“Isn’t this a nice surprise,” a woman’s voice said. And just as quickly, Sid was moving down the bar, asking people if they needed anything.
Neely. He hadn’t seen her in weeks. “Hi,” he said. “How are things?”
“Excellent. And you?”
“Good,” he said, lifting his beer.
“I’m Neely,” she reminded him.
“That’s right,” he said, as if he’d forgotten. “Dakota.”
“Oh, I remember.” She snapped her fingers, bringing Sid back. He frowned at that action. “Can I get a chicken Caesar and a club soda with lime?”
“Absolutely,” Sid said. “Dakota?”
“Nothing for me,” he said.
“So, you’ve been in Timberlake for over a month now,” Neely said. “Does that mean this little town appeals to you?”
“It’s a nice little town.”
“And have you settled in for a long stay?” she asked just as Sid put down her drink.
Dakota didn’t really feel like discussing his plans with her, but on the off chance that Sid might overhear, he told the truth. “I have a job here and I’ve rented a place, but long means different things to different people.”
“So tell me what you’ve seen and done since we last saw each other,” she said, sipping her drink.
“Nothing very interesting,” he said. He told her about the job, secretly hoping to put her off with his career as a garbage collector.
Then she told him she’d gone to a concert in Denver and she’d been shopping for things for her town house—area rugs, throw pillows, art. She suggested she’d have to show him sometime.
Dakota frowned. She would just invite him over? She didn’t know him. They had no people in common as far as he knew. All she knew was his first name and that he was a trash collector. That kind of rush to intimacy always made him suspicious.
She talked on, asking very few questions of him and those few he answered with one word if he could. He was thinking he would have to skip dinner tonight if she was going to hang around, but when she finished her salad she put her money on the bar. “Well, I’m off,” she said. “I hope we run into each other again soon.”
He was so grateful to see her go that he said, “I’m sure we will.” And when she cleared the door, he sighed.
“How does it feel to be a chick magnet?” Sid asked with laughter in her voice.
“Do not make fun of me,” he said. “There’s something about her that’s a little scary.”
“She seems perfectly nice,” Sid said. “Are you ready for your dinner now?”
“Almost,” he said. He picked up a menu and opened it. “Give me a couple of minutes. I think I might have to try something different tonight.”
“I thought you were close to doing that...but she gave up,” Sid said, walking away with a laugh.
Dakota looked through the menu while Sid waited on other patrons and mixed drinks for the waitstaff to take to tables. She paused for a moment to laugh with young Trace, the seventeen-year-old busboy. Dakota was thinking about wings and potato skins when Neely appeared out of nowhere. He jumped in surprise.
“I’m so sorry to bother you,” she said. “I have a flat. I could call AAA but I thought maybe you wouldn’t mind helping me out. I could make it up to you one of these days by buying dinner or even cooking for us.”
He thought about telling her to call AAA. But he couldn’t. He’d always considered it a point of honor to be kind and helpful to women. He said, “No problem.” Then he called out to Sid. “Hey, Sid! I’ll be right back. I’m going to help with a car problem. Reserve my spot, please.”
“Sure thing,” she said.
He held the door for Neely. He tried to walk behind her but she looped her arm through his.
“It’s down this way,” she said as she led him past the diner and around back. “The BMW is mine,” she said. Her flashy little BMW sat in the dark alley, just two spaces away from his Jeep SUV. He wondered immediately if that could possibly be a coincidence. He bent at the waist, looking at the tires.
“Which one?” he asked, straightening.
Neely pressed herself up against him and her lips were on his so fast he didn’t see her coming. Dakota had had many interesting experiences with women but this kind of aggression was a first. He gripped her upper arms and tried to move her away from him but it was hard—she was determined. Finally he managed to get some space between them. “What the...? Flat tire?”
She smiled and shrugged. “I thought maybe we’d get to know each other a little. Away from the nosy barmaid.”
He wasn’t sure what made him more angry—being tricked into leaving the bar for a potential tryst or Sid being referred to as a nosy barmaid. “Don’t ever do this again. It’s a bad idea.”
“Little uptight, aren’t you, Dakota?” she said, rubbing a hand over his chest.
