Brielle & Wade Bonus Scene

This bonus scene takes place before Brielle and Wade’s love story in Callahans of Copper Creek Book 7.

Wade watched the young Callahan woman all but drag the man who was with her toward the other side of the room before he swung his focus in the direction of her sister.

He’d heard plenty about Brielle. It wasn’t uncommon for the cowboys around here to brag about being her next mark.

Okay, they didn’t think of themselves as marks, though that was exactly what they were. Each and every one of them thought they’d be the man to tame her.

A cross between a snort and a chuckle made its way up his throat as he shook his head with disdain. They were all the same. What was it about this slight, blonde woman that had them all smitten? Could she turn anything she touched into gold?

Not likely.

And yet at the same time, he couldn’t deny that something had awakened within him when Grace had mentioned her interest.

Nope.

He wasn’t going to go there. Wade had only shown up at the country club for one reason and that was to drag his sister home. It was one thing for her to sneak off when she was a teenager, but now she was a full-fledged adult and she had responsibilities.

Wade’s focus remained on Brielle and his determination wavered. Annabel was her own person and she was going to do what she wanted to no matter what he said. Would it be so bad if Wade wandered across the room and asked a woman to dance? He was already here, wasn’t he? He’d interacted with her a handful of times when she’d helped out at his place.

Granted those interactions had been less conversation and more her telling him what she was going to work on. It wasn’t his money, what did he care as long as the place was getting fixed up?

He was losing his focus again. Annabel wasn’t even here. He should leave.

Even as the thought came to him, Wade’s feet moved in the other direction. Brielle leaned against the wall, a drink in hand and a wide smile on her face. She laughed, her voice carrying over the sound of the music. Then her eyes landed on him.

Wade should have stopped then at that moment. Perhaps he had a death wish. That had to be the only logical explanation. But then Grace’s words danced through his mind. Hadn’t she said that Brielle had a thing for him? She’d practically begged him to ask her sister to dance.

He found himself standing in front of her, flanked by two men who weren’t smart enough to walk away when he arrived. Brielle straightened, but the smile never left her face.

“Well if it isn’t Wade Keagan.” Her gaze drifted to the men on either side of him. “I’m helping out Wade’s family a bit—fixing up his place.” When her eyes landed on him a spark lit within him. He didn’t know what it was. It could have been the way her eyes seemed to see right through to his center. Or it could be the lilt of her voice.

Either way, there was a connection that he couldn’t deny. It was as if God were telling him that her soul fit with his like they were two pieces of the same puzzle. If he had been a lesser man, he might have lost his nerve right then and there.

Wade cleared his throat and jerked his chin toward the dance floor. “Would you care to dance?”

Her eyes widened and it didn’t help that the men beside him chuckled. Wade stood his ground, though. He wasn’t about to let this moment go to waste.

“I’d very much like to dance with you.”

Brielle glanced at the others in their small group, her shock wearing off. She handed off her drink toward one of them and without a word, took Wade’s hand. She placed it on her shoulder as she led them to the middle of the dance floor.

Once there, she spun around and draped her hands around his neck. “I get why you asked me to dance.”

“You do?”

“Sure. You don’t like talking much—especially if there’s an audience. What did you need? Is something wrong with the paint I picked out for the house?”

His brows furrowed. Was she really talking about his ranch when they were supposed to be dancing?

“I know it’s not a fancy color choice. But you’re going to appreciate it more when it’s all done. Then after that, we can—”

“Miss Callahan, I didn’t ask you to dance so we could discuss work. I genuinely wanted to spend some time with you.” There was a strange kind of lightening in his chest as if his heart wasn’t fully prepared for him to be so blunt.

Clearly, neither was Brielle.

She tilted her head and her smile waned. “What?”

He lowered his head and peered at her. With as much seriousness as he could muster, he murmured, “I know.”

“You know… what?”

“That you like me.”

