“My first drink is free.”
“So, let me buy you your second one.” When she didn’t move, he gave her a puppy-dog look. “Please?”
“Ugh.” Sighing, she hung her purse on the back of the stool. “I can’t believe I’m giving in, but fine. You can buy me one drink—one.”
With a huge grin, he flagged down Alyssa as Shylo sat beside him. “I’ll have another beer, and whatever the lady wants.”
Since he wasn’t driving, one more wouldn’t be a problem. He paced himself throughout the evening and even had a few glasses of water in between the beers. A hangover tomorrow would not be welcome, since it was a workday. When Paige planned the party, she didn’t want to interrupt Bar None’s hectic Friday or Saturday nights. Lou had posted a sign on the front door for a full week, alerting her patrons that the bar would be closed tonight for a private event. She and the staff knew who had been invited, so no unwanted freeloaders could access the open bar and food.
“A glass of pinot grigio, Alyssa, please,” she said. “Thank you.”
While waiting for their drinks, Seth smiled at Shylo. “So, what brought you here from West Virginia?”
Her eyebrows lifted. “You remember where I’m from?”
“That surprises you? When a pretty lady talks, I listen.”
She shook her head slowly. “What is with you and those god-awful pickup lines?”
“You’re redirecting the conversation.” When Alyssa returned with their drinks, Seth thanked her. He had a tab running, so she would add them to it. He focused his attention back on Shylo. “I’ll tell you what—for every question you ask me, I get to ask you one. Fair enough?”
Instead of answering him right away, she sipped her wine. After a few moments, she tilted her head to the side, and her gaze met his. “Fair enough. But we can pass on any question we don’t want to answer.”
Her response made him a little suspicious, but it intrigued him more than anything. “I’m an open book, darlin’. I doubt you’ll ask me anything I don’t want to answer, but you can pass if you want. You can go first.”
“Okay.” She stared at the bottles of liquor behind the bar for a moment. “I’ll start with an easy one. Did you grow up in Hazard Falls?”
“Nope. Redmond, Oregon. Lived there until I was eighteen. Then I roamed around for a bit, taking jobs on the rodeo circuit while trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I met one of my bosses six years ago in a bar in Oklahoma after he took a buckle in bronc-riding at a rodeo. We chatted for about two hours, and then he offered me a job at a ranch here in Hazard. I never regretted accepting it.”
“Do you still have family in Oregon?”
He wagged a finger at her. “Ah-ah. That’s two questions. You have to answer one first.”
Her eyes rolled. “Fine.”
While she took another sip of her wine, he said, “Back to my original question—how did you end up in Hazard from West Virginia?”
She let out a long sigh. “I lived in a small town all my life and hated it. It wasn’t much bigger than here. After my mom died of cancer a few months ago, I had no other reason to stay there.”
Seth reached over and gently squeezed her hand before releasing it again. “I’m sorry about your mom. That’s rough. I lost mine to suicide when I was eight—she had a mental illness for a long time. My father’s new wife and I don’t get along—I refuse to call her my stepmother. She’s one of the main reasons I left.”
Her eyes filled with unshed tears, and at first, he figured she was thinking of her mother since her loss was so recent, but then she said, “You were only eight? How awful. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was still a kid when my mom got sick.”
“You have no other family?”
Her gaze dropped as she slowly turned her wineglass between her fingers. “Not any I want to claim.”
“I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say after that, so he took another sip of beer. “Um... I think it’s your turn to ask a question.”
She paused for a few moments. “Okay, let’s get off the sad subjects. What do you do on the ranch? What kind of ranch is it?”
A grin spread across his face. “That’s two questions, but I’ll let it slide since I can combine the answers into one. I work at the Triple-R—Red River Ranch—which is a cattle ranch. I maintain all the buildings and the property around the main house, the bunkhouses, and the barns. I fix whatever needs fixing and take care of the landscaping and stuff.”
She seemed surprised about that—her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open, but he wasn’t sure why. Before he could question it, she asked, “That’s the Wilsons’ ranch, right? Giselle told me a little about Shane, Tucker, and Paige. I’ve never known anyone in a ménage relationship, but they seem happy.”
She didn’t appear appalled or disgusted by the threesome, which was good. Seth would’ve walked away if she had. He was definitely interested in her, but people who were anti-LGBTQ pissed him off. The Wilsons were his family now, and he wouldn’t stand for them being ridiculed or insulted. “They’re very happy. And yes, the Triple-R is their ranch.”
“Oh. So, um... you don’t ride a horse and wrangle the cattle? Is that the right word?”
