by Natalie Ann
“So is there anything to do around here in the winter other than ski?” she asked. If she was going to make this change in her life, she should find out what was the best way to do it.
“Do you like the snow?” When Rene shook her head, Amber said, “Then not really. Unless you like ice hockey? There’s a lot of that on the lake in the winter along with ice fishing.” Another shake of Rene’s head. Amber lifted her beer and took a healthy sip. “Then drink. We do a lot of that on the weekends. Bars and winter sports go hand in hand here.”
Two things Rene didn’t partake in often. “Do you come here often?”
Amber laughed. “That sounded like a cheesy pick-up line. Are you hitting on me, Rene?”
Rene felt the heat rush up her neck and into her face. She would never be able to break out of this awkward phase, no matter how much she wanted to. She needed serious help, but that would only be even more embarrassing…having to ask someone to show her how to come out of her shell.
“Ah, no. I was just making conversation.”
Amber patted her leg. “Just relax, Rene. Enjoy your time here. Don’t be so tense. I like to pick on people, so don’t take anything I say serious.”
“Nothing you say?” Rene asked, smiling over the rim of her glass.
“There you go. And yes, I come here at least once a month. It’s a nice place. The food is good if you’re hungry, and it draws a decent crowd if you want to pick someone up.”
Rene coughed and set her glass down. “A joke, right?”
“No. I was serious that time. Though the pickings around here aren’t all that wonderful. Still, it draws a lot of vacationers if you’re just looking for a good time.” At Rene’s confused look, Amber added, “A fling, Rene. If you’re looking for a fling.”
That blush that came over her face before was traveling to the roots of her scalp now. “Yeah, that’s not me.”
“I should have figured you weren’t that type. Anyway, it’s a good place to meet someone or just have a few drinks. Your choice.”
“I’ll take the drinks. Just one, I’m driving,” she said again. For Amber’s benefit…and maybe her own.
“There are taxis around here too, in case you want more than one.”
“We’ll see,” Rene said, knowing she’d probably stick with her lone drink.
“Lookie, lookie, at what just strolled in. Told you the atmosphere was nice in here.”
Rene swiveled on her stool and caught sight of her savior from a few days ago. Turning back to the bar, she lifted her glass up and drained it fast. Great, couldn’t even relax on the one night she convinced herself to go out.
So much for that pep talk she gave herself. She was hiding again, this time in the form of liquid courage.
A Little Buzzed
Cole stood in the doorway and looked around the bar to see who was there. Not too many people, just like he figured. He turned to the right and caught sight of a fellow trooper and lifted his arm, then made his way over. He knew a few more people were coming out tonight, too.
In his survey of the room he saw Amber Deacon at the bar. He’d known her his whole life. She smiled and winked at him and he waved back. She’d always been a wild child, too much for even him to handle.
There was a woman on the stool next to her though that didn’t look familiar. Long brown hair, nice fitted sweater showing off just the right amount of curves. Her jeans looked the perfect amount of tightness to her body from what he could see with her sitting. On her feet were a pair of sexy heeled ankle boots. Nice choice.
The waitress brought over another glass for him and he filled it from the pitcher at the table. He was getting ready to get up and talk to the woman at the bar next to Amber when she turned slightly and he caught sight of her face.
Son of a bitch. There was no way that could be Rene. Not the same Rene that had a hat on way too big for her body the other morning. A body that he couldn’t see much of under her fluffy down jacket then, either. What a shame that she hid it.
But there she was sitting at the bar next to Amber. Her face had a nice rosy glow. The bartender put a full glass of wine in front of her.
“Who you looking at over there?”
Cole turned back to his coworker. “Just someone I knew from childhood. No one important.”
Almost two hours later, he couldn’t stop looking while he was nursing his second beer. She was still there, and on what looked like her third glass of wine, and had been chatting with a guy for the last twenty minutes. He couldn’t hear their conversation from where he was, but he could read their body language.
Rene was smiling, tentative at best, just being friendly. The guy was more aggressive, leaning into Rene’s personal space from time to time, causing her to shift on her stool.
He tried not to grind his teeth when the guy leaned in and said something close to Rene’s ear. The shake of her head made him feel better, but not when the guy ran his finger down her arm and she pulled it back.
It didn’t seem the man wanted to take no for an answer, gesturing toward the bartender to fill Rene’s glass again. Rene started to look uncomfortable, and edged closer to Amber, who was still flirting with the guy next to her.
The bartender placed the wine next to Rene’s elbow, causing her to shake her head again and put her hand up, but the guy didn’t take the hint. Rene started to stand, but the man grabbed her arm to pull her back.
Cole was at her side fast. “I think the lady said no.”
“Get your own woman. I’ve been working this one all night. She’s just shy, aren’t you, sweetie?”
“No. I’m not shy. I’m just not interested,” Rene said firmly.
Look at that. Lois Lane grew up. Maybe he was wrong, maybe she didn’t need him. Nah, he wasn’t leaving her side.