For a brief moment he thought he’d managed to bypass all of the awkward ‘will they’ moments. He’d never been one to dance around a subject and this was as good a time as ever to let her know that he wouldn’t be against courting her. But that brief moment was quickly extinguished. Brielle let out a raucous laugh. “You think I… Oh honey. Where did you get that? You know my coming to help out at the ranch has nothing to do with how I feel about your family. I’m just good at what I do and I promised my sister I’d help. That’s all.”

Any normal man would tuck his tail between his legs and scurry out of there as if he’d lost the family jewels. And perhaps he should have, but he wasn’t just some cowboy and Brielle wasn’t just some girl. “I have it on good authority that you have feelings for me and I’m here to tell you that’s… well, that’s right fine.”

She laughed again. “I’m sorry, but I… I don’t know how else to say this… Thanks for your interest but I’m just not…” She shook her head, her hands dropping to her sides. “Who told you this?”

“Grace—”

The amusement drained from her features and her cheeks filled with scarlet. “Of course she did.” Without another word, she whirled around, no doubt searching for her sister. Then she marched away.

Wade watched her go, a small smile touching his lips. Brielle was fiery. She was the kind of person who could stick up for herself, but he could already tell that would get her into trouble. She needed someone who could keep her safe without tethering her like some wild animal.

He had never been one to believe in love at first sight, but today he just might have been proven wrong. Wade just needed to figure out what made her tick so he could get to her just like she’d gotten to him.

***

Brielle fumed as she stomped back to the country club’s entrance. Grace was going to get it. She wouldn’t know it until it hit her, but Brielle would exact her revenge. Why did she have to go and tell Wade to flirt with her?

On the one hand, it had been flattering to be noticed by Wade. He was the strong silent type, and she was beginning to realize that was exactly the kind of guy she liked.

She entered the country club and glanced around the dance floor, telling herself she wasn’t looking for Wade but she knew better.

Grace brushed past her and headed straight for her current client. Riley was attractive in the sense that he had that wounded hero vibe going for him. But it was clear he only had eyes for Grace.

Brielle’s sinister thoughts took control and the second she saw Wade, she hurried toward him. He opened his mouth but she stopped him when she held up her hand. “You should ask Grace to dance.”

“Pardon?”

“Sure. She said I wanted you to dance with me, but that was probably just her trying to get you to talk to her.”

Dang it, the man in front of her looked absolutely adorable the way he tilted his head and stared at her like he didn’t understand a single thing she’d just said.

“Girls do it all the time. They need a reason to ask a guy a question and in your case, she talked about what you two have in common. Me.” Brielle pointed in the direction where Grace and her client stood talking. Grace glanced in their direction and Brielle forced her smile to widen. “See? She’s noticing that we’re talking. How much you wanna bet that she’s wishing she was right here instead?”

Wade shifted closer to her, causing her to take a step back. Hopefully she hadn’t offended him. She searched his gaze, but she couldn’t find anything she could read in it. His lips quirked upward, the motion flooding her lower abdomen with the strangest sensation. “I don’t want to ask her to dance.”

Momentarily frozen, Brielle did her best to ignore the sharp and tantalizing scent of his aftershave. Her fingertips tingled and her mouth went dry. “Why not?” she whispered.

“Because I’d much rather spend some more time with you.”

“Why?” It was the only word that came to mind in that moment. She’d lost all her bearings simply because a man who smelled like he belonged in a lumberjack commercial stood in front of her actually doing most of the work. Had she dismissed him too quickly? Was this the guy who could make her reconsider all of the promises she’d made herself over the years?

No.

There was nothing and no one who would be able to convince her to go digging into the past. That’s why she’d left it buried where no one would find it.

Brielle swallowed hard, pushing Wade back with her pointer finger. “You can spend some more time with me all you want this evening but you have to do that one thing for me first. Ask her to dance and then we can finish this conversation.”

She thought that would be that. Wade was the type of cowboy who did as he was told. Sure, there were some things about his formative years that made people second guess whether or not they wanted to spend time in his presence, but as of late, Wade had shown he was capable of caring for his family like any man could.

But that wasn’t what happened.

Wade hooked his finger under her chin and with a smile he moved closer.

