Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 94760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
I glance out the window.
Darkness has fallen.
The bartender comes back and glances at me. He sets my drink down and then plants his hands on the bar. “What’s wrong?”
Slowly, I slide my gaze from the window to Tucker’s mullet and then back to the bartender.
“Tucker knows I broke down today out by Cotton’s—whoever that is,” I say carefully. “How did he know that? It must have been the guy in the truck because that’s the only person I saw. Unless …” My stomach drops. “You know …”
He snorts. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t freak yourself out.” He thinks before he speaks again, clearly amused. “Guy in the truck. What was his name? I’m Gavin, by the way.”
“I’m Megan.” Since leaving him earlier this evening, I have run through my conversation with Diesel Man a hundred times. This time, I try to remember his name and not just his physical details … and come up empty. “I don’t know. Somehow, he didn’t mention it.”
“What did the truck look like?”
“Big. Black.” I pause. “Loud.”
“And the guy?” he asks, grinning.
“And the guy what?”
“What did he look like?”
I study Gavin.
I like him, and not for the same reason I liked Diesel Man. Gavin is attractive, for sure, but Diesel is different. Gavin is cute. He’s the kind of guy who’s a good friend. The one who makes you laugh. He’s the person you call when you have an extra ticket to a concert and no one to go with you.
He’s not the kind of guy you fantasize about throwing you against the hood of a car and burying his face between your legs.
“He was in his thirties, probably,” I say. “Complicated. Not sweet, but not a total dick. Super determined that I didn’t think he was being nice, though—like that would’ve ruined his whole life.”
Gavin’s eyes sparkle.
“Despite his grumpiness, he was freaking hot,” I admit, feeling comfortable enough around my new acquaintance to admit such things. I’m only going to be in town for a month. What do I care what he thinks about me? “Green eyes. Broad shoulders. Forearms that just … ah.”
Gavin bursts out laughing.
“What?” I ask, shrugging. “Do you know who it was?”
I glance at Tucker. He’s watching me over his shoulder and grinning too.
“What?” I ask them both, holding my hands at my shoulders. “What’s going on?”
Tucker shakes his head, then focuses on the game again.
“It’s rude to eavesdrop, Tucker,” I say.
His heavy shoulders bounce as he laughs.
I sigh and turn back to Gavin. “Who was he? You guys know, don’t you?”
“How would we know from that description? So vague. I mean, think about it. My eyes are kinda green. Look at these shoulders.” He flexes. “And I’ll have you know I get compliments on these forearms all the time.”
I stare at him. “What’s your point?”
“My point is that your description could be anybody.”
“Hmm.”
“Don’t hmm me. I bet you’ll figure it out once you’re here for a few days—if you’re sticking around.”
I swirl my straw around my drink.
Gavin is easy to talk to—but most bartenders are. He reminds me of Calista in a weird way. They’re both funny and open and have never met a stranger.
The exact opposite of Diesel Man.
“Yeah, I’ll be around for a while. I’m starting a … it’s a job, I guess, since I’m getting paid to do it. But it’s not a job-job—more like a favor for my mother. Or for her friend, really.” I grimace. “Whatever. I’m here for about a month. Let’s keep it at that.”
“What’s the favor? Seems pretty complicated.”
I take a sip of my drink before answering him.
“My mom’s best friend, Maggie, is going out of town for a month to see her daughter. Mom was supposed to watch Maggie’s granddaughter,” I say, using air quotes. “She’s fourteen and testing lots of limits. They don’t want her home alone while her dad is at work especially considering he might be working out of town for stretches at a time.”
“Oh. Okay. I see.”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “I’m sure it will be fine, even though I’m staying in Maggie’s son’s house, and I’ve never met him before.”
His smile stretches from ear to ear. “That could get interesting quick.”
“I suppose it could, but Maggie said he’s working all the time now, and I probably won’t even see him. Besides, he’s her son. I’m sure he’s as nice as they come.”
Gavin nods his head.
“You’re odd,” I say.
He laughs. “I’m just thinking about how having to be with kids all the time must be the worst job in the world. I buy condoms by the boatload to avoid that situation.”
“I like kids. I thought I’d have a few of them by now.”
“Not me. That’s not in my future.”
“It’s not in mine either because I can’t find a man with daddy potential.”
“I’m not touching that,” he says, making me laugh.
My glass creates a ring of moisture on the bar top. I grab a coaster and slide it under the drink.