“You going to see her again?”
“Naw—she’s not my type.” His usual response echoed like a forewarning in his ears. “I guess I could, if she lives in town. But not on purpose.”
“Ah.” Kyle’s eyes popped open and he dropped his spoon into his bowl, splashing milk on his hand. “You’re smiling about her.”
Owen lifted one shoulder. “She was cute.”
“Cute?” Kyle twisted his lips likecutewas another word for being beaten with a stick. Normally, Owen would agree with him. But this girl had a quality that called to him. He just couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
Whatever drew him to her, he was done talking about it. “Let’s get to work.”
“Why? You got somewhere you need to be?”
“No, but you do. Isn’t your flight in a couple hours?”
Kyle checked his phone. “Yeah. You were invited too.” Kyle was headed to his mom’s birthday party in Vegas. It wasn’tthatkind of a Vegas birthday party. Kyle’s parents lived there and the family was as wholesome as wheat bread.
“Thanks, but I don’t do family.”
“So you’ve said.” Kyle punched him in the arm. “And yet you pay for me to see them as often as I want. Why is that?”
Owen pasted on his amused smolder that readnice try. “I don’t need a reason.”
“One of these days you’re going to have to get over what she-who-will-not-be-named did to you.”
“It wasn’t her.”Shewas perfect. The best girlfriend a guy could ever ask for. They should be married with several kids by now. They should be happily living in his dream house instead of him living with his best guy friend.
“Whatever.” Kyle headed for the office where all the techie toys and their respective wiring lived. “Did you take any pictures on your ride this morning?”
Owen handed over his phone. “I got a great shot in front of the vineyard.”
“Alright, the Lone Ranger rides solo once again.”
Owen smirked. He wouldn’t have been riding solo if that woman had shifted gears. The fact that she didn’t, that she purposefully moved her thumb away from the gear shifter, itched like a piece of fiberglass insulation under his practice pads and stuck with him for the rest of the day. Besides being cute, she had spunk. He liked spunk.
He’d be better off not thinking about her.
Chapter Three
Several days passed since Bree’s failed bicycle experiment. Her thighs still protested when she bent her knees. A little pain couldn’t keep her away from the Dallas expo center.
The sportsman’s expo was the hottest off-football season ticket in Dallas. Taking place over three days, the expo brought in vendors from all over the country. The giant room was the size of four football fields and was an engineering masterpiece because there were no support columns marring the open floor plan.
The crowds were heavy and people continued to stream through the entrance doors on the other end of the room like movie theater candy spilling from a box. The booths were arranged to move people through the maze and they ended at the biggest booth of them all. Bree went up on her tiptoes to see the big seller and dropped back to her flats when she saw the sports drink logo.
Bree’s mom had secured a primo, but smaller, spot. She’d scrimped all year to afford this booth, and Bree was so proud she could burst.
“For heaven’s sake, take out that ponytail.”
“Mom!” Bree grabbed for her hair before her mother could free it from the elastic. Hauling boxes in from the parking lot was hard work and Bree’s long hair clung to her neck, making her sweaty and sticky.
“Come on, Bree. I need you to work that adorable face—that cute little body—or I’ll never sell enough of this stuff to pay for my next shipment.”
Bree glanced down at the long-sleeved, lightweight but sturdy lavender shirt with the delicate gather at the neckline that softened the sturdiness of the garment. It was genius in outdoor wear for women. “You could put this shirt on a pig and sell a thousand of them. In fact, that’s not a bad idea. You could do a video of the pig in the shirt and show how well it holds up under rigorous use as well as how easily the fabric washes clean.”
Mom gave her a black layered look. They had the same black hair and brown eyes and were often asked if they were sisters. “My clothing will not be worn by pigs.”
“I didn’t say the pigs were worthy of it …” Bree hedged. She’d pushed too far. This was a big day for Mom and her business. If she did well here, she could secure shelf space in major retail outlets.