Cold Feet

by Samantha A. Cole

Sighing, she told the little voice in her head to fuck off and walked toward the front door of the pub. The parking lot was almost full, which wasn’t unusual for the Saturday night dinner crowd, however, a band would be playing tonight, starting at 9:00 p.m. By that point there would be no spaces left in the lot, leaving the latecomers to park up and down Myrtle Ave. and its side streets.

  As she reached the front door, Regina took a moment to read the flyer taped to it. To her delight, it announced that Second Avenue, a local band, was playing tonight. It’d been a few years since she’d last heard them. They covered mostly classic rock from the seventies and eighties, with the occasional song from earlier or later decades thrown in. The lead guitarist and drummer were both silver foxes and had a throng of female admirers showing up wherever they played. At least the music would be good if she was still there after dinner and, hopefully, not making a fool of herself. Damn it. Why did Buck have to be so good-looking? She’d already planned to have a drink or two because it would be easier to relax around him with the help of alcohol.

  She’d realized during the day that, while his rejection years ago still stung, she didn’t hate him anymore. She’d missed him more than she thought she had. Last night had been fun—despite the blackout and her near panic attack. It’d felt like old times again, when she’d hung out with her brother’s friends, talking and laughing, whether he was around or not. She’d always felt comfortable with Noah, Justin, and Buck, having known them all her life. At least she had until she’d returned home for the summer after her first year in college. That’s when she’d developed a crush on Buck. She’d noticed him as a man for the first time and had visualized many fantasies with him starring in each one. Then he’d kissed her, and the resulting humiliation wasn’t anything she’d expected. A few months later, she’d been so grief-stricken over her parents’ deaths, she’d allowed him to console her, as all her and Ryan’s other friends and family members had done, but had still kept him at arm's length. After that, she’d avoided him as much as she could.

  All right, Gi. Pull up your big-girl panties and get over it. You two have a chance to be friends again. The past is the past—leave it there.

  When a couple walked up behind her, she knew she could stall no longer. Pulling open the door, she strode inside. There was a loud din from a combination of conversations and the latest Zac Brown Band song playing on the jukebox. She stepped aside to let the couple move past her as she scanned the bodies and faces of the patrons gathered around the bar and sitting in the dining area. During the first pass, she didn’t see Buck but was certain he was in there somewhere because his truck was outside. When she glanced around again, she slowed and double-checked each group with men in it. Her gaze flew by a woman with long blonde hair, with her back to Regina, but then the woman shifted to the side and sitting on a stool in front of her was Buck.

  For a brief moment, Regina’s mouth watered. He was wearing a snug, black, long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans, and Timberland boots. He’d shaved before he’d come out because there wasn’t so much as a hint of a five-o’clock shadow, which he usually had by the end of the day. Her heart fluttered under her ribs, but then she stilled, and her mouth went dry. The blonde had moved closer to Buck and was running a seductive finger up and down his arm. Jealousy roared through Regina.

  No, no, no! You’re not supposed to be jealous, Gi. Buck can date and flirt with anyone he wants to, and you’re supposed to ignore it.

  Her inner goddess really needed to shut the fuck up right now because there was no way Regina was going to be a third wheel around that floozy tonight. She was about to turn around when the saloon’s owner spotted her from his post behind the bar. “Regina Vaughn! Get your butt over here and give me a hug, woman!”

  Her face flushed when most of the patrons at the bar turned to look at her. Robert “Red” O’Neill was an Irishman, through and through. He was about sixty-five years old and knew every local who’d come into his bar more than once. Standing five foot eight, the red-haired, green-eyed man was robust in both stature and personality. Regina didn’t think there was a single person who’d ever met the man who didn’t like him immediately. She’d been so busy the last several months, between moving, getting settled in, and starting her new job, among other things, that she’d only been to the saloon twice since returning to Largo Ridge. Both times Red hadn’t been there for one reason or another. She’d kept telling herself she had to stop in when he was there some day or night just to say hello. He’d been good friends with her parents and had held and paid for the luncheon following their funeral, refusing to take a penny from Ryan or Regina to cover the cost.

