Page 19 of Tricked in October
Mr. O’Henry looked at her, worry in his eyes. “Everything okay?”
With this new development, now should’ve felt like the perfect time to tell them what was going on and ask them to help. But this whole asking for help thing was new to her, and now she was distracted and needed to get to the bar in a hurry.
“An issue at the bar. I need to go.” She hugged and kissed her children goodbye. “Thank you,” she said as she slipped out the front door.
So it was already beginning. If she couldn’t afford to pay the vendors, she wouldn’t have anything to serve her customers. If she didn’t have customers, she would have no reason to keep O’Henry’s open.
She needed a solution. And fast. Her brain went to the person it always did when she needed help but was too proud to ask for it.
Kelsey: Can you come by the bar tonight?
Davis: It’s Thursday.
Kelsey: So?
Davis: Ladies night.
Kelsey: And?
Davis: Raincheck?
Kelsey: Please.
It felt like forever before a response came.
Davis: As you wish.
She would not overthink his response. She would not overthink his response. She would not—crap. Too late.
CHAPTERSIX
DAVIS
Not only wasDavis exhausted from work, but an extra packed bar that was a favorite by all the locals, was not his scene. Especially on ladies’ night. But Kelsey had asked him to come, and she rarely said please. If she needed him, he wouldn’t let her down.
Dressed in a pair of fitted dark jeans, a flannel, and a pair of Timberland boots, Davis entered O’Henry’s. He wished he would’ve brought Cooper with him tonight. He preferred his dog’s company over most people, and he helped to calm him in large crowds.
Davis ducked his head, tugging his hat down further as he let the door swing closed behind him. The familiar music by Hozier played loud through the speakers in the bar. He exhaled a relieved sigh that so far the karaoke hadn’t began. He didn’t think he could put up with thirty women taking their turn singing a different Taylor Swift song—even if her current music wasn’t half bad.
Making a beeline for the bar, he kept his eyes focused on his feet as the twinkling lights draped above him. He didn’t want to get stuck talking to a fan, or worse—a tourist. There was only one person he came to see tonight.
“Hey, you came,” Kelsey greeted him with a smile.
And darn it if he didn’t feel the same attraction hit him like lightning to the chest just like he had the last time he saw her. Tonight, she wore a fitted, bright blue sweater, the material clinging to her in all the right places. The sight of her curves made it difficult to form a coherent thought. And that smile of hers…it had his heart racing, the beating thundering in his ears. He silently cursed, clenching his fists at his sides. He hoped the past few days had been a fluke, and that the combination of lack of sleep and the length of time since he’d had a girlfriend had affected his common sense. Truth be told, he hadn’t gotten laid in a while, but that wasn’t whatthiswas.
This alluring pull was something he couldn’t explain. Never mind handle. He’d never been friends with a woman before dating. His past relationships consisted of Riley in high school that only lasted about three months, Becky, who he dated intermittently while he lived in Denver, and lastly there was Lissa who he’d met through a twin dating app Garrett convinced him to join.
So being friends with a woman first—best friends— before dating was uncharted territory.
Kelsey slid a beer across the bar top and Davis caught the glass. He nodded his thanks, unable to make eye contact with her while his finger wiped at the spilled beer down the side of the glass. Was he acting weird? Because he felt like he was acting weird. Would she notice? Of course she’d notice. This was Kelsey.
As if she too were similarly affected by his presence, Kelsey ran a nervous hand through her straight hair, her eyes peeking at him from beneath thick, dark lashes. That was unlike her, the shy glances, the awkward silence.
Hadsomething changed between them?
Their friendship was the one thing that remained the same in his life. It was the one constant. Through it all. The breakup with Becky, and the breakup with Lissa.
“I can’t stay long,” he blurted, too loudly.
