My hands trembled. My heart sprinted, pounding painfully like it used to when…
No. Not now. Not here.
I muttered a curse and tried to pull myself together, but the sting of the slap still burned like some kind of punishment. I closed my eyes for half a second, long enough to chase away the flash of a different night, a different man, and a slap that came with promises of worse if I ever stepped out of line again.
Relax. You’re safe here.
But was I? Because even though this wasn’t him, the air felt the same. Hot with shame. Suffocating with unwanted memories. This was my first night on the job. My new start. One small step toward normal…and nowthis.
I swallowed hard and forced my eyes open. I wouldn’t fall apart. Couldn’t.
“Whoa, what happened?” Norah came around the corner carrying her own tray, skidding to a stop as she took in the mess. “Everything okay?”
I nodded quickly, brushing away a disobedient strand of hair clinging to my cheek. “I…slipped.”
I didn’t look at the man behind me. Didn’t need to. I could still feel the echo of his greasy palm on my butt and the way my body had frozen.
Norah set her tray on the nearest table and grabbed a bar rag from her back pocket. “It’s okay.” She knelt to start blotting up the worst of the spill. “Go refill your glasses and take a breath. Don’t let it rattle you.”
Too late for that.
But I nodded again like I was fine, like I wasn’t shaking inside. Like I could still pull off this whole “new life” thing.
I may not have landed in Tarnation on purpose, but I wasn’t going to let some drunk with grabby hands send me running.
“Hey, sweet thing, where’re you going?”
“Gus, leave her alone,” Norah warned.
I didn’t answer. Didn’t look. Just kept walking. But I felt his eyes crawling across my skin.
“I’m just havin’ a little fun,” he replied, like that made it okay.
I slipped behind the bar, head down, hands shaking as I grabbed clean glasses.
“Well, that’s one way to test the floor’s alcohol tolerance.”
Norah let out an unamused sigh. “Very funny, Luke,” she said. “And this wasn’t me. Our new waitress just had a bit of a mishap.”
“New waitress?”
I glanced up in time to see the man—Luke—looking over. My heart stalled for a second. He looked so much like the cowboy I’d run into at the diner earlier. But this wasn’t him. Similar, sure. But the man at the diner had this quiet intensity about himthat made my stomach flip. This one looked like trouble with a smirk. Still, he was handsome. Blue eyes. Confident swagger. Dangerous combination.
Norah gestured toward me. “Red hired her this afternoon.”
Luke’s gaze landed on mine, and I immediately felt my skin tighten like it was bracing for impact. I’d already been groped, grabbed, and gawked at enough for one night. I didn’t need another cowboy staring like I was up for auction. But then he smiled.
It was…disarming—charming, even—and when the light hit just right, his blue eyes actually sparkled. I didn’twantto smile back, but my lips moved before I could stop them.
Norah introduced us. “Luke, this is Andi. Andi, this is my annoying older brother, Luke.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, offering my hand.
Holding my gaze, Luke took my hand, lifted it gently, and brushed a kiss across the back of it like some kind of cowboy Casanova.
Oh. Wow. Okay, then. I’d never experienced anything so…old fashioned and cliché in my life. It was ridiculous. Over the top. And still, somehow, stupidly effective.
Norah groaned. “Really?”
