Like the time he’d talked her into skinny-dipping at the lake. Just so they could say they’d lived out the stupid icebreaker question from her first-date article research.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  He pulled her close and tipped up her chin with the tip of his finger. “You could promise to be my wife.”

  Her heart did a somersault. “I promise.”

  “Okay.” He kissed her again, this time they lingered a moment before pulling apart again. “Seeing as how we’re going to get married and everything, I suppose I can’t be keeping any secrets. I’ll talk.”

  “Sucker,” she said, trying to keep her tone light and playful when it wanted to shake. “I already promised you that earlier. You could’ve asked for something else.”

  That had been another surprise Ian had managed to pull off without her catching wind. Moments before they’d stepped into the bar, he’d pulled her aside and told her he loved her. That she made his life full. That he wanted to spend the rest of their lives bringing her as much joy as she brought him. That he wanted to marry her, if she’d have him.

  She’d said yes and thrown herself into his arms before he had a chance to slip the ring on her finger. Not many women would probably find a parking lot proposal romantic. For Haleigh, coming back to the place where they’d met and fallen in love had been perfect.

  Not even Nina would be able to make her think any less of it. But right now, she wasn’t thinking about telling her friends or family their news. Right now, she wanted to know what Dexter had really blabbed.

  “I found out why he set you up with Patrick in the first place.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I already knew that. He told me—”

  “I know, I know. He said it would be a good date to break the ice.” Ian lifted his shoulders. “That was just a line to keep you from killing him.”

  “Then why?”

  “It should be noted that he was incredibly drunk when he told me this. Your buddy can’t hold his liquor.”

  “Quit stalling.”

  “Apparently, your buddy knew Patrick’s reputation for striking out on his first dates.” His eyes sparking with amusement. “He was hoping it would be such a mess he could swoop in and be your date to the reunion.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. Why would he do that?”

  “It’s obvious. He had a thing for you.”

  “No way.” She couldn’t believe that. Maybe they’d flirted on occasion, but Dexter had always been a work buddy. He’d never been the manipulative type either. “I’m practically old enough to be his mother.”

  Ian snorted. “Come on, you can’t be more than a few years older than him.”

  “You must have misunderstood.” She shook his head. “There’s no way he has feelings for me. Not like that.”

  Even as she denied it—and would until they’d all retired and moved on—she could see a thread of truth in it. But she couldn’t tell Ian that now. Not when she took such delight in being contrary.

  “Fine, you can deny it all you like if it makes you feel better.” He grinned into his beer before taking a sip. “I bet Dexter would be more comfortable if you thought that. However it happened, it was his fatal flaw.”

  “Because I met you?”

  “Exactly.” Ian lowered his voice and leaned in. “Sid has a theory about Patrick.”

  “Is it as good as your story about Dexter?”

  “She thinks he’s cursed.”

  “Cursed?” Despite herself, she glanced across the bar to where Patrick was chatting up yet another first date. This one was a woman he’d met on XO On Demand, so maybe there was hope. Then again, he was sweating an awful lot for it to be going well. “Like a witch or something?”

  “Not exactly. She’s just noticed a trend.”

  “Which is . . .” It was frustrating getting the man to finish his thoughts. She knew a woman shouldn’t want to change anything about her future husband, but maybe sometime in the next fifty years or so, she could help him break that habit.

  “Sid’s noticed our guy is notorious for being the last first date most women have before meeting ‘the one.’”

  “‘The one’?” She wanted to scoff at the notion but stopped short. Who was she to question the possibility of a person finding “the one” when she’d done exactly that? “Do you think there’s any truth to that?”

  “Who knows?” Ian’s hand traced her back. The desire that shot through her wasn’t new, but it made her wonder how much longer they had to stay at her surprise party. “If it really is a thing, maybe we should set Patrick up with the professor. James could use a break in that department.”

  The source of Ian’s pity was currently embroiled in a discussion with her father and Ian’s. The two men seemed to be doing a lot of the talking—and animated gesturing—but he nodded along patiently. Poor James. He was such a decent guy, even if he was a bit dark. It would be nice if he could find some peace—better yet, happiness.

  “Maybe we should set him up—”

  “Nope.” Ian shook his head. “He doesn’t really need our help. There was a woman in here asking about him last night. I think she was hoping to get some alone time.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything, and you know it.” She frowned. “Come on. Let’s set the professor up. Between the two of us, we should know someone.”

  He trailed another finger down her back, distracting her. “I think it’s better if we leave the matchmaking to the experts.”

  “You mean like your app?”

  “It could work for him. It did for us.” Ian’s eyes crinkled around the edges. “Plus, it would free me up to focus all my attention on the match I’ve already made.”

  It was a silly thing to say, but as his lips met hers, she wouldn’t tell him his version of the story was a bit skewed. Strictly speaking, she hadn’t fallen in love with any of the dates set up through the app. Instead, she was crazy in love with the guy who’d created it.

  Really, it was the only detail of the story that mattered.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading Counting on You. I hope you enjoyed spending time with Haleigh, Ian, and the rest of the Amarillo Sour crew as much as I did. They’ll be back in the next book in the Amarillo Sour series: Let It Be Me. This time, a certain British history professor will have his shot at finding a happily ever after.

  Before you move on to your next read, please consider leaving a brief review. Rev
iews help readers find out what to read next and they help authors connect with other readers and grow as writers. Thanks in advance for your time, and we’ll meet again in Let It Be Me!

  About the Author

  Laura Chapman is the author of sweet and sexy romantic comedies. A born and raised Nebraska girl, she loves watching football, traveling, crafting, and baking. When she isn’t writing her next story, she is probably working at a museum by day and binge-watching Netflix with her cats Jane and Bingley at night. So, basically, she’s living large.

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  Books by Laura Chapman

  The Marrying Type

  First & Goal

  Going for Two

  Three & Out

  Making Christmas

  Playing House

  What Happens at Midnight

  Acknowledgments

  Creating this new world was a lot of fun, but it was also trickier than I imagined. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me navigate the ins and outs of telling Haleigh and Ian’s story.

  Thank you to Victoria Alexander, Kathryn R. Biel, Linda Chapman, Kristin Cox, and Whitney Lake for beta-reading Counting on You and offering up much-needed feedback. Extra props to Victoria for helping me fine-tune the blurb.

  Thank you to Chrissy Wolfe of EFC Services, LLC for polishing up this story with your edits.

  Thank you to my sister, Sarah, who allowed me to write a lot of this story from a barstool while she worked, but for giving me insight into the worlds of neighborhood bars and tech start-ups.

  And thank you, Reader, for taking your time to read this story.