Page 11 of Before You Can Blink
“Beg your pardon, but I haven’t seen you around before, so I was only wondering if you’re new to Rust Canyon or simply passing through on your way to somewhere else.”
“Oh!” Her lips formed a perfect circle, and below the belt, I swelled to half-mast.
My grin only grew as I teased, “Is ‘oh’ your answer, darlin’?”
A flush crept up her neck and settled on her plump cheeks. “No.”
“So, which is it, then?” I pressed.
Her eyes dropped to her lap. “Um, both?”
Strange answer, but okay.
“How ’bout I buy you a drink, and you explain how it is that you can be both new to town and only passing through at the same time?”
She shifted to turn sideways on her stool, and her pretty blue eyes scanned my face critically. “You even old enough to drink?”
Well, shit. For a minute, she gave off the impression of being a shy little thing, but damn, if it didn’t rev my engine to learn she hid a flash of fire beneath that meek façade.
I straightened to reach into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. Slipping my ID out of the slot, I handed it over. “See for yourself.”
She let out a surprised huff but accepted the offer of my driver’s license.
Her eyes scanned the text printed on the laminated card before lifting to meet mine. “Made it by the skin of your teeth, Jett Sullivan.”
My knees about damn near buckled at hearing her angelic voice say my full name.
“Three months isn’t cutting it that close,” I argued, my smile never slipping.
She hummed, handing my identification back to me. “Sure seems like it when I’ve got three years on it.”
I wasn’t shocked to learn that she was older—considering it was barely legal for me to purchase alcohol—and I found myself even more intrigued.
“Okay, so we’ve established that I’m twenty-one and you’re twenty-four . . .” I let my words trail off, and she confirmed my calculation with a dip of her chin. “But you’ve still got me at a disadvantage, sweetheart.”
One of her eyebrows rose. “How’s that?”
“You know my name, but I haven’t had the pleasure of learning yours.”
That flush was back, tinting her cheeks the prettiest shade of scarlet. “Daisy Morrison.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Daisy. Now, what are you drinkin’?”
There was zero hesitation in her reply. “Whiskey neat.”
I reared back, surprised and a little impressed by her choice of drink.
Twisting my head around, I called out to Lou further down the bar, “Can we get two whiskey neats down here?”
Lou gave a firm nod. “Coming right up.” He grabbed a bottle of well whiskey off the bottom shelf and poured a generous amount into two lowball glasses before setting them on the counter.
I held my glass up. “To new friends.”
“Friends?” Daisy slid a finger over the rim of her glass. “We’ve just met.”
A chuckle worked its way up my chest, and I leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “If it wasn’t clear, darlin’, I’m trying real hard to get to know you better.”
“Fair enough,” she agreed, lifting her glass to tap against mine before taking a healthy swallow, wincing as the liquor burned a path down her throat.
