Henry choked, spewing beer out his nose.
Shay handed him a napkin, trying not to laugh too hard.
“Ah sure. You and me. I’d like that,” he finally gasped out between beery sneezes.
Angel-face Angie returned with a smile to put Cupid to shame. “That’s settled then.”
Shay smiled. Her two favorite people were now officially seeing one another. Maybe when James got back to town the four of them could double-date. Like normal people. Like friends, even.
Unless she decided to keep James locked away all weekend in her apartment.
That possessive thought brought a sudden jolt of emotion with it. She wanted James all to herself.
It was a new feeling. Waaaay too soon for that emotion to be taken seriously.
Yet it felt good just knowing she was capable of it.
She’d never met a man and thought, yes, please, that one. On loan. Possibly permanently. The feeling was more than enough for now.
Glad she hadn’t turned down her friends’ offer of company, Shay turned to order another beer for Henry. From the corner of her eye she saw a familiar face. Well, not exactly familiar. The woman from a week ago, the one who’d called herself Carol? Carrie?
Before she could think why she was doing it, Shay was out of her seat. “Be right back,” she told her puzzled companions.
Every sense tingled as she neared the bar. She took in the woman’s long lean body. This time she wore jeans so tight they seemed painted on, much to the appreciation of the males nearest her. Dirty blond hair stuck up under a battered cowboy hat, she leaned on the bar, one hip jutted out while one booted foot rested on the rail. Something about that pose struck Shay wrong. She seemed like a caricature of a hot Southern college girl. Like Angie in costume. A great face and bod, but she wasn’t an undergrad sporting a false ID and a big thirst. She was older.
Shay came up beside her before the woman looked her way. “Carly, right?”
“Right. And you’re ah, shoot. I never was good with names.” Shay didn’t help. The woman blinked but her smile stayed wide. “How are you, girl?”
“Why are you here?”
Carly’s smile stiffened at Shay’s tone. “Like I told you, I’m a regular barfly.” She made a big production of looking past Shay, leaning out into the path of customers. “Where’s that hot stud boyfriend of yours?”
Shay’s gaze never left her face. Definitely closer to thirty, with those squint lines. “Why?”
Carly’s attention snapped back to Shay’s. “Ah, look. You’re getting all protective.” She put out a hand to touch Shay’s arm but Shay drew back, halting the gesture.
Ignoring the rebuff, Carly continued grinning. “I’m just admiring, honey. He’s all yours.”
“Right.” Shay let her gaze remain on the woman a moment longer.
When she turned away, she felt as if a hummingbird were trapped inside her chest. She’d just stared down a woman who was thinking about poaching her boyfriend.
Oh my God! She really had officially reached “my man” status.
Shay saw the doors to the bar kitchen swing open on her right and a huge tray of food emerge. She heard a waiter behind her call, “Coming through— Aw, fuck!” Then things went sideways.
Shay was bumped from behind and stumbled against a customer’s chair as an icy cascade of beer and glassware came flowing over her left shoulder. It soaked her hair, her blouse, the man whose chair she’d fallen against, and splashed every other diner at that table.
*
“I’m sure whatever beer is left will come out in the wash.”
Angie was holding Shay’s shirt under the hand dryer in the restroom while Shay tried to rinse the beer out of her hair at the sink. “Who was that woman at the bar?”
Shay grabbed for a handful of paper towels to squeeze the water out of her hair. “Someone I met last week.”
“Dry enough.” Angie shook out Shay’s shirt. “She certainly is pushy.”
Shay straightened up. “What do you mean?”
“She came into the office Monday. Said she needed a job and would Perry consider hiring her because you had recommended her.”
Shay went still inside. “What did he say?”
“That’s all I heard. I know he didn’t hire her.”
Anxiety bounded in and leaped on Shay, leaving her staggering around in her thoughts. She was still being followed.
Shay glanced back at the empty stalls to be sure they were alone. “Is she still out there?”
“No, she left as soon as you took that suds bath.” Angie handed Shay her shirt. “You ready for a second beer?”
Shay shook her head stiffly. “My headache’s back. I need to go home.” She pulled her shirt over her wet head. “But you and Henry stay.”
“If you’re sure?”
Shay nodded absently, wondering what that woman could possibly want. Was Carly trying to get information about her for Eric? Was she the stalker he’d hired? Wait, no. That was a man’s voice.