Charlie slapped the counter. “Later, bro.” He turned and brushed past Ursula. “Hey, Urse.”
She smirked at his back. “You don’t need to leave on my account, Charlie.”
He batted a hand at the air and was gone.
When she reached the bar, she leaned her bare forearms against it with a little shimmy and followed this up with a toss of her long sable hair. “You’re looking mighty fine, Noah Hunnicutt.”
Noah placed the empty glasses in a tray bound for the dishwasher. “I was just closing up.”
“Sounds like I timed it just right, then.” She ran her tongue across her top teeth, making them gleam a little brighter—like a predator sharpening its teeth.
He rested his elbow on the bar top, keeping several feet between them. “Timedwhatjust right?”
“Well, you’re getting off work and I’m here ... Do I need to draw you a picture?”
“No, but I think I need to draw you one. I’m notgetting off work. I own the place, which means the second part of my job is about to start, and I’ll be at it for hours. And then there’s the whole bit you’ve skipped over about our not having spoken since January—except for those three words we exchanged the night my bar opened that ran something like, ‘How’s it going?’—and now you’re suddenly … here.” He mimicked a genie poofing out of thin air. “Acting like nothing ever happened.”
She rolled out her bottom lip in a sort of pout. “Well, I’ve been gone all summer.”
So he’d heard. She’d hooked up with some boutique cruise line in the Pacific Northwest, where she’d worked as a fishing guide along the coast. Funny how relieved he’d been during her time away.
“Well, good for you.” He kept his head down, adding a few more glasses to the tray—even though they were clean.
Like Micky, she was one of those “friends” Noah had lavished with money when he’d had it—her more than anyone else. At first, the cash had acted like an aphrodisiac she couldn’t get enough of, but he’d quickly learned that money to her was like meth to a tweaker. When it had run out, so had she. Only she continually circled back, sniffing around, readyto pounce if more of the green stuff came his way. Her motive was so crystal clear now.
“I’m back for good now.” Her voice was low and sultry. “Don’t you even want to know what I’m doing?”
“No, can’t say as I do.”
Out of the corner of his eye, her entire posture stiffened. When he looked up, the smile slid from her face. “God, Noah, you are so—”
Cocking an eyebrow, he braced himself for whatever spewed out of her mouth. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn’t what came next.
“H-he’s married. I didn’t know.” Her lower lip wobbled.
“Who’smarried?”
“The guy at the wedding.”
He gaped at her.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” She swiped at her dry eye. She’d always been a good faker … ateverything. For the longest time, her screaming had convinced him he was the best lay on the planet.
Yep, fake.
“What do you expect, for Christ’s sake? Sympathy?” He leveled her with a glare. “Is him being married supposed to make what you did somehowbetter?”Realization arrowed into his chest. “Nothing’s ever your fault, is it? You’ve gone through your entire life pretending to be poor little Ursula, and you’ve dragged me along for the ride. Well, I bailed out of the car, babe, so find yourself a different passenger. Now I’ve got a long night ahead of me, so do me a favor and get the hell out of my bar.”
Without missing a beat, she executed an eye-roll, then shrugged off his words and went straight back into pout mode. “I have something to tell you, and I don’t care if you want to hear it or not. I’m telling you anyway.”
He blew out an exasperated breath. “Tell mewhat? How much fun you had fucking him? No, thanks.”
She flapped a dismissive hand at him. “No, silly. I wanted to tell you about my new job.” A mischievous grin replaced the pout, and the thought she might be certifiably nuts streaked through his brain.
He bit. “What new job?”
She began backing away. Thank Christ she was leaving! Removing Ursula Jones’s yoke left him feeling as though helium flooded his bloodstream.
“I’ll be working at the Silver Summit Resort. Isn’t that great? We’re going to see a lot of each other, Noah.” She pushed through the front door, her laughter trailing after.
