The Best Man in Texas by Tanya Michaels Read Free Book Online

truck.
    McBride’s smile was at her expense, but that made it no less enticing. “You want to sit up front with me, or are your preconceived notions riding shotgun?”
    “You’re one to talk,” she said without heat, knowing he had a point. “Did you even wait until I walked into the restaurant Wednesday before you decided I was a money-grubbing mistake, or had you deduced that the second he told you he was engaged?”
    “Touché.” He stopped to open the door for her, reminding her oddly of Giff. So far, the two men seemed much more different than similar.
    As soon as Jake slid into the driver’s seat, he said, “I overreacted when Giff told me he’d proposed. It just seemed—to an outsider—like this was happening awfully fast. And it occurred to me that a woman infatuated with his wealth might be in position to take advantage of his vulnerability. It devastated him to think he might lose Grace.”
    “I know,” she said softly, grudgingly touched by Jake’s concern for his friend even if it had caused him to judge her harshly. She recalled Giff’s words yesterdayabout how excited his mom was about the wedding plans and how relieved he was to see her so happy and energetic.
    “I was rooming with him in college when he lost his dad. It…” Jake shook his head. “Like I said earlier, I think I’m just in the habit of trying to look out for him. Even when there’s nothing I can actually do.”
    Feeling powerless was never easy for anyone, but she imagined that for a big, tough guy like Jake—a man whose profession actually sent him into burning buildings to save lives—the feeling of not being able to act was excruciating. Something inside her softened and she found that, contrary to her expectations, she might come to like this guy after all.
    “Brooke?”
    “Yeah?”
    “You’re going to have to direct me here. I don’t have a clue where we’re going.”
     
    “T HANKS AGAIN FOR AGREEING to drive,” Brooke said as they searched for parking. “The traffic and the freeways here make me crazy. I have to say, even though I know it makes sense to move in with Giff I’m not looking forward to driving this close to downtown.”
    “No problem.” City-driving in Houston wasn’t Jake’s favorite pastime, either, but navigating all kinds of streets came with his job. “I’m just glad you knew how to get to this place. I’ve never heard of it.”
    Her smile was lopsided, almost self-deprecating. “It’s a total hole-in-the-wall. You should have seen Giff’s face the first time I dragged him here. But they getsome great bands that aren’t well-enough known to book bigger venues.”
    “Like the band we’re hearing tonight?”
    “Red Jump Funk. They’re a little under the radar,” she admitted. “They’re fantastic, though.”
    “They sound like a mad-lib,” he said as he parallel parked between a VW and a truck. “You know those stories where you fill in random verbs and adjectives? How did you even hear about these people?”
    “It’s a hobby,” she said as she opened her car door. “My favorite part of living in Austin was the music.”
    He grinned, shrugging out of the blazer he’d realized was unnecessary. “Just from my few visits, I do have some fond memories of clubs on Sixth Street.”
    “I dated a guy who followed some great underground bands—people no one else had ever heard of. But he was more of a reverse snob than I turned out to be. In his opinion, anyone who had more than a hundred fans worldwide was a sellout. But I love music of all kinds. I saw lots of people perform live during my college years.” Either Brooke was nervous about being out with him tonight, or she was truly passionate about the topic of music because as she made her way up the sidewalk, her words came faster, practically tripping over one another. “Ska bands, Robert Earl Keen Jr., Leonard Cohen, Crüxshadows. They’re a dark-wave group I love.”
    Dark wave? Was that like Goth? Once you