and tried to look cool and unaffected by her solitary status. It wasn’t easy. It seemed every eye in the place, including those of the massive moose-head over the restroom door, was watching her.
I can do this. I can sit alone in a bar and not feel like a twenty-five-cent sideshow at the circus. Come see the Lonely, Bitter Old Maid—scariest creature this side of the Mississippi.
“Hey, Jim. How are you?” she said to the bartender, desperate for anyone to talk to.
“Pretty good, Katie. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you here. Welcome back,” said Jim Watkins, the rotund, friendly owner of the Corner Pocket. His open face and perpetual smile were encouraging and just what Katie needed. “Hey, I heard you got engaged. Congratulations.”
For a second, Katie stared at him blankly. “Oh…oh that. Well, I—” What could she say? She decided to ignore it. In time people would talk about something else. “Thanks.”
Katie drummed her fingers on the bar and glanced around the room. It was early yet and there were only a few people she knew here. Thankfully she noticed that Steve and Barbara were nowhere to be seen. They were probably cuddling somewhere, getting popcorn stuck in their teeth and watching Stone Cold Steve Austin wallop Hulk Hogan.
Jim placed a napkin before her. “What’ll it be, Katie?” He laid a hand on the stack of glasses, waiting for her answer.
She was tempted to bolt out the door. Instead, she gripped the edge of the bar. “Umm…I don’t know.” She racked her brain for the name of a sophisticated drink, the kind ordered by women who ventured out alone. But she didn’t know any. She rarely drank and usually nursed a draft Budweiser all night. She doubted a beer-foam mustache would make her look cool.
“Make it a tequila sunrise for the lady,” said a voice from behind her. “And a…a Coke for me.”
She spun around on the stool. Matt Webster. In the flesh and at her elbow. His eyes skimmed over the floral outfit, lingering just enough to let her know he approved. The breezy spring dress had been a good choice. A very good one.
Chalk up a point for the new Katie.
“I thought you might like something sweet but with a little bite to it.” He grinned. “The total opposite of you, of course.”
Put that resolution to work, Katie girl.
“You didn’t find me sweet this afternoon?” She batted her eyelashes and did her best to look innocent.
“Sweet isn’t quite the word that comes to mind when I think of you. And as for having a little bit of a bite,” his voice was low, dark, “well, you didn’t let me get that far.” He was closer now, his breath warm on her face, his mouth inches away. “Fiery, spontaneous and bewitching are better adjectives for you.”
“A tequila sunrise and a Coke for the happy couple,” Jim announced, placing the glasses before them. Katie jerked back, away from Matt, and felt heat rise to her face.
She wrapped her hands around the glass, marveling at the way the drink mirrored its name. And how Matt looked as though he’d stepped out of the pages of a magazine. Granted, his leather jacket, white T-shirt and tight-fitting jeans were from an issue of Harley Rider instead of GQ, but the overall effect was the same. Enticing. Magnificent. One-hundred-percent American male.
She swallowed hard and tried not to think about how good he’d look in a tuxedo. That image was way too powerful. Her hormones were already raging. Picturing him in evening wear would definitely be her undoing.
“What shall we drink to?” He raised his glass. His gaze never left her face.
“To new beginnings.”
He nodded. “Appropriate.” He tapped his glass against hers with a soft clink. She watched him drink. When his lips met the rim, the powerful, gut-coiling memory of kissing him in the supermarket hit her.
“Celebrating your engagement?” Barbara’s voice sliced through the air with sarcastic precision. “Funny, no one else in town knows about this wedding. How long have you been dating?”
Katie froze. Putting on a ten-minute charade in the grocery store had been easy. A temporary game, not a life-changing experience. Flirting with Matt in the dimness of the bar was one thing; stepping away from who she’d been for the last twenty-four years and slipping into an entirely new persona, in front of people she knew, was another.
“Katie and I have known each other for months,” Matt said, saving her from a response. “We’ve just been long-distance lovers. Until now.” He took Katie’s hand, flashed her a wicked smile, and turned to face Barbara and Steve, who was bringing up the rear.
Barbara’s gaze narrowed. “Then why didn’t you get her a ring?”
Without missing a beat, Matt answered, “Because I’m having my great-grandmother’s ring reset for Katie. She deserves something as special as she is.”
Barbara harrumphed. “Katie always was lucky. In high school, it was grades. Now, she’s a store owner and she has you.” Her gaze roamed over Matt, making little secret of her desire. If he noticed, he didn’t react.
This was a new twist. Barbara, who looked like Madonna and had never had trouble getting a man, was jealous of Katie for her grades? Her store? Had that spurred Barbara to steal Steve, the one thing Katie had that was stealable?—
“Anyway, Steve forgot to ask Katie something earlier,” Barbara said. Steve shot Barbara a look of protest, but she nudged him with her elbow. “Go ahead.”
He cleared his throat. “I still feel bad about the way things ended,” he began. “You said there were no hard feelings and so, Barbara, well, I mean Barbara and I, want to invite you to the wedding.”
“My father’s managed to pull together quite a bash on short notice,” Barbara said. “We’re going to have—”
“You stood me up at the altar in front of half the town to run off with my bridesmaid and now you want me to come to your wedding?”
Matt put a hand on her arm and leaned to whisper in her ear. “It might be a good idea to go,” he whispered in her ear.
“Are you insane?” she whispered back.
“It would be a hell of a way to get closure.” He grinned.
This man could read her like a book. He’d pushed the right button, the one that triggered her compulsion to show the town she’d moved on, despite what Steve had done to her. But go to their wedding? Wasn’t that a bit much?
Then she thought about seeing Steve squirm in front of the minister, if he made it that far this time, of seeing Barbara eat her words about Katie being a recluse. And then there was the store—a bit of talk might spur some business. This was an opportunity, not an insult.
She turned to Barbara and Steve. “We’d love to come. Both of us.” The new Katie was brave, but she wasn’t quite up to doing this alone.
Barbara’s mouth dropped open. “Both of you? How wonderful. It will be so nice to have one of the Websters at our wedding,” she said.
“What a coup,” Matt said dryly.
