“The woman you’re craning your neck looking for who. Your sexy rabbit’s foot. And what the hell, man. Double fisting this early in the night? I thought you gave those suckers up.”

“Past tense.” The twin Dr Peppers were cool and icy against his palms and calling to him like a pair of long-lost lovers. “And Holly’s not mine. We’re not . . . we’re not.” Dammit.

“Yeah. I bet all that kissing is a real drag then.” Wade accepted his drink from the bartender and leaned against the bar. “I think you’re making a mistake with her.”

His gut tightened. “She’s not the leak.”

“I meant you’re making a mistake waiting to go for it.”

“Yeah, well.” Pace downed one of the drinks. “I have strict instructions.”

“Bullshit. You’re only obeying Gage because it suits you to ignore this thing between the two of you, and there is a thing,” he said when Pace opened his mouth. “And honestly? I don’t get it. You stand on a mound directly in the path of baseballs flying at you at the speed of light, and yet you’re afraid of her. One woman. I get that there’s a reason you’re afraid. Love can suck golf balls, and we both know it. But taking the walk instead of the hit? That’s just stupid.”

Holly appeared in the doorway, and as she seemed to be able to do, laid her eyes right on Pace.

And damn if something didn’t shift inside of him. “I know,” he said to Wade. “I know it’s stupid to take the walk.”

“Then go for it already. Go get her and take her home. Get some fun of the naked variety. It does a body good.”

Someone handed Holly a cocktail. Her hair was down, loose to her shoulders, which was new. She wore a crisp business jacket over a matching skirt, which was not new.

And she was quite beautiful.

God, he’d missed her. “What if it’s not just naked fun? What if it’s more?”

“Then I’ll get to watch the mighty Pace Martin fall on his face for once.” Wade clasped Pace’s good shoulder, a wide grin on his face. “Hell, man, everyone should get something out of this.”

Holly saw Pace right away. It was that weird chemical vibe they had between them, and her own personal curse to be so hyperaware of him. She liked to think he was cursed with the same affliction when it came to her. He was at the bar with Wade, the two of them watching her intently, but only one of them stopping her heart in faded Levi’s and a button-down and with a day’s worth of stubble. With a careful breath, she headed over there, but was quickly sidelined by Samantha, who pulled her aside to stand with her and Jeremy.