  Well, so much for sneaking back out the door before Buck spotted her. She could feel his intense gaze on her as she pasted on a smile and stepped over to the bar. Red came out from behind it, leaving two other bartenders to wait on the patrons, and enveloped her in his arms, hugging her tightly for a moment before letting her go. He grasped her upper arms and nudged her back a step before looking her up and down. “You’re looking more and more like your mother every time I see you.”

  She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Just what every woman wants to hear.” Setting her hand on his chest, she patted him affectionately. “How are you, Red?”

  “Well, if you came in more often, young lady, you’d already have the answer to that, now wouldn’t you?”

  “You are correct, and I do apologize. I’ve been here a few times since I moved back, but you weren’t, so that has to count for something, right?”

  He scowled at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. “You always could talk your way out of trouble.” After glancing over his shoulder and the ever-increasing crowd, he asked, “So who are you meeting? I’ll point you in their direction if they’re here already.”

  “That would be me, Red. Thanks.” Buck’s deep voice sent a shiver down Regina’s spine, and she looked up at him. She hadn’t seen him approach, but with the number of people in the bar, that wasn’t surprising. A peek down the bar told her the blonde was still standing next to the seat he’d vacated and was glaring at Regina. Now that she could see the woman’s face, she recognized her. Margo Shaw had been a year ahead of Regina in school and the head cheerleader in Regina’s junior year. Wonderful. Not only did Regina have to compete with a stuck-up woman, she had to compete with a cheerleader and homecoming queen to boot.

  Wait a minute! Who said Margo, or any other woman for that matter, was competition? God, she wished she could get her mind, body, and heart all on the same level when it came to Buck. He was going to date other women, and probably marry one someday, whether Regina liked it or not. Well, at least she could attempt to thwart the ones who weren’t good enough away from him.

  Going up on her toes, she set her hands on his shoulders for balance and kissed his cheek. The surprised look on his face was almost comical. Before either of them could say anything, Red patted her on the back. “Go take a seat. What can I get you?”

  “Mic Ultra,” she responded. “Thanks, Red.”

  As the man returned to his post where several customers were waiting for another round, Buck gestured for Regina to walk in front of him toward the stool that had his jacket hanging on the back. By the time they got there, Red had already set a cold beer bottle next to Buck’s glass of Guinness. From behind, Buck helped her out of her wool peacoat and draped it over his own. There were no other available stools, so he turned it slightly toward her. “Have a seat. Red, put Gi’s beer on my tab.”

  Margo’s glare hardened. Apparently, the usually gentlemanly Buck hadn’t offered his seat to her earlier. He gestured between the two women. “Margo, I don’t know if you remember Ryan’s sister, Regina. Gi, this is Margo—”

  “Shaw,” she finished for him. Regina might have a problem saying no to a lot of people, but she had no trouble standing up to bullies and bitches. Margo Shaw was definitely the latter. Pretending to be polite, Regina smiled and held out her hand. “I was a year behind you in school. Ho
w are you?”

  As expected, Margo’s handshake was on the limp side—typical of a woman who didn’t want to be shaking hands with someone she perceived as a rival. “Fine. I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you.”

  Regina shrugged. “No biggie. The only reason I recognized you was because I remembered you face-planted stepping off the homecoming float after the parade my junior year.”

  Margo’s eyes widened, and her face reddened with rage. Beside Regina, she barely heard Buck stifle an amused snort.

  “That was you, wasn’t it?” Regina’s words dripped with saccharin, as she crossed her legs.

  The other woman looked like she was about to explode. She glowered at Regina for a few moments, then straightened her spine. Without another word to her new nemesis, she pasted on a fake smile, as Regina had done several minutes earlier, and turned to Buck. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll talk to you some other time.” She gave Regina another evil eye glare before her gaze met Buck’s again. “That is, whenever you want better company than her. It shouldn’t be too long.”

