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She glanced up at him, her eyes suddenly dark in the dim light, almost the color of the chocolate stout he was setting on the bar in front of her. Shadows played around her cheekbones, emphasizing the elegant lines of her face. She took the stout, her hand sliding against his for a moment, then took a sip.
“Good. Lots of depth. Hints of chocolate, but it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the taste.”
He nodded as his pulse accelerated slightly. “Yeah, they’re a new place. They do good stuff.”
She licked a drop of foam from her upper lip, and suddenly a flash of heat moved through his nether regions.
Where the hell did that come from? Earlier in the evening, he could have sworn he was too tired to feel anything below the belt.
He took a closer look at Ruth. Her dark bangs had drifted across her forehead, shadowing her eyes. In the dim light of the bar it was difficult to tell for sure, but he thought he saw a flush of pink across her cheeks. Normally, her complexion was slightly dusky, burnished by the sun. Like most people in Antero, she spent a lot of time outside.
He was spending too much time looking at her again. “You still taking care of that goat herd?”
One of her dark eyebrows arched slightly. “It’s my brother’s herd, but I help out some now and then. Mostly I just make cheese out of the milk.”
“You do that every day? Must be a bitch.”
She gave him a half smile. “Sure. Every day. The goats don’t take any days off, so neither do I. Most days, we make the cheese as soon as we get the milk. It’s not that bad.”
“No vacations?”
“I can take a couple of days off every once in a while. As long as Bec or somebody else can make the cheese while I’m gone.”
“Does an evening at the tavern count?”
She grimaced. “These days, an evening at the tavern is almost like a week in the country.”
He shook his head. “Tough life, running a restaurant.”
She took another swallow of her beer. “Tough life, tending bar and making beer.”
He sighed. “It is that. Maybe we both need some time off. Kick back and take a while to contemplate the rhythm of the stars.”
“This is about as close to time off as I get. No star-contemplating in the near future. Carol’s spending the week with her grandparents, so I get a night at the tavern.”
Which probably means she won’t have to be home tomorrow morning.
He had no idea where that particular thought had come from. Except, he did. Straight from that below-the-belt surge.
“Sorry we’re not more entertaining tonight. It’s a little late in the season. You missed the guys dancing on the rafters.” He tried to tamp down his less-respectable thoughts.
“Oh, it’s entertaining enough.” She glanced toward the minuscule dance floor, where a couple was testing the limits of what you could do while vertical. “Bec said you were looking for another job.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Black Mountain looks like it’s headed for hard times. I figured it was time to make a jump. Maybe see what other towns have to offer.” He wasn’t sure why he wasn’t telling her about the job in Park City. Maybe because he’d told Bec to keep it quiet. He needed to hang on to this job for the rest of the month to have enough money for the move, and the owner of the tavern wasn’t exactly the forgiving type. If Stanton found out he was leaving, he’d be out of a job sooner rather than later.
And maybe he just didn’t want to admit he was already getting ready to pull up stakes, that he was as much a short-timer as any of the snowboarders on the dance floor. Ridiculous. The new job’s a step up from bartending, and fetching and carrying at the brewery.
He gazed at Ruth’s profile as she watched the dancers. Long, straight nose and those spectacular cheekbones. What was wrong with the men of Antero? Why exactly weren’t they clamoring to take Ruth Colbert out for a night on the town?
Why aren’t you?
Because he was too busy for anything else at the moment. Because he was too tired for a booty call.
Jesus, you sound like you’re a hundred years old.
She glanced back at him again. “Do you ever get tired of this?”
He frowned. The woman was a mind reader. “Bartending?”
