could find us something.”
“No, really. It’s okay.” I gave him a quick smile. “I’m just a little surprised, that’s all. I figured a guy like you would have this dating thing down to a science.”
He glanced over at me. “A guy like me?”
“You know, someone who dates a lot of different women.”
Cowboy turned left into the parking lot of a restaurant called Junior’s Diner, which resembled a big red barn, and parked in the front row. “I think we have different definitions of what a date is.”
My cheeks burned with the heat of embarrassment, so I removed my seat belt to avoid looking in his direction. “You know what I mean.”
Cowboy opened his door and stepped out. “Yeah, I do,” he said, sounding perturbed by my remark. After marching around to my side, he yanked open the passenger door and took my hand in his to help me out. “And just for the record, I haven’t been with nearly as many women as you think I have.”
“Really?” I climbed out of his jacked-up truck and my eyes grazed over his face, searching for signs of sincerity. “Because I heard you were quite the—”
“Hey, manwhore!” someone called out, redirecting our attention. Emily stood on the nearby curb with an amused grin on her face.
Cowboy narrowed his eyes at her intrusion. The look he gave her was priceless: no parts embarrassment, all parts aggravation. Then he turned back to me. “We’ll finish this conversation later.”
I smiled. “All right.”
“What are you two doing here?” Emily asked, squinting in confusion.
Cowboy hesitated. “We’re…uh, just having dinner.”
As we approached, Jake met Emily on the curb and his gaze landed on his friend. Jake’s eyes widened as he gawked at Cowboy’s attire and neatly styled hair. “What the fuck happened to you?”
I bit my lip to stifle my laughter and to keep from smiling, but Emily didn’t. She chuckled out loud without any reservations at all.
“Since when the hell did you start wearing blazers?” Jake asked.
“What are you, the fashion police?” Cowboy retorted. “Guess that’s what the FBI stands for: Fashion Bureau of—”
“Yeah, yeah. Knock it off.”
Cowboy gritted his teeth together, then relaxed his jaw. “What are you two doing here?”
“We’re celebrating,” Emily said, gleefully. “It’s been exactly six weeks since we’ve been able to have se—”
Jake covered Emily’s mouth and gave her a stern look. “Since we had Lily.” Then he removed his hand.
Emily rolled her eyes. “Oh, because they haven’t heard the word ‘sex’ before. Jesus, Jake. You’re such a prude sometimes.”
Apparently, I was, too. My face had warmed enough that I was pretty sure everyone could see my blushing cheeks from a mile away. Though I liked Emily a lot, being around her in a small group made me nervous. You just never knew what would fly out of her mouth next.
“Well, since we’re all here, why don’t we sit together?” she asked.
Crap.
“Emily,” Jake said, lowering his voice. “We should leave them alone. I think they’re on a date.”
“Date?” she repeated, wrinkling her nose. “Since when did Cowboy actually start dating? I thought he only had one-night stands.” Then she laughed. A lot. Sometime during her fit of laughter, she must’ve realized that no one else had joined in and that there was some awkward tension buzzing from the rest of us, because she stopped giggling. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out sounding…well, you know.”
I gave her a nonchalant shrug and a soft smile. “It’s okay. Why don’t we just go in and enjoy ourselves?”
“Sounds good,” Jake said, moving past us through the entrance.
Cowboy took that as his cue and entered as well, while I followed behind him. As I passed by Emily, she mouthed an apology to me and I gave her a nearly imperceptible nod to let her know I wasn’t angry. Then we followed the men inside.
I’d never been to Junior’s Diner before, but I loved the atmosphere. The restaurant had a western decor with Old West paraphernalia tacked on every wall. Antique saddles, old spurs, and rusted horseshoes surrounded us.
Jake picked a table in the center of the room. “This okay?”
Cowboy nodded his approval and we sat on one side as Emily and Jake took the other. I’d barely planted my butt in the chair when a pretty young woman approached us while digging in the purse she had strapped over her shoulder.
She stood on Cowboy’s opposite side and giggled shyly. “Would you mind giving me your autograph?” she asked, whipping out a pen and