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“Hey, Kane, what can I get ya tonight?” Mia, our usual waitress, asked when I arrived at our table. She was pretty, with her auburn hair, hazel eyes and sweet smile, but she didn’t make my gut tighten with need like Winnie had when she touched my arm. Not that Mia had ever expressed interest in me. She was so busy working and taking care of her little boy, Miles, I doubted she had the time or the inclination to be interested in a man at all.
“Draft please, Mia, thanks,” I responded, taking my seat.
Loud laughter drew my attention to the bar. Winnie was sitting with the friend she had brought to the office earlier that day and one of George Perkins’ daughters. I seemed to remember her hanging around with Winnie a lot when we were younger.
“Oh, hey, Winnie’s here,” Gray pointed out, following my eyes to the bar where the three girls sat. “Do me a favor, Kane, and make sure they don’t get into too much trouble? I’m going to go pick up Daisy at my parents’ and spend some time with her before I have to go out of town.”
I must have muttered some kind of agreement because Gray stood and dropped some cash on the table to cover his beer.
I felt like shit. My best friend was asking me to watch over Winnie like a protective big brother when all I could think about was reaching under that short skirt she had on and finally getting a handful of her round ass.
Winnie started talking to some guy in the seat next to her, and I clenched my fists on the table as she smiled at him. The piece of shit placed his hand on Winnie’s thigh and I stood up quickly, knocking my chair over in the process. This fucker had a death wish.
7
Winnie
“Halfway through dinner he asked if I was ready to sleep with him yet and when I said that would never be happening, he told me I was ugly and that he forgot his wallet. I swear I’m so done with dating apps. Men are idiots. They have no idea how long it takes to wash this,” Jo said, holding up her thick blonde hair. “The next time I have to pay for my own steak it will be because I’m eating alone with my forty-five cats and unwashed hair.”
I snorted into my beer as my friend described her most recent date. I had known Josephine Perkins since kindergarten and Jo was one of the few friends our age who had come back to Little Falls after getting her degree in agricultural business. Her parents owned the Triple J Ranch just outside of town and she had come back to help with the day-to-day operations.
“You have to be exaggerating about the forty-five cats,” Lily giggled.
“Nope, not even a little bit. I’ve already started picking out names so youknowthis shit’s getting serious. There’s Breakfast Taco, French Fry, Pancake, Banana, PB&J,” she held up her fingers one at a time. “The last one’s actually two names because they’re going to be twins.”
“Are they all food-based names?” I smiled, loving her ridiculousness.
“Well, Iwashungry at the time I started the list but no, there’s also Fat Daddy.”
I choked on the fried pickle I had just bit into when Jo said that last one. “Fat Daddy?” I coughed out.
“Oh yeah, he’s gonna be a big old fluffy boy that doesn’t like anyone but me and he’ll be my favorite,” Jo nodded her head as she slapped me on the back.
“Josephine, are you trying to kill my customers?” Brooks asked, placing a glass of water in front of me. I smiled gratefully at him as I gulped it down.
“Absolutely not, Brooks darlin’. I was just telling my girls how I have given up on all men. That’s unless you are willing to make an honest woman out of me, handsome,” she exaggeratingly batted her eyelashes.
Shaking his head, Brooks went down the bar to wait on other customers. Jo wasn’t wrong, Brooks was handsome with his salt and pepper hair and beard. I was pretty sure he was in his mid-forties but he was as broad and fit as the Falls Security guys.
“One day that man’s gonna give in, I just have to be patient,” Jo sighed wistfully. She had been hitting on Brooks since he opened this place but he just brushed Jo off. I knew my friend well and she never gave up when she wanted something badly enough.
I felt someone brush against my side, drawing my attention. I turned my head and saw a clean-shaven man in slacks and a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up smiling at me. He seemed a little overdressed for a small-town country bar.
“Hey, beautiful, can I buy you a drink?” Ugh, I could tell by the way he spoke to my tits that he was so not my type. Momma would have called him smarmy. I put my fake waitress smile on and had my denial on the tip of my tongue when the douche canoe placed his hand high on my thigh. Oh, hell no, why did some men think it was okay to touch a woman they didn’t know without her consent?
“You better move that fucking hand if you want to keep it,” came growled from behind us. A very angry looking Kane was standing about a foot away glaring with murder in his eyes. Where had he come from?
“What’s your problem, man, you her boyfriend or something?” DC’s hand left my thigh but he didn’t seem concerned that Kane was staring him down, muscles tensed like he was ready to break both the guy’s hands anyway.
“Or something,” Kane said in a low, deadly voice, stepping closer. “Get gone, asshole,” the size difference between the two men must have finally sunk in and the guy stumbled off the bar stool and straight out the front door. A small smile spread on my face as I prepared to thank Kane for stepping in, even though I could have handled the situation on my own.
“You always let strange men touch you like that?” he snarled at me after watching the doors close.
“Oh shit,” I heard Jo say behind me.
Shock tore through me at the accusation. Kane had never spoken to me in anything but a friendly tone. Anger quickly replaced the hurt I was feeling. Who the hell did he think he was storming over here getting involved in my business? Sure, the guy was handsy and that wasn’t okay, but I was a big girl and could handle my own problems. I didn’t need Kane to be my knight in shining armor out of obligation to my brother.
I stood up, fisting both hands on my hips. “Oh yeah, Kane, I was just telling Lily and Jo how I wished some man I didn’t know would come grab me without my permission, it gets me hot every time,” I said sarcastically. “I especially like it when they accuse me of being easy at the town bar for everyone to hear!” I shouted at him.
