makeup-free look by not wearing makeup, thanks.” Andie pursed her pink, shiny lips.
“Hang on…” Mia took her by the shoulders and studied her face. “You’re wearing lipstick!”
“No, I’m not.” Andie’s cheeks reddened as she clamped her lips together and pulled out of Mia’s grasp. “It’s lip balm.”
“Tinted lip balm!” Grinning, Mia pointed a triumphant finger at her friend. “Wow. What’s the occasion?”
“Chapped lips. That’s the only occasion.” Andie turned away and chugged her beer.
“I don’t buy it,” Mia said, studying her more carefully. “The dress, the lip balm—and your hair’s down too.” Andie almost always wore her hair in a ponytail, braid, or bun. Thoughtfully, Mia tapped her index finger against her lips. “Could it be…are you trying to impress someone special? Maybe someone who’s here tonight?” She peered around the dance hall, trying to guess who the lucky man might be. “Is it Tanner King?” she asked, spotting Wyatt’s brother by the bar.
“God, no,” Andie said.
“What about Ryan?” Mia asked, pointing at another of Wyatt’s brothers.
“Stop that.” Andie grabbed Mia’s finger and shoved it down under the table. “There’s no one.”
“No one? Really?”
“Really.” Andie set her beer down. “I have to pee.” She walked off, brushing past Josh as he returned to the table.
“Why do they put ice in urinals?” he wondered aloud, reaching for a fresh beer. “Is it just to give us something to aim at?”
Mia ignored his urinal inquiry. “Is it possible your sister has a secret boyfriend?”
Josh made a scoffing noise as he lowered his beer. “I seriously doubt it. Why would she keep a boyfriend a secret?”
“Or maybe it’s a secret crush.”
“That doesn’t sound like Andie.”
Wyatt pushed his way between them to snag a bottle out of the bucket. “What about Andie?”
Mia’s gaze traveled around the room. “I think a special gentleman’s caught her eye.”
Wyatt coughed and wiped his hand across his mouth as he leaned forward, trying to see what Mia was looking at. “Who?”
“No one,” Josh said. “She’s imagining things.”
Mia reached around Wyatt to give Josh’s shoulder a shove. “I am not. Haven’t you noticed how pretty she looks tonight?”
Josh shrugged and said, “No” at the same time as Wyatt said, “Yes.”
Mia swiveled her head to look at Wyatt, but his attention was occupied by a group of women who’d come in the door.
“The thing about Andie,” Josh said, “is that when she wants something, she usually just goes for it. Secrets and pining aren’t her style.”
“Oh fuck.” Wyatt ducked his head, pulling his cowboy hat down over his eyes.
“What?” Mia turned to see what he was reacting to.
“Nothing. Don’t look.” He grabbed her arms, spinning her around to face him while using her as a shield to hide himself. “It’s just someone I don’t want to talk to.”
“Gee, could it possibly be another woman you’ve pissed off?” Mia guessed as Josh snickered into his beer. It seemed as though Wyatt was always trying to avoid some poor woman he’d recently spurned.
“Shit, she’s coming over here,” Wyatt hissed. He seized Mia’s hand. “Dance with me.”
As he jerked her toward the dance floor she threw a desperate help me look at Josh, but he only offered an amused shrug as he let his best friend drag her away.
Mia sighed in resignation, turning back to Wyatt as he pulled her along beside him. “I’m warning you right now, I’m terrible at this.”
“That’s okay.” Flashing a cocky grin, he twirled her onto the dance floor and into his arms with Gene Kelly-esque smoothness. “I’m good enough for the both of us.”
Indeed, she was forced to admit he was an even better dancer than Josh. While Josh had impressive agility and technical proficiency, Wyatt moved with more casual flair and a loose-limbed grace that made everything he did look effortless. Alas for Wyatt’s excellent dancing skills, Mia’s lack of rhythm proved challenging even for him.
“You’re too tense.” Wyatt smoothed his hand down her back with a frown. “You need to relax and let me lead.”
“You do know women hate it when men tell them to relax, right?”
Wyatt’s eyes crinkled as he winked at her. “Not when I do it.”
Mia let out an amused snort. If anyone else had said something like that to her, it would have raised her hackles. But she’d grown accustomed to Wyatt’s flirtatiousness by now and figured out that most of his swagger was an act he put on. Birdie had been right—his bark was worse than his bite. The cocksure attitude he presented to the world was a defensive facade—though exactly