“You decided yet?” the man asked, making me self-conscious that I was still staring at him.

“What?” I asked, confused.

A low rumble that sounded like a laugh came from him. He tilted his head, and I realized his hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Although it was dark, I could make out highlights in his hair. Seemed like he spent a lot of time in the sun. “Am I safe to be around? That’s what you’re trying to decide, isn’t it?”

Was he safe to be around?

“That’s debatable, if you ask me,” he said.

“What’s debatable?” I asked.

He took a drink of his beer and studied me a moment before responding to my question. “Whether I’m safe or not.” He laughed again, although it was low and almost hard to hear. “You have an expressive face.”

How could he even see my face out here in the dark?

He shifted his stance and crossed his left ankle over his right one. I glanced at his boots and realized they weren’t like Mase’s boots. They were more like combat boots.

“Why are you out here in the dark?” I asked, not meaning to actually say that out loud.

He held up his beer. “Drinking my beer in peace.”

I nodded. That made sense. Maybe he didn’t like crowds, either.

“Why are you out here in the dark?” he asked.

I glanced back at the house, and there was no sign of Mase yet. “I . . . my boyfriend went to deal with something. His cousin is upset.”

The guy stared at me while he drank his beer. It made me nervous. It was like he could read all my thoughts. “But he knows you aren’t comfortable in a crowd of people you don’t know. A man shouldn’t leave his woman.”

He didn’t understand the situation. Who was he to judge something he didn’t know? “His cousin is upset. I told him to go.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that he shouldn’t have left you.”

I didn’t like this man. I would rather face the crowd than hide out here with him. “Don’t make assumptions about something you know nothing about,” I said angrily, before turning and walking back into the light, just in time to see Mase, his eyes scanning the tables for me. His long strides quickened as he walked down the steps and passed several people who were trying to speak to him. When his gaze finally landed on me, he looked relieved.

I hurried toward him, deciding I wouldn’t mention the guy in the shadows.

Mase

Aida was being dramatic. She’d started dating Heath when she came to visit us last year, but it had meant more to her than to him. She’d broken up with him a year ago because he’d cheated on her with a former friend of hers. I had warned her when she started dating Hawkins’s cousin that Heath Stout was a player. Now, a year later, she was having a dramatic breakdown? She knew he’d be here.

I hated leaving Reese, but I knew Aida wasn’t going to let up until I did. I scanned the crowd for Reese. She wasn’t where she’d said she would be. I heard my name called by several people¸ but I kept my focus as I searched for her. When I turned and saw her walking toward me, I let out a sigh of relief. She was OK.

“I’m sorry about that,” I said, as I slipped my hand back around her waist and pulled her against me. “Aida was being a drama queen.”

“It was fine. I didn’t mind at all. I just walked around and checked things out.”

I glanced back to where she had come from and saw a man walking out of the shadows. He was staring at me with an amused smirk, but I didn’t recognize him. He was dressed in jeans and combat boots and had a more impressive ponytail than I did when I pulled my hair back.

“River, come here, I want you to meet someone,” Arthur Stout bellowed. I turned my head to see Arthur walking up to me as he waved at the man with the ponytail.

River didn’t seem to be in a hurry.

Once he reached us, Arthur slapped him on the back. “Mase, meet River Kipling. He’s been running the Stout and Hawkins Steakhouse in Key West. He added fresh seafood to the menu, and it’s now our most successful franchise location. I’ve brought him here to do the same for the Dallas location. He knows his seafood,” Arthur explained. “River, this is Mase Colt. He’s our main supplier of beef cattle, other than the ones we raise ourselves. Colt ranch is about pure quality. You need to make a visit and see what he’s got going on there.”

“From Key West to Dallas. That’s a big change of scenery,” I said, not liking the way his gaze kept going to Reese or the way she tensed up beside me.

“Some scenery is better than others,” he replied, his eyes fixed on Reese. I didn’t like that shit at all.

“Expect River to come for a visit with me next week. I’ve got a few other people I need to introduce him to. Drink up, and take that pretty girl out on the dance floor,” Arthur said, before he turned to River and led him away. River took one more look at Reese and followed him.

“I don’t like him,” Reese said firmly.

I glanced down at her. “Who?”

“That River guy. He rubs me the wrong way.”

Grinning, I leaned down and kissed her lips. I wanted those lips. I also wanted her up against a wall with her short little skirt pushed up around her waist. The boots could stay on.

“I’m not a fan, either.”

Two hours later, I had forced a smile and spoken to everyone my stepdad would have wanted me to. Reese had been safely tucked at my side the whole time. I’d had to remind myself not to get furious when men’s gazes fell to her legs. She was showing them off tonight, and I had to expect that. But I didn’t have to fucking like it.

Reese had surprised me and chosen the ribs for dinner. I was positive she was the only woman eating ribs. Watching her eat a rib was sexy as hell, and I’d had a hard time focusing on my own plate of food; my eyes kept going to her mouth and the way her tongue kept flicking out to lick the sauce off her lips.

I was ready to head home and looked around for Aida. I wanted to leave her here so I wouldn’t have to deal with her wanting to come back to my place tonight to visit. I had plans for Reese and that skirt . . . and those boots.

“Dance with me,” Aida said, and her hand clasped my arm. She had snuck up behind me.

“I’m ready to go,” I replied.

She pouted. “You haven’t danced with me all night. We always dance at these parties.”

I had started to say no again when Reese stepped slightly away from me. “Go, dance. I’ll wait right here.”

“See? She doesn’t care. Let’s dance.” Aida was in a much better mood than the one I’d left her in. She was a little too happy. Her mood swings the past two days were giving me whiplash. I wasn’t used to having her around for this long; she usually only came for a few days a couple of times a year, though she did stay for a while with us last summer.

I didn’t want to dance with her. I hadn’t even danced with Reese, mostly because I was afraid she would panic at the idea of dancing with all these people here. It was obvious she didn’t feel comfortable among strangers. Dancing with Aida seemed wrong.

“Please, please, please,” Aida begged, drawing attention to herself as she pulled on my hand, trying to tug me forward. “We can leave after one dance.”

We would leave as soon as I was ready.

“Go,” Reese said, pushing me gently.

Dammit. I didn’t want to do this. Aida and I had been taught to dance by my mother when we were kids, and it had entertained Aida when she was younger. She hadn’t liked doing things I enjoyed, like fishing, hiking, and camping. Harlow had loved doing all those things with me. But Aida was always different. She enjoyed attention.

She kept pleading and pulling my arm. I wasn’t getting out of this.

“Fine. One dance,” I replied, and she beamed brightly.