“Oof, rough night,” she grinned.
“Exactly.” Once I was at the bar, I waved down the bartender, who was at the other end, busy getting drinks for someone else.
“Did you see the new bartender?”
“Who is he?” I called over the music. “I didn’t know Lizzy was hiring anyone.”
“Neither did I. Ooh! There’s Bailey!”
Glancing over my shoulder, I grinned when I saw her pulling Liam onto the dance floor. “Aww. Their second dance. That’s so sweet.”
“It’s nice to see him with some clothes on,” she smirked.
Laughing, I wondered what that had been like. I’d heard about their impromptu wedding, but I hadn’t seen it for myself.
“What can I get you?”
The rough, masculine voice slid over me in that familiar way that left me confused as I turned and faced the broody male that was my neighbor. My smile brightened instantly.
“It’s Tennessee!”
He didn’t answer. Instead, his eyebrow slid just a scant centimeter higher as he locked eyes with me.
He really was a very handsome man, even if he did remind me of the grumpiest man on earth. Maybe he just had some bad sushi and didn’t know how to recover.
“Are you going to order anything or just stand there all night?”
“Well, I’m going to have a second of this delicious drink,” I said, shaking the glass in my hand. “And Sawyer…” Craning my neck, I found my brother brooding in the corner at a table by himself. “Get me the best whiskey you’ve got.”
His eyes followed where I’d just been looking. “You sure about that?”
“Positive. If I’m going to make it through this night, I’m going to need the hard stuff.”
“Rough date?”
Surprised that he actually engaged with me, it took a moment to respond. “You have no idea.”
“So, leave him.”
“Ha!” I barked out. “That would not be fair to the rest of the female population.”
I leaned heavily on the bar as he mixed my drink, watching every step of the process. “So, when did you start working here? Does this mean you’re going to be in town for a while? Ooh, does this mean we’re going to be neighbors for a while?”
A heavy sigh left him as he finished my drink and slid it across the bar. Clearly, he was never going to be a great talker.
“So, are you going to tell me your name, or should I continue to call you Tennessee?”
“Call me whatever you want,” he muttered.
“Ooh, that could be interesting. I’ll have to think of something really good to go with all…” I waved my hand in a circle, motioning to his face. “That.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know, broody and sexy. Deep, thinking eyes. Scruffy jaw with thatdon’t give a careattitude.”
He just stared at me.
“Well, if you’re really not going to give me a name, I can come up with plenty.” Thinking about it, I went with my first instinct. “Daniel.”
