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“But seriously,” she said softly to Grace, “things seem really good with Cole.”
Her words prompted a soft, secret smile that she’d never seen on Grace’s face, and Merry’s heart melted. Grace deserved this. After the life she’d had, she deserved everything. Merry grabbed her in a quick hug. “I’m so happy for you,” she whispered in her ear. “And only the tiniest bit jealous.”
“You’ll meet a great guy one day,” Grace said. “Soon.”
“A guy like Walker?”
“Oh, God, no. He’s a little too much fun.”
“But good for scratching an itch, maybe.”
“No,” Grace said flatly.
“Jeez! I guess I never needed a dad, after all. I expect to find you standing in the door with a shotgun the next time I come home from a date.”
“What date?” Grace growled.
“Seriously, Grace! I just want to get laid!”
Of course, the jukebox took that moment to switch songs. And of course, Merry had shouted that way too loudly. Not loudly enough for the whole bar to hear, but if the wide eyes of Shane and Walker were any indication, her words had easily reached their ears.
Rayleen howled. “Girl, you just hung out the blinking Christmas lights! Merry, merry! Taking all volunteers!”
&nbs
p; “Oh, God,” she groaned, forcing herself not to cover her face and crouch on the floor. Instead she turned around and downed her drink. Jenny was right there with another.
“Seems like you might need this,” she said with a wink.
“Oh, God,” Merry repeated.
Jenny smiled. “That Walker seems like a tall drink of water. Why don’t you take him home for a ride?”
She shook her head.
“Seriously. He looks…big.”
Merry finally found the will to smile. And then laugh. “You’re awful.”
“No, I’m not. I’m a bartender. I hear things. Important things.”
“Stop it! I don’t want to know this!”
“Sure you do. Knowledge is power. The power to get it on.”
Merry nearly collapsed in giggles, but then she sobered just the tiniest bit. That was probably the wrong word, though, because she’d never get the nerve to ask her next question sober. She leaned closer to Jenny. “What do you hear about Shane?”
“Shane Harcourt?” Her eyes focused past Merry’s shoulder and she cocked her head. “There’s not a lot of gossip about him, actually. No long-term relationships that I’ve ever known. He dates around a little, but he doesn’t troll the bar every weekend or anything. I think he was seeing Paulette Jameson after her divorce. That was a while ago.”
So Grace was right. Shane was a tough guy to read. Even Jenny didn’t know much about him.
Merry looked over to see him talking to Walker and a petite blonde who’d wandered over at some point. She had no reason to think the girl was anything but perfectly nice, but Merry still wanted to snatch her hair off. She was everything Merry wasn’t. Petite and tan and perfectly made up to accent her big blue eyes and high cheekbones.
Fucking cheekbones. Merry had cheekbones, too, if she held her head at just the right angle in perfect lighting.
And Shane was doing his charming thing again, offering an easy smile and eyes that practically twinkled. He’d tried that on her a couple of times, but he didn’t bother with it anymore. People didn’t twinkle for buddies, after all. But that blonde girl, he wanted to be smooth for.
And why not? The girl was pretty. Shane was gorgeous. They were a lovely contrast to each other. A perfect pair. All Merry could do was sip her drink and hope he didn’t want to tell her all about it later.
