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“Thanks, Mike,” he barked, all but dismissing the guy. Bowie laughed again and he wondered what was so funny, but he hada feeling he wouldn’t like Bowie’s answer. So, he didn’t bother asking.
“Are you always so grumbly?” Bowie accused.
“No,” Savage quickly defended, shooting him a look that probably told him he was lying. Bowie held up his hands as if in defense.
“Okay, man,” he said. “No need to bite my head off. If you want to go someplace else, we can. Hell, we can go back to my apartment. I have beer there.” Bowie shot him a wolfish grin, making Savage smile.
“I’m good here,” Savage lied. He could feel Dallas’ eyes boring into the back of his head and he wasn’t sure what the hell to do about her.
“Liar,” Bowie challenged. “That sexy blonde has you squirming in your seat. It’s hot, really—the thought of you with her. I just don’t want to cause any trouble. Does she know?”
“Know what?” Savage asked, playing dumb.
Bowie sighed. “Does she know that you date guys?” he whispered.
“No,” Savage breathed. He sucked down half his beer and shot a look across the bar to where Dallas was still giving him the stink-eye.
“You ghost her or something?” Bowie teased and Savaged winced. “Fuck, man,” Bowie spat. “You didn’t fucking ghost that hot woman sitting at the end of the bar?”
“I did and can you keep it down, man?” Savage said.
“I’m pretty sure she can’t hear me over this God-awful honky-tonk music and the ruckus her girlfriends are making. Why did you do it?” Bowie asked.
“Because she would never be enough for me,” Savage admitted. It was the truest thing he had said to Bowie, and he worried that made him sound like an ass. “We had been on a few dates, and I really liked her, but then I realized that if I dated her—you know, just her—I’d be denying half of myself. You know what I mean?”
Bowie nodded like he understood exactly what Savage was talking about and he realized that he had just assumed the guy was gay.
“You like women too?” Savage asked.
“Yep,” Bowie admitted.” In fact, I haven’t been with many men. It was easier to deny that part of who I was while I was living so close to home. I didn’t start exploring that side of my sexuality until I was stationed here. I had been on a few dates with men, but not a lot. So, I do get what you’re talking about, man.”
Savage sat back in his barstool and waved the bartender back over. “We’ll take two more and buy the ladies at the end of the bar another round on me,” he said. Mike nodded and walked back down to where the loud group of women sat and when he announced that Savage wanted to buy them a round of drinks, they all squealed and cheered. Well, everyone except Dallas. She shot him a look that could stop most men dead in their tracks, but he wasn’t most men.
Dallas stood from her stool and started toward them, and Bowie cursed. “Um, I’m pretty sure the shit is about to hit the fucking fan now, Savage,” he said. Savage had a bad feeling that Bowie was right.
He held his breath, second-guessing every decision he had made that day, right down to asking Bowie out and buying Dallas’ friends a round of drinks. Yep, he was thoroughly fucked and all he wanted to do was get the hell out of there. Savage stood and threw down a hundred-dollar bill, knowing that would cover his tab, and smiled at Bowie.
“That offer to get a beer at your place still stand?” Savage asked.
Bowie smiled and nodded. “Sure,” he said. “But, for the record, you’re being a chicken.” He looked across the bar to where Dallas was making her way across the crowded dance floor and sighed. Bowie was right but he didn’t give a fuck. Better to leave as a chicken than face his ex’s wrath.
“Yep,” he breathed. “Ready?” He held out his hand for Bowie, knowing he might be sending not only Dallas but everyone who was currently watching the exchange between them, a clear sign that the two of them were together.
Bowie took his hand, and they made their way to the front of the bar. Just as Savage stepped out of the doorway and into the night, he looked back to find Dallas watching him; frozen to her spot with her mouth gaping wide open. Yeah, she had gotten the message, loud and clear—he was leaving the bar with Bowie and there would be no backtracking now. There would be nothing he could do to erase the hatred and pain that he saw in her beautiful eyes.
Dallas
Dallas St. James just about fell off her damn barstool when Savage walked into The Voodoo Lounge with the handsome guy in fatigues. The two made quite a pair and she wasn’t the only female in the bar to notice them. Every woman in her group seemed to sit up and take notice of the new conquests as soon as they walked in, even the bride-to-be.
She thought she’d never see Savage again and that was just fine with her. They had dated for about a month and then nothing—he seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. It was her fault really. She never pushed to know more about him than his first name and the fact that he used to be in the Air Force. He had mentioned that he was a scientist, but Dallas worried that if she pushed for him to tell her more, he’d bolt. It was ironic, really. He ended up changing her life forever and then ghosting her, never to be heard from again—or so she thought.
Dallas was determined to steer clear of Savage and whoever the guy was that came into the bar with him, but then he went too far and bought the bridal party a round of drinks. Was he trying to get her attention? If he was, it worked. By the time shegot her nerve up, Savage and the guy got up to leave but what she saw next—it couldn’t have been right. The bar was crowded, and she had to have seen the whole thing wrong because if she wasn’t mistaken, they were holding hands when they left the bar.
She tried to rejoin her girlfriends, but she just wasn’t in the mood to party after seeing Savage. He dredged up everything she had worked so hard to suppress—her anger, her fears and damn it, even her desires. How could she still want him like she did after the hell he’d put her through over the past year since he left her without a word? Sure, Savage didn’t make her any pretty promises. She thought she meant more to him than just a fuck, but she was wrong. She had not only misjudged him but so many other things too.
Dallas bowed out for the rest of the night, not really in the mood for the strip club the girls were heading to next. All she could think about was getting back to her little apartment and shutting the world out until she could think straight again. Savage always seemed to have that effect on her—made her thoughts a little cloudy. Seeing him tonight just reminded her of the crazy, lust-filled month that they spent together, and she needed to put those thoughts and images out of her head. There would be no more remembering the man who controlled her body, mind, and soul. Savage threw her away and that was going to be the painful reminder she took home with her tonight. He didn’t want her, and she’d do well to remember that.
Dallas climbed the two floors to her apartment and unlocked the door, letting herself in. “Hello,” she whispered.