The guy reached over and grabbed Rene’s hand, trying to hold it. A grip firm enough that she couldn’t shake it loose.
“The lady and I are just having a small disagreement, so you can move on your way.”
Cole lifted the bottom of his shirt and showed the badge clipped to his hip next to his gun. “My buddies over there—my coworkers—are watching, too. We’d be happy to help you settle this little disagreement if you’d like. We’re trained mediators that way,” he said, his mouth grinning, his eyes not so much.
The man looked over to where Cole had been sitting, saw his coworkers watching with interest, then let go of Rene’s hand, tossed some bills on the bar, and walked away.
“Thanks. Sorry about that. I told him no a few times. He didn’t seem to understand what it meant,” Rene said. “I was just about to go to the bathroom and try to sneak out the back door or something.”
Her face was still flushed and her eyes a little glossy. She was definitely buzzing and the thought of her trying to sneak out and drive home gave him the chills.
She smiled at him lopsided. “You saved me from trying to fit my butt through a window in the bathroom as a last resort.”
Her tiny rear wiggling through the window wasn’t what he needed in his mind right now, either.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
Her smile faded. “I didn’t know I was.” Then she let out a little giggle and slapped her hand in front of her mouth.
He groaned. Great, she was tipsy. He looked over at Amber and noticed she was watching them. “Are you taking her home?” he asked.
“No, I never drive when I go out. I planned on calling someone if it’s too cold, or I’ll walk. Rene,” Amber said, “you said you were only drinking one. How many did you have?”
Rene narrowed her eyes. “I think four. Maybe three. No, that was the fourth right there,” she said, pointing at the glass the bartender had set down minutes ago. “I don’t know. The first two were pretty fast. I kind of forgot.”
“Geez, girl. You need to pace yourself. Trixie isn’t going to let you come out with me again.”
Rene hiccupped and then giggled. She had enough wits about her to tell th
e guy no a few minutes ago, but clearly not enough to drive home. “I’ll take you. Are you about ready?”
“Oh, don’t go out of your way,” Rene said. “I can just wait it out a few hours. I’ll order some food and drink soda. I’m good.”
In good conscience he couldn’t leave her, though. Not with how badly she drove as it was. “Give me your keys,” he said, holding his hand out.
“Why?” she asked. “I promise I’ll hold off a few hours. You can sit here next to me and I’ll keep my eye on you.”
He laughed. She was actually kind of funny when she was relaxed. “You’ll be sleeping at the bar by then.”
Besides, he wasn’t in the mood to stay for another few hours himself, but he wasn’t leaving until she did.
“I am awfully tired. Still, should you be driving? How many did you have? And how will you get back?”
“Don’t worry about me and my alcohol intake. I’ll drive you home and have one of my buddies follow behind me then bring me back. Then your vehicle will be home, too.”
“I don’t want you to go out of your way,” she said again. Her face was turning pinker by the minute.
“Not a problem.”
***
Except it was a problem. Ten minutes later, Rene was seated in the passenger seat of her SUV wondering how she’d ended up in this situation.
The cool air was just enough to sober her up some more. Not that she was drunk, just a little buzzed.
Cole was adjusting the driver’s seat and checking the mirrors, his friend in a car next to them waiting for Cole to pull out.
“I’m sorry about this. I could just call Nick,” she said, starting to feel foolish.
Sure, she’d had more to drink than she should have, and definitely shouldn’t risk driving, but she was aware of what was going on right now.
Aware that she was extremely embarrassed that Cole was coming to her aid again. Worse yet, she voiced that to him and told him she was going to sneak out the window. That was real mature on her part. No wonder he groaned when she said it.
“I said it’s not a problem. I was ready to call it a night myself.”
“Yeah, but you have to ride back to town now before you go home.”
“It’s not that far. Just a few miles. Really, don’t think anything of it.”
She decided it wasn’t worth arguing with him over it. He put the car in drive and started to pull out of the parking lot.
“Thanks back there. I mean, that guy seemed really nice when we started to talk. I didn’t expect him to get that aggressive when I said I wasn’t interested in going back to his hotel with him though.”
“You had a plan to get away, just not sure how well it would’ve worked. The last thing you should be doing is driving. You probably should have just let Amber know; she would have taken care of it.”
“She was talking to someone. Besides, it just happened so fast…the guy changing his tune. I wanted to stay home tonight but my grandmother laid the guilt on me.”
“Maybe she wanted the night to herself. Or maybe she had a gentleman caller coming.”
Rene coughed. “That’s gross. Why would you say that to me? Would you want to think of your grandmother with a man?”
He turned his head and smiled at her, and her breath caught. Okay, yeah, she’d had a crush on him growing up and he turned out even hotter than her childhood memories. But she wasn’t going to run from him this time. Nope, she was staying in the car, because it was her car and he was driving and well, she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. It was time to step up and be mature about it.
