Read Online Cowboy's Pride (Welcome to Covendale Book 1) by Morgan Blaze - Free Book Online

tell me if you see him.”
    “You didn’t say you had a hot date.” Sydney nudged her with a grin. She’d been talking about Reese Mathers for weeks, but hadn’t actually talked to him for more than a few seconds. They’d dated once in high school. It didn’t end on the most positive note, but she’d mostly forgiven him. Reese just came back to town last month after five years in the Marines—and he had no shortage of admirers.
    Luka snorted. “It’s not a date. I said I’d buy him a beer, that’s all.”
    “Wanna buy me one?” Tommy said, grinning as he took a seat.
    “No way. That’s Syd’s job.”
    “So he’s a job now?” Smirking, Sydney reached for the plastic menu stand in the middle of the table, even though she knew what was on it. The Klinker served the usual bar fare. All four major food groups—wings, fries, nachos, and pizza. “Anybody eating?” she said. “I’m starving.”
    “God, no.” Luka put a hand to her stomach. “Me and grease are not gonna get along tonight.”
    Tommy flicked a glance at the menu. “I had dinner at Mom’s earlier,” he said. “But go ahead and order something, if you want. I’ll snag somebody.” He raised a hand straight up and started scanning the crowded place for a server.
    Before Sydney could say she changed her mind, because she didn’t want to eat alone, a girl wearing an apron started for the table. And she did a startled double-take—it was the blonde with generous assets from the racetrack. The one Tommy hadn’t cheated on her with last night.
    “Hey, Tommy. Luka. And…Cynthia, right?” The waitress, whose nametag said Stephanie, turning a hundred-watt smile on her.
    She managed not to roll her eyes. “Sydney.”
    “Oh. Sorry.” Stephanie kept smiling as she pulled a pad of paper from her apron pocket. “Get you guys something?”
    She frowned and slid the menu back. “I guess I’ll have an order of fries. Luka, you sure you don’t want to eat?”
    Luka glanced at the waitress. “Got anything chocolate?”
    “Bottle of Hershey’s syrup. You want that on ice?”
    “Just put it in a Mudslide. All of it.”
    “One Mudslide, extra chocolate.” The waitress scribbled on the pad and turned to Tommy. “How about you?”
    He smiled—a little too wide, and not in the general direction of her face. “Another beer would be great,” he said. “Could you bring everything over to that pool table, Steph? The one that just opened up. I want to shoot a few rounds.”
    “Sure thing.” She wrote it down and left.
    Sydney told herself it was just leftover paranoia from Cam that had her reading into the familiar nickname Tommy used, and that smile of his.
    Tommy stood and held a hand out. This time his smile was just for her, and the little flash of jealousy evaporated. “How about a game, babe?” he said. “I’ll let you break.”
    A slight frown creased her brow as she took his hand. “I don’t play pool,” she said. She’d been pretty sure he knew that.
    “I do.” Luka pushed her chair back and grinned. “Bet you the next round of drinks I’ll crush you into dust.”
    He laughed. “You’re on, woman.”
    They threaded through the crowd to the recently abandoned pool table. It was near the back wall, where a ledge that was almost wide enough to be a bench ran the length of it. Sydney perched on the ledged and watched as Luka started picking out and rejecting cue sticks from the wall-mount rack, and Tommy fed quarters into the table to release the balls.
    “All these damned cues are crooked,” Luka said. She grabbed two and thrust one of them at Tommy. “I should go out and get mine from the car, but I’m too lazy.”
    Tommy stared at her. “You carry a cue stick around with you?”
    “Yep. Got a custom case and everything.”
    “Well, shit. I guess I’m buying the next round.”
    “Told you,” Luka grinned. “Hey, Syd. Did you ask Cam how the carriage is coming while you were at the ranch this morning? I’m dying