  Clearly, Margo wasn’t quick with witty comebacks because that one had been lame. After she stormed off, Buck burst out laughing, but low enough that Margo couldn’t hear him. “Holy shit, woman. That was awesome, and I remember that! Someone sent me a video of it when I was overseas. My entire platoon watched it. Anyway, I’ve been trying to get rid of her for the past fifteen minutes, so thank you for finally showing up.”

  Regina’s eyebrows shot up. She’d assumed Buck had been interested in Margo. At her expression, he shook his head. “Nope, not my type. She’s been hitting on me for years. Justin banged her back a couple of times about ten years ago, and ever since then she’s been trying to nail me and Ryan. She hit on Noah too, but we all had an agreement.”

  “Bros before hos, right?” she asked. Yeah, she’d heard Ryan and his friends say that a few times when they’d been younger.

  Buck, at least, had the decency to look chagrined. “Something like that. We also didn’t hit on anyone’s ex-girlfriend.”

  Before Regina could respond, another woman—an attractive brunette in her mid to late twenties—walked up and tapped Buck on the shoulder. “Buck, your table is ready when you are.”

  He smiled at her. “Thanks, Melissa. Oh, hey, have you two met yet?” When both women shook their heads, Buck took care of the introductions. “Gi, this is Red’s cousin’s daughter. She and her mom and two-year-old daughter moved to Largo Ridge a few months ago, and Melissa started working here as the hostess on Fridays and Saturdays.” His gaze shifted to the younger woman. “This is Ryan Vaughn’s sister, Regina.”

  Relieved this wasn’t another woman coming to hit on Buck while she was there, Regina held out her hand to Melissa. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  The hostess grinned and shook her hand and not in the wishy-washy way Margo had. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you too. Ryan talks about you all the time.”

  “He does?”

  “Yup, he does. He’s very proud of you.”

  Surprised, Regina glanced back and forth between Melissa and Buck, who nodded in agreement. Ryan often told her he was proud of her, but she never knew he was in the habit of telling other people that too. “Wow. Um . . . thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me, thank him,” she said with a laugh. “Anyway, your table is ready. It’s the one in the far corner, next to the front window. I already put menus down for you.”

  “Thanks.” Buck picked up both their drinks. “Grab our coats, Gi. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

  On their way through the crowd and then around the occupied tables, they said quick hellos to quite a few people they knew. When they reached their assigned table, which was large enough for four people but set for two, Regina hung their coats on the back of a chair, then sat on the one next to it. Buck placed their drinks down on the table and took the seat across from her. Ever since he’d spotted her walking into the place, he’d been having a hard time trying not to drool over her. Margo Shaw had nothing on Regina Vaughn.

  Usually, she had her hair up in a ponytail, but tonight, she’d blown it out into soft waves that framed her pretty face. Subtle makeup enhanced her facial features, while delicate gold jewelry adorned her ears and neck. A dropped charm necklace drew his gaze down to the V of her sweater. Ivory lace covered a portion of her cleavage, but it was still sexy as hell. What he wouldn’t give to have the right to reach over and run his finger along the top of the lace. While the sweater covered her hips, it fit snugly and didn’t do much to hide her curves. Having friends and acquaintances calling out greetings to him on the way to the table had made him lift his gaze and helped prevent him from tripping over other people’s feet because he’d been focused on her ass.

  Setting his menu aside—he’d already checked out the sign that announced tonight’s dinner specials—he folded his arms on the table. “So, what prompted you to ask me out to dinner?”

  Her jaw dropped, and her cheeks pinkened. “I-I . . . um, I didn’t ask you out to dinner, I asked if you wanted to have dinner with me.”

  Damn, she was adorable when she was flustered. But now she had him confused. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

  “No.” That one word came out short and crisp, as if the entire conversation should be obvious, but it wasn’t.

  Buck frowned. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

  “Asking you to dinner sounds like a date, which is not what this is.”