“My grandmother isn’t alive, but I suppose you’re right. It was a funny thought, admit it.”
She’d rather not. “I’m sorry about your grandmother,” she said seriously.
“It was a while ago, but thanks. Is Trixie still as spunky as ever?”
“More so,” Rene said, grumbling.
They sat in silence for the rest of the ride. She didn’t know what to say to him. So much for not hiding.
When they pulled into her grandmother’s driveway, she quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door before the vehicle was completely stopped.
“What’s your rush?” Cole asked, laughing.
“Nothing. I just don’t want your friend to have to wait too long.”
She looked down the road but didn’t see any lights coming.
“He’ll be behind me shortly. He had to drop someone else off.”
“Oh. Does he know where you are?” she asked, feeling foolish for not being aware there wasn’t a car following them the whole way.
“Everyone knows Trixie. Yes, he’ll be here in a minute.”
“I can wait out here with you until he arrives,” she said. She didn’t want him standing out in the cold by himself.
“It’s fine,” Cole said, turning the car off and handing her the keys. He opened the driver’s side door to get out, so she climbed out herself.
She was walking by him toward the house when she stepped on a patch of ice and started to lose her footing. He reached for her the same time she thought she was going to go down.
And she did, pulling him down with her, right on top of her no less. This night couldn’t get any worse.
Only it did. She lay there, the breath knocked out of her—he was huge after all and weighed significantly more than her.
“Are you all right?” he asked, pushing up on his elbows and rolling to his side quicker than she secretly hoped for. He was nice and warm lying on her just now.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I should have realized there’d be ice on the driveway.”
She sat up slowly, taking inventory of her body. Nothing seemed to be more than bruised, especially her pride…what little she had left of it at this point.
There she was again, falling down in front of him, needing him to help her up. Change, her butt. It didn’t matter where she lived—she was still a klutz and Cole was still there to protect her.
Let’s see. In the last three days, he’d helped get her car off the side of the road, stopped a guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and drove her home after she drank too much. Of course he had no clue she drank more than she intended because he walked in the bar.
She’d been hoping the wine would make her look more mature, loosen her up a little, and prayed it gave her the push to not sit there and look around the bar lonely all night. Instead it just turned her into an idiot.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “I mean I know I broke your fall, but I’m not much of a cushion.”
He got to his feet and reached a hand down to her, then quickly pulled her up. So quickly she ended up smacking into his chest, causing him to wrap his arms around and steady her. Mmm, nice warm body again. Okay, maybe being a klutz had some perks.
“You may not be much of a cushion, but you fit into my arms just right.”
“Huh?” she said, her ears ringing now. It had to be the alcohol. Cole McGuire couldn’t possibly be hitting on her, could he? Do childhood fantasies really come true?
“Nothing, never mind. It was a joke.”
“Oh,” she said, stepping back. There was a bit of relief and an extreme amount of disappointment mixed in with that word.
“Let me walk you to the door so you don’t slip again.”
“I can manage it,” she said, mortification creeping in. Let’s just add naive to the list of things she was tonight.
“Just the same, I don’t want to break anything if I fall on you again.”
She turned and looked at him. “That’s a joke, right?”
He sighed. “Yes. Better yet, let’s do this my way.” He swung her up in his arms and marched the few feet to the front porch. “There you go. Safe and sound.”
Wow, she just got lightheaded. Had to be the wine. “Thanks,” she said, a little breathless.
Too bad a car pulled in the driveway behind hers just then. Of course, it’s not like she had any idea what she should say
to him.
“There’s my ride,” he said, but didn’t move. He just stood there staring at her, making her even more lightheaded. He finally sighed again and said, “I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah,” she whispered as he hopped in his friend’s car. “See you around.”
World of Adulthood
The next morning, Rene rolled over and blinked her eyes open, then wished she hadn’t. Her head was throbbing, but that was nothing compared to the cottonmouth she was sporting when she tried to lick her lips.
Never again. She would not drink that much again, and she sure the heck wouldn’t be going out with Amber a second time. No more Amber influences.
What could she have been thinking, drinking three glasses of wine like that? She should have stopped at one, two tops. Or better yet, maybe she should have had a few more so she’d have no memories of the night.
It seemed three was the magic number for humiliating experiences and remembering them. At least for someone who drank as little as her.
She pushed her mortification aside and slowly crawled out of bed, then made her way to the bathroom. A warm shower would hopefully take the edge off, along with a fistful of aspirin.
Grow up, my butt, she thought. She wanted to go back to the teen that didn’t know what a hangover felt like.
“Morning, sweetie,” her grandmother said when she walked into the kitchen.
“Morning,” she mumbled and opened the fridge. At least her stomach wasn’t off, so that was a plus.
“I’ve got juice on the table for you and I’m finishing up some oatmeal. It will stick to your ribs for a cold day like today.”
“Great,” she said, shuffling to the table and sitting down. She picked up the orange juice and took a gulp, then gagged and choked. “There’s vodka in this.”