Page 43 of Heartbeats & Highways

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about with Virgil.”

“That means I’m right,” Savage said. “Did he ask you out?”

I placed my hand on Savage’s chest. “No. Let it go, Savage.”

He covered my hand with his and nodded. “You throw first.”

“I don’t think Homer likes me,” I said as I came back from the dartboard with the darts in hand.

“He doesn’t really like anyone,” Savage said. “Don’t take it personally.”

I faced the dart board and let it rip. My first dart landed near the edge of the board. “I do take it personally. I work for him. I’d like our interactions not to be so . . . tense.”

“Has he said anything to you?”

I shook my head. “On the contrary, he doesn’t talk to me at all.”

“So wait, youwanthim to talk to you?”

I threw another dart; this one landed closer to the bullseye. “I want him not to look at me like I’m an inconvenience or like I’m in his way.”

“Ah, gotcha. You want me to talk to him for you?”

“No!” I shouted. The bartender looked at me in curiosity. I shot him a smile and then focused on Savage. “No,” I repeated again, much softer this time. “I want to handle it myself. I’ll just give it some time.”

My last dart hit the bullseye, giving me a great feeling of satisfaction. Savage went to the board and gathered the darts. He was a much better dart thrower than I was and stacked his darts on the triple twenty and the outer bullseye ring.

“Don’t feel bad,” he teased. “I’ve spent far too many hours throwing darts with Duke and Willa.”

“Practice makes perfect,” I joked. “I’m going to use the bathroom before the food comes out.”

“Right through there.” Savage pointed to the doorway that was tucked toward the back of the bar.

I turned to leave him when he grasped my hand. “You’re forgetting something.”

“What?” I frowned.

He tapped his mouth and grinned.

Laughing, I stepped forward and placed my lips on his for a quick peck.

“That’s better.”

I used the restroom and came back out onto the floor, a smile on my face in anticipation of seeing Savage again.

A huge body stepped in front of me.

I ground to a halt and looked up at the man wearing a black cowboy hat and a button-down shirt with pearl snap buttons. “Excuse me,” I said, trying to step around him.

“Where you goin’, darlin’?” His brown eyes flickered with interest as he raised his beer pint to his lips and took a sip. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“No, thank you.” My tone was polite but firm, even though my heart thundered in fear.

When I tried to step around him, he mirrored my movement and effectively blocked me from leaving.

“Please move.” My voice trembled.

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