Page 55 of The Only Heart that Matters

She and Daisy hit the dance floor, and I can’t take my eyes off her. I would feel like a creep, but the kicker is... she can't take her eyes off me, either. She watches me, watching her, the magnetic pull between us nearly impossible to fight, yet we do.

When Rhen Mitchell approaches her, gesturing for a dance, I smack a hand on the bar and prepare to jump over it, but she doesn’t need me to rush in and save her. No matter how badly I want to. She rolls her eyes, hard, and says something that looks like “I’m good,” before walking away, Daisy on her heels with a disgusted look on her face.

Leaning my hip against the counter where Laurie is pouring a rum and Coke, I angle my body in the opposite direction of Mia and Daisy. “Hey, what’s the deal with Rhen Mitchell? Why do the women in this place hate him?”

She chuffs. “He’s a dick.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, he seems nice enough on the surface, with that pretty face of his, but trust me, he’s a dick. He thinks he can do and say what he wants with no consequence. Not to mention he often has to be told no more than once. But his daddy is a senator, so he thinks he’s special.”

Crimson rage infiltrates my vision. I’m no longer seeing straight.

“Why the fuck haven’t you ever said anything? If I had known, I’d never have allowed him in here.”

The monster that’s been lying dormant deep inside me for years stretches awake, coming out of his slumber and readying himself for release.

“Hate to break it to you, but if you didn’t allow inappropriate men in this place, you’d lose half your customers.”

She delivers the rum and Coke to her customer at the other end of the bar. I think about what she’s saying. Are there really that many assholes in this bar, in this town? Have I turned a blind eye to things happening right in front of me?

“I refuse to believe it’s that bad,” I disagree when she returns.

She stops at the register and keys in her code. The drawer pops open. “I’m sure you do, and that’s cute and all, but you’re wrong.” She sorts the cash into the drawer, pushes it closed and turns her eyes on me. “Most men don’t even realize they're being gross. This is a bar. They drink too much. They look, they comment, they make us uncomfortable. It is what it is. Most don’t step too far over the line. Rhen wasn’t like this growing up.He was just like any other cowboy in town. But since his divorce, he’s been a dick.”

“Has he ever crossed a line with you?”

As shitty as it would be if he had, please tell me he has. Give me permission to jump this bar and rip his arms from his body.

She huffs. “He knows better.”

“What about anyone else?”

“Gus, if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. It’s not my story to tell. Besides, I make his drinks weaker than most. The more he drinks, the more of an asshole he becomes.”

How the hell did I not know this?

The urge to check on Mia and Daisy becomes a necessity I can’t resist. Glimpsing over my shoulder to check for perverts lurking in their general vicinity, I’m met with big blue eyes that don’t look away when our gazes lock.

MINE!!!

My monster roars, ready to slay any dragon that dares to even look in Mia’s direction. The selfish need to bury myself inside her, to claim her as my own, bellows inside me, forcing me to remove myself from the situation. I push through the door to the kitchen and don’t stop until I reach my office.

Slamming the door behind me, I move the mouse on my desk, bringing the monitors to life where I can watch her and my sister from the safety of the tiny eight by eight room. Rhen is throwing darts with Loten and the girls are chatting with a couple of their girlfriends who work at Christie’s Kitchen over in Redmond.

Thirty minutes later I’m still watching from afar, just like I always have. When the girls begin to put their coats on and appear to be getting ready to leave, it forces me from the safety of my office. Stalking through the kitchen, behind the bar and then out to the main floor, I approach, but I don’t touch.

“You two leaving?”

“There you are. Where have you been hiding?” my sister asks.

Mia pulls a baby blue hat with one of those fuzzy balls on the top onto her head, bringing out the blue in her eyes.

“Had some paperwork to take care of.”

Daisy eyes me warily, clearly not believing me. Fucking siblings. There’s no getting anything past them.

“You two okay to drive?”

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