Wanna grab a drink?
“What?” I screeched, nearly tossing my wine in the air. “He wants to grab a drink?”
Um…like a date?
Like a drink. The Beaver. 10 minutes.
“Ten minutes?” I screeched again. “I can’t get ready in ten minutes! Then again, if this is just for a drink, he’s not going to be paying attention to how I look. Maybe he just wants a friend.”
I smacked myself on the forehead, pissed that I messaged him to begin with. I didn’t know what any of this meant, and that was really screwing with me.
It’s just a drink, Ellie. Put on your damn boots and meet me there.
Well, that sounded simple enough. Panic over, I gave a thumbs up and shut things down. There was no sense in wasting my wine, and I needed the liquid courage to sit next to Jack Harding. Even if he was just meeting me for the hell of it…it wasJack Harding.
Grabbing my purse and slipping into my boots, I headed out to the bar in my Jeep. I’d had this thing for going on ten years, and she was starting to cause a lot of problems, but it wasn’t like I could afford anything else right now.
Slamming the door, I tossed my purse over my shoulder and headed into the bar. The moment I laid eyes on him, my heart did a little jump-skip in my chest. Not because I was attracted to him. Well, not entirely. It was more like finally having your high school crush ask you out after years of waiting around.
I wasn’t really interested in him, but it was nice to be noticed.
I slid onto the barstool next to him and waved down Lizzy at the other end of the bar.
“Hey! You don’t usually come in during the week.”
I jerked my thumb at Jack. “Just meeting a friend. Red wine, please.”
“Going for the hard stuff tonight,” she grinned. “Coming right up.”
I spun in my seat to face the hulking man, surprised when I no longer felt tingles around him. He looked depressed. That wasn’t exactly a turn-on.
“So, what’s up?”
“Just needed a drink,” he sighed, rubbing a hand across his jaw.
“Bad breakup?”
“Why do you say that?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.
“Well, you’re kind of a loner. You don’t really hang out with anyone from around town. You used to hang out with Wyatt, but I don’t see the two of you together very much anymore.”
“Been busy with work.”
“And he doesn’t really seem like the type of guy you’d talk about your troubles to.”
“Why’s that?”
“You two are both so…distant. You don’t get involved in town politics or gossip. You keep your head down and get work done. And since he’s not here with you, and you need a drink, I’m guessing that you broke up with what’s her face and just wanted someone to drink with.”
A small smirk tilted his lips as he peeled the label on his bottle. “Very insightful.”
“I was right?”
“Half right,” he said, tipping the bottle back, swallowing the last of the contents. “Not a breakup exactly.”
“Oh?”
“Hit-and-run.”
