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Could that be Davis and me someday? Is there still a chance?
Jane shrugs. “All I’m saying is…never say never.”
I slump against the counter. “Don’t get my hopes up. I’m pretty sure I already got my second chance and screwed that up, too.” I’m starting to wonder if I handled things all wrong between us when we were in Starlight Falls.
“What kind of attitude is that? Keep the hope, girl,” she chides. “Stress causes wrinkles and fine lines. Nobody’s got time for that.”
I laugh softly, smoothing my fingertips across my forehead. My fine lines really have been showing themselves these days.
Smiling, Jane glances toward the front door. Her eyebrows lift suggestively. “Well, hot damn. This is your moment, Alana. Look who just walked through the door.”
My heart bounces in my chest as I swing my head toward the entrance.
Shit.
Davis strolls into The Hot Sauce by himself. He briefly glances around the seating area, looking for a clear table. But then stalks toward the opposite end of the bar. He doesn’t see me. In fact, he’s deliberately avoiding eye contact with the few patrons who try to greet him.
My mouth waters, and it has nothing to do with these chicken wings Jane put in front of me. Davis looks good. Damn good. He always wears that cop uniformwelland tonight, I find myself imagining stripping him out of it.
The bartender knocks on the countertop to get my attention, already backing away to serve other customers. “Don’t take this as legal advice, sweetie, but I say you should take that man home and give him a night he’ll never forget.”
31
DAVIS
My mood is trash—again—and even after working all day, I don’t want to go home and brood all night. I mindlessly catch up on work well into the evening, until my eyes are bleary and I can’t sit at my desk anymore.
Right before I power down my computer, my email dings. Attention momentarily diverted, I open up the new message.My brows furrow as I read over an email from Candace.
She’s reminding me—again—that the deadline to submit my filing to join the mayoral race is approaching quickly. I need to make a decision on whether I’m throwing my hat in the race. Andpronto.
I swipe a palm over my face, squeezing my eyes shut. I try to imagine myself as mayor of Honey Hill. It’s just as I told Alana it would be. Empty. Empty, without her by my side.
What’s the point?
I’ve already decided. I’m not doing it. I don’t want that life anymore. Not if I have to go at it alone.
I slam my laptop shut, feeling antsy at the prospect of returning home to an empty house tonight.I don’t want to do that, either.
Fuck it. I need a stiff drink.
I’ve earned it.
I find myself at the Hot Sauce and drop my ass onto a stool at the bar. I stare directly ahead, glaring at my grumpy reflection in the aging mirror behind the bar.
As soon as I walked in the door, I decided that coming here tonight was the wrong decision. I don’t want to be here. My grouchy ass should be sitting on my lumpy brown bachelor couch at home so I don’t risk biting anyone’s head off. But despite my miserable mood, the alcohol is calling my name, and I don’t have a drop of the good stuff at home.
The loud clunk of a glass slamming down on the counter top jars me out of my pity party for one.
I look up to see the bartender placing a drink in front of me, and I already start shaking my head. “Hey Jane. I didn’t order yet.”
Her lips slink up into a wicked half-smile. “It's not from me, tough guy. It’s from the pretty girl at the end of the bar…”
Brows dipped low, I glance down the length of the counter, until I find the prettiest blonde I’ve ever seen looking back at me.
The sight of her is mental whiplash.How the hell did I not notice her when I walked in?
Probably because I’d put my tunnel vision goggles on, making sure to avoid any and all eye contact with the locals as I walked in. With the heightened state of grumpiness I’m in, I came in here completely unwilling to get pulled into any conversations.But seeing Alana here? Well that changes things.
