I shook my hair out and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Tonight was not about him. It was about me hanging out with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.
Red lips and a little black dress that had pockets but left little to the imagination with how it hugged my curves were just the pick-me-up I needed. Not to mention the fact I’d be seeing him.
I looked good and knew it.
I found myself walking into the brewery less than twenty minutes later. The place was as busy as it usually was, bustling with people. I glanced around at the usual small table Kate and I usually shared when we got together, but it was taken by a group of women that looked a little familiar.
Maybe if you stayed home more often, you’d know more of the community and have more than one or two friends outside your sisters,a voice perked up. The same one that hadn’t stopped chiming in whenever I thought about work.Maybe mytravel nursing days were over?I glanced around the brewery for a glimpse of Kate but couldn’t seem to find her. My phone buzzed, and a knot tightened in my belly. I glanced down and the screen and somehow held back a wince.
Kate: I’m so sorry! I got held over at work. Raincheck?
Shit! This was the last thing I needed, but who understood a nurse more than another nurse?
Me: Don’t worry about it. Be safe and try to be patient. We will get together soon.
That was if I didn’t take a job in Florida before Valentine’s Day. Which was something I’d been contemplating while I was supposed to be learning to be still. God, I was hopeless. It would be a three-month gig, one of the longest I’d commit to in a long time, especially after my sister’s apartment caught fire, but what was here for me in Moonlit Pines?
I glanced around the busy brewery. Semi-familiar faces were all around me. Everyone was enjoying themselves, some even tipped their chins in my direction or waved, but none seemed friendly enough or close enough for me to approach.When was the last time I hung out with someone who isn’t one of my sisters?
I was sure if I looked hard enough, I’d find one of the Trejo sisters. They were always nice and approachable. Shit, I would bet money Jackie was probably there hanging with her friend from the flower shop and library.
But how lame would that make me?
Having no one else but my little sister to hang out with.
That’s when it hit me. That bout of loneliness I’d been trying to ignore. I felt so… small. All dressed up, makeup perfectlydone, surrounded by what felt like literally half the town, I was alone.
So damn alone.
This wasn’t what tonight was supposed to be.
I was supposed to be catching up with a friend while trying to sneak peeks at the man who had been driving me bonkers since getting under my skin.Get out of here, a small voice of self-perseverance whispered. But what would that help? I’d just be alone at home. No. I couldn’t do that.
I lifted my head, squared my shoulders, and started to make my way towards the bar. I’d enjoy a good strong drink, maybe something to snack on while I pretended to watch whatever they had playing on the big screens by the bar.
We did that, and you ended up slow-dancing all night long with Austin Hart, of all people!that little voice reminded me in a bit of a shrill tone.Now you’re pining over the impossible.
Impossible. Was it so much of a challenge? Maybe tonight, I could sit in his area and find a way to talk him into giving us a shot? For one night. Hell, at this point, even a half-good screw against the building in the back wouldn’t be something I’d shrug my nose at. It wasn’t like I was in town often.Not if you keep running away.
I shook my head, and just as I was about to reach an empty barstool, I felt it. The air behind me changed, and a strong hand suddenly covered my bare forearm. The touch was gentle yet firm with a warmth I felt all the way down to my toes. I didn’t have to look behind me to know who it was. Not when I’d dreamt of that touch every single night since we’d danced. It didn’t surprised me when I turned around, and his fingers slid down to mine.
Austin Hart.
Standing in front of me, his baby blue eyes blazing with something I couldn’t name, wearing black slacks and a blackbutton-down that fit his lean muscular frame perfectly and made his reddish-brown trimmed jaw stand out against his creamy yet lightly tanned skin. Before I knew it, without even a hello, he led the way to the dance floor.
“What do you think—“ I started to argue because I was me and couldn’t help myself but didn’t finish saying. How could I when he pulled me back into his arms much like he had at the hole-in-the-wall bar a few weeks ago, when everything in my world suddenly made sense?
“It’s about time you came here,” he muttered into my ear. I rolled my eyes. Old habits die hard and all that.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I clipped, knowing just how catty I sounded.
“Your sister comes in every other day. Your other sister is usually here with her man every other week. Figured you’d stop by eventually with one of them, but two weeks is a long time.” He knew how long it’d been since we’d last danced together?
“Maybe I don’t like this place?”
“Everyone likes this place,” he countered with a charismatic smirk. “Maybe you’re trying to avoid me? Why you haven’t called or texted even though I know my phone number is in your phone.
“Oh? Is that why you stalk me around town after my runs?” I asked blatantly, putting it out there. “You know stalking is against the law.”
