He scoffed, but I ran off to the kitchen before he harangued me further.
“You okay, girlie?” Dakota asked. “Is that boy bothering you? I thought he was your special friend, but you didn’t look too happy to see him. Did y’all break up, and he didn’t get the memo?”
I chuckled sadly.
“Something like that. I’d better get this order out.”
Chapter 11
JAKE
The rest of the work day passed with agonizing slowness. I was unsure if it was because I’d see Dani at the end of her shift, or if it was because I was tired of the excuses the women of Sierra Rose Ridge made to get my attention. If only they knew I wasn’t worth their time, they’d save us both some trouble.
For now, the shop was crowded with women claiming they needed ‘personalized maintenance.’ Dusty and Calvin gave me shit about it all day.
Dusty needed help with a few rush jobs, so I worked late. The money would be nice, but I wasn’t eager to be alone with my thoughts. We finished around eight and went our separate ways.
After I clocked out, I headed home and tried to work on my floors. Every few minutes, though, I checked my phone to see if Dani was ready to go. Time crawled.
Around nine, I gave up and headed to the Firelight Tavern early. I’d hang out inside until close or wait in my truck, but I wasn’t going to get anything else done tonight. I grabbed the sci-fi novel I was reading and headed inside.
When I looked around, Dani was nowhere in sight. I checked my phone again. No missed messages, so I settled at the bar.
The bartender was a young blond guy with weirdly perfect hair. He leaned on his forearms across from me.
“Hello, handsome. New in town?”
“Yes and no,” I said.
“Mysterious and broody. My favorite combination.”
His grin widened. The tension in my shoulders relaxed at his harmless flirting.
“Not trying for either. I recently moved back, but I lived here a while ago.”
“I know who you are.” He extended his hand to shake. “I’m Neil, Dani’s bar buddy. And you’re her Old Friend.”
His tone implied some significance I didn’t understand, but I was too distracted to figure it out. Where was Dani?
“Jacob.”
“Dani’s working in the back for a few minutes to get away from an annoyance.”
With a jolt, I searched for the troublemaker.
“Settle down, soldier boy. It’s over. Beau’s gone now, but the Boss Man had her work in the back so he’d leave.”
“What did he do?” I demanded.
“I didn’t hear, but she wasnothappy. Ugh, I wish she’d dump him. She could do so much better.”
He eyed me meaningfully. I didn’t know if he wanted me to break up with Beau for her or run him off, but Dani had her own plan. As much as I wanted to swoop in and fix everything, she needed to reclaim her agency. I didn’t like it, but my job was to support whatever decision she made.
Out of nowhere, my body went on high alert. My skin itched like it was too small, a feeling I knew better than to ignore, both from my time at home and in the army. Something was wrong.
“Where’s Dani working?”
“She’s in the back.” He noted my alarm. “Want me to go check on her?”
