My hair would stand on end, but there was a tingling along my skin that liked his attention. “Maybe not to you because what was it you said? ‘How can I believe what comes out of a Townsend’s mouth?’”
He blanched and cleared his throat. “That was different.”
He continued to be in my way. “Is this payback for chasing off your girlfriend?”
“What girlfriend?”
I rolled my eyes. “The one who was just giggling at you?”
Incredulity filled his dark gaze. “Cassie? We’re just friends. You do know what those are, right?”
I heard the teasing in his voice but it didn’t stop the chafing at my neck. No, I didn’t know what friends were. “I don’t win popularity contests like you.”
He tapped his fingers on his cart. I didn’t trust the glint in his eyes. Then he said, “You might if you smile once in a while.” My mouth dropped open and I sputtered. He laughed, a deep, pleasing sound that made me wish I was in on the joke for once instead of the butt of one. Guys like Teller didn’t joke around with me. “I’m kidding. I’m not that big of a dick.”
I begged to differ. “Can you move please?”
He cocked an ear. “Did Mad Maddy say please?”
A gasp burst out of me. Ihatedthat name. I hated that I earned it in my teen years when my temper was as explosive as my parents’.
I had to get away from it and away from the man who made me want to regress and shout at him to MOVE THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY. His brawny shoulders were blocking my jelly beans.
I could’ve really used something sweet to face the day, but this giant ass wasn’t moving. I’d think of something else or go without, like I always did. I spun on my heel and stormed past him.
“Madison.”
I continued, grateful I hadn’t grabbed a cart or even a handbasket. I nearly ran into an older lady. Mrs. Henderson, my high school Algebra teacher.
She pursed her lips and shook her head. “Still not watching where you’re going?”
I had plenty of new grudges to deal with, I didn’t need old ones. I curved around her, earning the rude reputation behind my family name.
“Mads,” Teller said.
Tension bunched behind my shoulders. “Mads” was too close to “Mad Maddy.”
“Maddy!”
His bootsteps hit the floor behind me. A wheel on his cart squeaked, and I put the afterburners on, power walking my way through the store. The nickname. My brother. The goddamn bar. I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t fall apart in public, and I wasn’t going to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me lose my temper.
I sped to my old pickup, cringing when I noticed Teller’s big fancy truck a few spots down. My ride had rust over the fenders, a dent in the driver’s door, thanks to my ex, and a crooked bumper. Teller’s pickup gleamed shiny silver and blue. He had a nice box cover in the back, and while the vehicle looked well used, it still screamedmoney.
Cassie would look really good reclining on the tailgate, watching him ride in on horseback from moving cattle. I could picture it in my head. Only the image forming didn’t include Cassie, and the twinkle in his eye definitely wasn’t aimed at her.
I shook off the thought of a wide-shouldered rider in sync with his horse, his cowboy hat tipped low, crushing those loose curls of his that popped out when he went a few weeks without a trim. I erased myself from any part of that nonsense.
Quit thinking about him!
I hopped in my beater and drove the few minutes to the bar. I parked in the alley, right by the rear exit. Flatlanders Prohibited was in an old brick building in downtown Bourbon Canyon. The place was three times longer than it was wide, and there was a pervasive, musty smell I hoped would disappear when I replaced the sinks and toilets.
I slipped inside and locked the door behind me. Slumping against it, I blew out a breath. Tears gathered in my eyes and I let them fall. I gave myself a few moments to miss Scott. Another moment to wonder what it would’ve been like if I hadn’t interfered in Teller’s love life all those years ago. Maybe I’d have my jelly beans. Infuriating man. Then I wiped my cheeks dry. I opened my eyes and took in the place. A long sigh eked out of me.
The damage Scott had done bore the proof of his state of mind. At least he hadn’t been drunk when he’d crashed. That was one thing people couldn’t pin on him. Nor had he hit anyone else when his pickup had gone off a curve and hit a tree.
I brushed aside a strand of hair that had escaped my braid as I walked past the empty storeroom that Scott had used to crash after a long night and was now my temporary residence. Then the office, the bathrooms, and a larger storeroom. Brightly colored balls littered the floor beneath the pool tables, along with busted pool cues. I hadn’t picked those up yet.
I could’ve been so much further ahead, but probate had been a bitch, along with Scott’s ex-wife.
