Think about something else before you embarrass yourself, Trafford.
Wren looked around the bar, pushing her hand through her long curls. Were they as soft as they looked? He couldn’t wait to find out.
“Bird!”
Wren whipped around, and Dane watched, with no small amount of irritation, as Hayes and another guy walked toward them. They crossed the bar, two Wren-seeking missiles. And yeah, this definitely wasn’t a date type of place.
Wren hopped off her seat and was swept up into the arms of Hayes’s friend, and Dane’s hand tightened around his beer bottle. What was it with the men in this town who thought they could pick her up and whirl her around? He didn’t care how long she’d known them, when last she’d seen them, a handshake or a nod was perfectly acceptable. There was no need for this public show of affection.
Just when he didn’t think he could stay in his seat any longer—not that he had any idea how he’d manage to get them to disengage—Wren was put back on her feet and hopped back onto her stool. She looked at him and gestured to her friends. “Dane, meet Thom Sheffield. You met Hayes a few days ago.”
“Dane came to check out my shop yesterday,” Hayes told her. He had, and he’d been impressed. Hayes and his people ran a hell of an operation.
Dane stood up and, yeah, reluctantly, held out his hand for the other guy to shake. “Dane Trafford.”
Thom’s grip was firm and brief. “The town’s new doc.”
God, this again? “Not happening. I’m too much of a hard-ass for family medicine,” he said, resuming his seat.
“I haven’t seen you for a couple of years, Bird,” Thom said. “How have you been?”
Wren answered him, and Dane knew their catch-up session wouldn’t end anytime soon. Seeing that their hands were empty, he sighed, signaled the bartender, and asked Hayes what he wanted to drink. “Just a Bud Light,” Hayes answered, pulling up a barstool. Yep, there went his alone time with Wren. He should’ve taken her to one of the spooky bars in town. They might have been paranormal-themed, but at least he wouldn’t have had to fight two other guys for Wren’s attention. “Thom will have the same.”
After he placed the order, ordering another glass of wine for Wren and another beer for himself, he looked at Hayes. “You all grew up together, right?”
“In a way,” Hayes replied, resting his hands on his faded jeans. “We just happened to all be kids who returned regularly to spend the summer here. Wren stayed with her godmother; Thom’s parents had a summer house here; Poppy and I stayed with our grandparents.”
“Poppy?” Dane asked.
“Poppy ran around with us, too, she’s Wren’s best friend.” Hayes lowered her voice and looked to see whether Thom was listening. “She’s about to marry Thom’s younger brother.”
Dane frowned. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“He and Thom don’t speak. Haven’t for a while.”
Hayes took the beer Dane offered him, then picked up Thom’s bottle and nudged his arm. Thom took it without taking his eyes off Wren. Jealousy spiked, hot and sharp, and Dane had to look away.
“I heard that you hurt my girl today,” Hayes stated.
Dane’s attention immediately focused on Hayes’s face, wondering what the hell he was talking about. “Uh … what?”
“You stepped on my daughter Hadley’s foot at dance practice,” Hayes said, barely managing to contain his grin.
Relief flooded through him. Right. Hold on, the teenager from earlier was his daughter? “I’m really sorry about that,” he said. “Is she okay?”
Hayes waved his concern away. “She’s fine. But she did say that you’re a pretty shitty dancer. My words, not hers.”
Yeah, yeah. That was now abundantly clear. “She’s good,” Dane said. “I mean, I think she is.” Deciding that Hayes was the type of guy who’d prefer him being blunt rather than beating around the bush, he asked how old he was when Hadley was born.
“Nineteen,” Hayes replied. “I raised her.”
Dane sipped his beer, expecting Hayes to change the subject, which he did. And of course, the subject was him. “How did you end up in H-Town?”
Dane lifted his shoulder, once again feeling a twinge. “I chose it for the proximity to the mountains, the hiking and bike trails, the lake sports.”
Hayes smiled. “So, town rumor has it that you’ve either been fired, are hanging out in H-Town to heal a broken heart, or you’ve just won the lottery.”
“I’m on vacation,” Dane replied, keeping his voice even. Kinda. Sorta. He wasn’t a guy who opened up easily, and while he liked Hayes, he was still little more than a stranger and he was at his limit of personal talk.
