Now, Benji opened his truck door and stepped into the cold night. He noted Sierra’s car parked outside, and shot a text to Mav, telling him not to worry.
With one last deep breath he pulled open the door and stepped inside.
It may have been a long time since he’d frequented the establishment, but nothing had changed. Under the dim light, the bar top was the same dark, scarred wood. The seats were covered in the same cherry red leather. Even the pool table, sitting forlornly across the room, had the same long scratch on its green felt top. The smell – stale cigarettes and booze – greeted him like an old friend.
Benji didn’t have to look hard to find Sierra. She sat at the end of the bar, several empty shot glasses in front of her. Her long legs, clad in that same sexy pencil skirt she’d worn that morning, were crossed. The red turtleneck she wore beneath her blazer matched her lip gloss exactly, and Benji knew she would have put it on at home and then slipped the tube into her purse to have it with her throughout the day. Three cowboys, probably seasonal ranch workers, crowded around her, vying for her attention. And Sierra did not disappoint them.
She tipped her head back and laughed at something one of them said, and when the eldest man, a grizzled bear old enough to be her father, signalled the bartender, Tammy, for another round, Sierra placed her hand mock-flirtatiously on his arm.
Benji leaned against the far end of the bar, away from the trio. ‘Tammy,’ he greeted the wizened bartender.
‘Long time, kid. How’s the baby?’
‘Dead.’
Tammy didn’t bat an eye. ‘Sorry to hear that.’ She cast a slow look in Sierra’s direction. ‘Explains that, I guess.’ She wiped the bar in front of him with a rag that was just as dirty. ‘Get you anything?’
‘I’ll take a Stella. Thanks, Tammy.’
Tammy pulled a Stella from the fridge and opened it. She slapped the beer on the bar top without offering a glass and then ambled off to pour the shots for the cowboys.
Benji sipped his beer as he watched.
He waited until the fresh round of shots was placed in front of the group, let his anger grow as Sierra clinked her glass to the cowboys’ before shooting the tequila.
He wasn’t sure what to do. Even though he knew she was an adult woman with the right to do whatever the fuck she wanted, it hurt. It hurt to watch her drowning in all that pain.
He had almost talked himself into leaving when the youngest cowboy made his move. He pushed closer, crowding Sierra’s body with his own, and though the man was too drunk to notice, Sierra tried to shimmy away from him.
The cowboy clamped one hand on her arm.
Benji sighed. He downed the rest of the beer, put the empty bottle back down just as Tammy reminded him, ‘No blood in my bar.’
‘Yes ma’am.’
He approached the group, and although he knew that Tammy was serious about actually spilling blood, the two older cowboys took only one look at his face to know that he’d do it anyway. They stepped away immediately, and by the time Benji had reached Sierra they were gone.
It was the youngest, a brown-haired kid with baby blue eyes and a cocky grin, that opened his fucking mouth. Every time. ‘Can I help you, friend?’
Benji didn’t reply. He tipped his head towards the door in a show of arrogance that any sober man would have recognized – and feared. Benji might have been forty, but he had over twenty years of ranch brawn on his side, and the boy he was facing down was barely out of high school.
The cowboy just grinned. ‘Or what?’
‘I’d strongly recommend that you left now,’ Sierra informed the kid and turned back to the bar, dismissing him and any drama he might instigate.
The cowboy’s face turned red with embarrassment. He grabbed Sierra’s forearm and pulled her close to his face, just so that he could hiss, ‘You’re just a two-bit cock tease.’
Benji sighed.
‘Benji—’
But Sierra’s warning came too late. Benji’s fist ploughed into the kid’s face. He only had to hit him once.
The cowboy dropped to his knees. He didn’t move to stand, only stared at the floor dazedly before plopping backwards onto his butt.
‘Why did you have to go and do that?’ Sierra demanded. ‘I had it under control!’ She cast a disgusted look at the young cowboy, who was still trying to figure out what had happened. ‘You’redriving him to the hospital.’
‘The fuck I am.’ But because he wasn’t a complete asshole, Benji hollered, ‘Tammy! This kid’s gonna need some ice!’