Shoot! He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her right there in the middle of the dance floor and everyone would see. She didn’t have anywhere to go.

Only he didn’t.

Wade stopped mere inches from her face. His warm breath fanned her cheeks and the scent of mint on his breath felt cool and refreshing. “Deal.”

It wasn’t until he took several steps away that she realized she hadn’t been breathing. She exhaled sharply, her whole body tingling from the interaction that had just taken place. Lightheaded, she shuffled toward the nearest wall to lean against. She barely remembered she’d sent Wade on a quest in time to watch Grace’s date poke Wade angrily.

Brielle’s focus remained on Wade, watching as he kept his cool. He was a master at deescalating the whole thing. What started out as an amusing little experiment turned into something… different. Wade was actually a good guy. He was kind and level-headed—nothing like the rumors that circulated whenever he was near.

Stop it! Time to get your head out of the clouds and remember why you can’t develop feelings for someone.

Oh goodness. Really? Feelings? This was not good.

Brielle didn’t have feelings for Wade. She was just thrown off by his advances, that was all. And if watching him had caused this dangerous shift, she needed to get out of there before she lost even more control.

Wade glanced toward her and his smile made her heart wring and writhe. She didn’t realize she was smiling until it was too late. Brielle straightened, moving through the club faster than she’d ever done before.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t fast enough. She got to the bottom step of the country club entrance outside when a large, warm hand wrapped around hers and tugged her to a stop. Brielle let out a gasp, spinning as she came face to face with Wade.

“I thought you said I could spend as much time with you as I wanted.”

She didn’t have a comeback. Why on earth did her words choose to fail her in this most inopportune moment? Mouth dry, throat itchy, she looked away unable to utter a single thing.

“I wasn’t lying, you know,” his soft words brought her looking at him again. “I find you… fascinating.”

“Fascinating?” Her voice squeaked. She couldn’t decide if she was flattered or offended by the term.

“Yes,” he nodded with the confidence she craved. “You’re not like the other women around here. You’re…”

“A flirt?” she slung the word at him like the ranchers slung the excrement of their animals.

The corners of his mouth twitched but he didn’t smile at her fully.

And dang it if she didn’t absolutely adore the way he worked so hard to show his amusement.

“No,” he murmured. “It’s something else—something I can’t put my finger on.”

“If you don’t even know what it is you like about me then why even bother?”

“Your soul speaks to mine.” His statement was so simple and matter of fact that it gave her a wave of goosebumps. “You’ll see. This thing. You and me. It’s gonna happen.”

She snorted.

“Mark my words, Brielle Callahan. I will be yours one day.”

Brielle blinked, thrown off by his words. “Don’t you mean that I will be yours? That’s usually what the guy says. You know, claiming his woman and all that.” The concept was outdated and she hated it more than almost anything when it came to modern dating.

Wade released her hand and took a step back. “I wouldn’t dare make such an assumption.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Now, she felt like a complete idiot. What was with this guy?

“You’ll see.” He turned and took two steps before she charged after him then cut him off before he made it to the last step.

Her hands were on her hips and her eyes were narrowed as her focus swept across his face then the rest of him.

She didn’t know what possessed her, but clearly something paranormal must have occurred because she never would have done what she did next—and definitely not with Wade Keagan. Brielle framed his face with both of her hands and crushed her lips over his. The kiss was probably one of the shortest ones she’d ever had the pleasure of experiencing. But it was also one she wasn’t prepared to hang around after.

She was crazy. She knew it.

Just as quickly as the kiss had ended, she took off down the steps. There would be no looking back. That kiss wasn’t supposed to happen. And there would never be a repeat if she had anything to say about it.

It didn’t matter how much it made her lips tingle nor how for the first time in a long while she finally felt alive again.  

Thank you for reading the bonus scene for Brielle and Wade! I hope you enjoyed revisiting the Callahans. Brielle and Wade’s story was one of my favorites from this series, and this is the first of many bonus scenes I’m planning to share.

If you enjoyed this bonus scene but haven’t yet read Brielle and Wade’s love story, click the button below to be taken to their book’s page on Amazon.