He stepped back, out of her reach. He was seething inside, but he kept his cool. “Here’s a lesson in manners. If you want to get to know someone, you ask them. If they say no, you move on. You never trick them. This is creepy. Now go home.”
“Come on, you’re a big boy...”
“Good night,” he said, taking long strides away from her. He walked around the diner and back to the bar. He tried to shake off the weirdness of what had just happened. He got back on his favorite bar stool and saw that Sid had put a glass of ice water there. Grateful, he took a drink.
And left lipstick on the glass.
“Shit,” he muttered, grabbing a napkin and wiping off the rim of the glass and his mouth. She’d nailed him good.
“Beer?” Sid asked, slapping down a fresh napkin in front of him.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “And the Juicy Lucy with onion rings instead of fries.”
She looked at his face and pointed to her upper lip. “Missed a little here,” she said.
“I did not kiss her,” he said, maybe a little too loudly.
“You were attacked by a runaway lipstick tube?”
“You have it almost right,” he said.
“I thought you were going to try something different tonight.”
“Changed my mind. I like what I eat here. I look forward to it. I enjoy it.”
“Don’t get all goosey. I’ll take care of it.”
He wiped off his lips again. He sighed. No wonder he wanted to get to know Sid better and not Neely. He liked Sid. She was remarkably sane. She was so obviously smart. Her instincts were sharp. He thought she was pretty. She made him laugh and she challenged him by playing hard to get, except he knew she wasn’t playing. She was hard to get.
His hamburger arrived and he realized he was sulking as he ate. Every time he came to this bar when Sid was working he was hopeful she’d warm up to him, and every time Alyssa or Neely showed up, things got strange. So, Sid had been through something painful and was playing it cool. Well, so was he. He wasn’t looking for a lot, just a nice woman to spend time with, not some crazy broad who was always on the attack.
“You okay?” Sid said to him.
“No.”
“Look, she’s just a girl trying to make a date with a guy and—”
“There was no flat tire,” he said. “She lured me away from my beer and my meal to get me alone in the dark and threw herself on me. I had to peel her off me. It was terrible. I know guys who would have jumped at the opportunity but there’s something seriously off about her. If a man had done that to a woman, he’d be arrested. I don’t know how to make it any more clear—I’m not interested in getting to know Neely any better, or Alyssa for that matter. Both of them creep me out. And put me in a bad mood.”
Sid stared at him, transfixed for a moment. “Whew,” she finally said.
“It was awful,” he said, picking up an onion ring. “I’d never do that to a person. There’s this thing called manners. And personal space. You know?”
“I know,” she said.
“Sorry,” he said, chewing on an onion ring. “I got pissed off.”
“I understand completely.” She picked up his beer and dumped it. “That got a little warm while you were breathing fire,” she said, getting him a new frosty mug and fresh beer. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” he said.
He nursed it slowly, done flirting for the night. In fact, he might be done for all time. He was a little surprised by the turn of events. He’d been on the receiving end of some blatant come-ons in his day but he could usually discourage the idea without anyone being hurt or becoming angry.
He finished his beer and stood to get his wallet.
Sid was in front of him with his check. “Two beers and a burger,” she said in her usual businesslike tone. “And here is where I’ll be on Saturday night if you still feel like coffee,” she said, handing him a second slip of paper. There was an address on it. He raised his eyes to hers. “You’ll be perfectly safe. Besides, that shade of red does nothing for my coloring.” Then she grinned.
“I don’t want your pity,” he said, but he said it with humor in his tone.
“Good. Seven o’clock.”
He walked to his car thinking that yes, she felt sorry for him. He was clearly insulted and angry about being played as he was. But that was okay. Even though it hadn’t been a strategy of his, he was willing to take advantage of the situation. And over coffee he would charm her and make her laugh. It was with this very hopeful and encouraged feeling that his SUV came into view.
All four tires were flat.
He looked around to see if anyone was there. Neely’s car was gone and the small parking lot behind the diner was quiet. He looked at the other cars—tires all fine. Then he went back to the sidewalk, where it was well lit. He pulled out his phone and called Cal.