  A chuckle erupted from his chest. “It isn’t? Then what is it?” He couldn’t help but tease her.

  Her explanation came out slowly, as if she were talking to a child. “This is two friends having dinner together. Nothing more.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Buck!”

  The exasperation in her tone had him laughing louder this time. “All right, I’m just teasing you. You’re too easy, Gi.”

  When her tense shoulders relaxed, he changed the subject. As much fun as it was to razz her, insinuating this was a date would probably cause trouble. The last thing he wanted was for her to get mad at him and start avoiding him again. “So, I spoke to Hogan a little while ago. He was impressed with you. He also told me you got up close and personal with Bonnie and Clyde. Aren’t they awesome?”

  Her eyes lit up. “Oh my God, they’re amazing! I can’t believe I was petting a live bear. I’ll never be able to hear about someone hunting bears without thinking of the two of them now. It’s going to piss me off.”

  While Buck and his friends had never gone hunting for bear, which was legal during certain seasons in New Hampshire, they had hunted deer in their teens. But after being in combat in the military, killing the enemy and seeing soldiers he’d served with die, he’d sworn he would never hunt another living thing unless his life or an innocent person’s life depended on it.

  Their waitress came over, and after they ordered another round of drinks, Regina announced she knew what she wanted for dinner if he was ready too. Once the waitress left them alone, Buck steered the conversation toward everyday things. They had a good time talking about different subjects. In fact, Buck couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed a date that much—not that it was a date, at least, according to Regina. What he liked most about talking with her was that most of her statements didn’t start with an “I,” like Margo’s had earlier, or the last few women he’d hooked up with. Regina gave her opinion but was also interested in his. He was enjoying her company so much he barely remembered being served their dinner and eating it. That was the Regina he’d known and loved like family growing up, but now, she was much more than that. This Regina was the one he could find himself falling for, and honestly, that scared the shit out of him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, and with his PTSD, there was always a chance that could happen.

  When their check arrived, Buck snatched it before Regina could. She glared at him when he wouldn’t let her see it. “This isn’t a date, Buck. We’re splitting that.�
��

  “Nope. Call it whatever you want, but I’ve got it this time. You can leave the tip.”

  That seemed to placate her a little. “Fine, but can I see the total so I know how much to leave?”

  Since it was a reasonable request, he relented. Their waitress returned and took the check back along with the credit card he’d pulled out of his wallet. Across the pub, on a small stage, the band was getting set up. As much as he wanted to stay and hang out with Regina and listen to the music, he had to get up early in the morning. They were coming down to the wire, getting the resort ready for the ski season, so they’d all been putting in six-day weeks. Tomorrow, he was doing a walkthrough of all the public areas and any empty guest rooms with the assistant manager, Theodora Fisher, who worked every other weekend, to make certain nothing was in need of any last-minute repairs. They’d make note of what needed to be fixed and give to Ryan on Monday.

  During the week, in addition to preparing for the ski season, they also had to start planning for Halloween. Every year, LRSR ran haunted hayrides for a full week leading up to the holiday. Then the night before Halloween, they would host a scavenger hunt, a pumpkin carving contest, and a costume party for their guests and local townspeople. It was one of Buck’s favorite times at the resort. As a kid, he’d gone to all the events as a guest, but when they’d gotten older, Noah, Ryan, Justin, and he had joined the resort’s staff and some local teens working the events. The best had been the haunted hayride. Dressing up like Jason, Freddy Kruger, and other scary characters or monsters, they’d taken great delight in jumping out from behind trees and scaring the crap out of people.

  “I’d really like to stay and listen to the band, but, honestly, I’m beat,” Regina said as she stuck a generous tip under the saltshaker. “Would you mind if I cut out?”

  She did look tired, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “I’m not surprised, since we only had about five hours of sleep last night. And, no, I don’t mind. In fact, I’ve got to be at the resort early tomorrow, so I’m going to walk out with you.”