Mike walked by on his way to the bathroom, and Doug nodded at him. “Hey, Mike! Hundred bucks if you get her to leave with you.” He pointed to the woman at the bar.
Mike stopped and peered over at her in his glasses. He must have liked what he saw because he fished out his wallet. “Almost doesn’t seem fair. I get a hundred bucks and a beautiful woman.”
I laughed and checked my watch. “I have to go. I need to feed the kid,” I said, putting my stick away.
Doug groaned. “Every damn time.” He waved me off. “Fine. Get the hell outta here then.” Then he looked over my shoulder at the bar and nodded at the woman. “Hey, put in a good word for me on the way out, yeah?”
“So you want me to lie to her?” I asked, shrugging on my jacket.
Brian and Mike laughed.
Doug ignored me and put his pool stick on the table. “’Bout to get my secret weapon.”
I chuckled and headed to the bar, shaking my head.
Chapter 3
Alexis
Whatcha thinking?” asked the bartender, wiping down the counter.
She had blond hair, a tattoo of a rose on her wrist, and hot-pink lipstick. Pretty. Her name was Liz.
I looked over the menu she’d handed me. “What’s good?” I asked, not loving the options. Almost everything was fried.
“The chili’s homemade,” she offered.
I twisted my lips. “I don’t really love chili.”
The fog outside had gotten so bad, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it home before the need to eat and use a restroom got desperate. The only gas station in town had been closed, so I couldn’t use the bathroom or grab a snack. Google kindly directed me to the one open place within fifty miles—the VFW that Truck Guy had mentioned.
The place was—worn. The tables were mismatched with cheap chairs. There were broken vintage-looking beer signs on the walls, along with framed medals and black-and-white pictures of veterans. “Bennie and the Jets” blared from an old jukebox against the wall. A huge deer head was mounted over the bar with rainbow Christmas lights strung through its antlers. It was all very tired and junky. I couldn’t imagine being in here under any other circumstances, not in a million years.
A very pregnant young woman came up next to Liz and swiped a key card into the register with a hand on her lower back.
“Heading out, Hannah?” Liz asked, pouring an IPA from the tap.
“Yeah.” She grimaced. “The baby’s got a foot right on my bladder.”
“I’ll put your tips in the office,” Liz said. Then she looked back at me. “It’s too bad you didn’t drive through before the diner closed up for the night. Pickings are kinda slim until it’s summer and the tourists come back.”
“Tourists?” I asked.
“Yeah. We’re on the Root River. Plus, we’re only a two-hour drive from the Twin Cities, so we get a lot of weekend warriors. Right now, though, it’s just the townies. And they’re all here. Alllll three hundred and fifty of us.” She laughed, nodding at the packed bar.
I pivoted on my stool. It was true. There wasn’t an empty seat in the whole place.
As I scanned the crowd, I spotted the guy who’d towed me out, over by the pool table.
He really was cute.
Now that his jacket was off, I could see he had a nice body too. He had that rugged lumberjack thing going on. Beard, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, dimples. Tall. He wore a flannel and jeans. His sleeves were rolled up and he had colorful tattoos on both forearms.
I turned away before he noticed me looking.
A bell chimed, and Liz looked up over my head. Something nervous flickered across her face, but she smiled. I turned to follow her gaze. A police officer was coming in—a handsome one. He was tall, well over six feet. Brown eyes, thick brown hair. A fit body pressed against his tan sheriff’s uniform. A gun sat holstered on his hip, and a gold badge was pinned to his chest. He wore a wedding band.
“Hey, baby.” Liz smiled at him as he came around the counter.
He leaned in and planted a kiss on her. A few people whistled.
He tipped up her chin. “I brought your sweater,” he said, speaking to her eyes. He put a bundle of white fabric into her hands. “You left it in the cruiser.”
“That’s so sweet.” Liz looked down at it. “Oh, Jake, this is…” She stopped, realizing I’d never told her my name. Jake turned to me and seemed to notice me for the first time.
“Alexis,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”