No, she’d learned the hard way not to take male guests seriously.
Which was why her inability to stop thinking about Elliot bothered her so much.
“Hey.” Rory walked into the small bar area and hung his coat on a row of hooks. “Good to see you today. A text would have been nice. Lisa and I weren’t sure if you were coming back or not, so we just locked up.” Rory was usually a pretty sweet guy. He was cute. Had asked her out a few times when he started working there, but it hadn’t taken long to realize he was worse than most of their guests.
Ski instructor during the days, waited tables at night. He told her he was gonna guide raft trips this summer. Most of the women he ended up with didn’t seem much better though. She no longer felt sorry for them.
“Forgot my phone. Thanks for taking over. Just a few stitches but it took a while, and then the roads were bad.” Rory looked concerned for all of five seconds.
“Hey, great, so would you mind covering for me if I got out of here a little early tonight. Close up my section?” Ah, so there were strings…
“No problem, Rory. Just make sure to do all your other side work before you go.” It was going to be a late night. She was already tired.
An older man, she’d waited on him before, strolled up to the bar and took a seat. “Hey little lady. How ’bout getting a drink over here?” He was one who made her skin crawl.
Noel smiled and laughed. “Sure thing Mr. Watkins, Pendleton double, on the rocks?”
“You know me so well.” He winked and grabbed a handful of the snack mix left around the bar in little cups. Noel felt his eyes on her as she filled the glass with ice and then poured his drink.
He was stuffing another handful of the mix into his mouth as she sat the drink in front of him. “Did you want anything to eat yet?”
He chuckled through his mouthful of food. “I’m looking at what I’d like to eat.” He leered and then laughed again. Noel wanted to tell him to go to hell. He’d gotten inappropriate with her a few times before.
But he tipped outrageously. If she could handle a few insulting comments…
God, she was getting too old for this.
Or something.
“You forgot your prescriptions, Noel.” Her heart jumped.
It was Elliot. Standing at the other end of the bar, he placed a stapled white paper bag on the bar top. He wasn’t looking at her though. He was glaring at Mr. Watkins.
The jerk wastwo words from getting his face pounded. Elliot couldn’t believe what the douchbag had said to Noel. And then had the audacity to laugh at his own bad behavior.
No wonder she’d acquired such a brittle smile.
And then she turned her gaze on Elliot.
And gave him the real thing.
Like a punch to the gut, he wanted to sweep her into his arms again. Carry her out of this place and make sure she never had to deal with bastards like that again.
Which was ridiculous, really. He barely knew her.
But that hadn’t stopped him from feeling disappointed to find her gone when he’d woken up this morning.
No note. No ‘Thank You, Ell-ee-ot.’
But here she was now.
And he had one more night in town.
“My prescription?” She glanced questioningly at the bag. “Oh, the antibiotics.”
Along with that natural, welcoming smile she’d sent him, she had a look of uncertainty about her. If she’d come out from behind the bar, he’d clear that up as well.
She grabbed the bag and shoved it under the counter. When she faced him again, her smile wasn’t quite the same. Her shield was going up. “How’s your sister today?”
