Page 7 of Stay Wild Darlin’

I tilted my head, unimpressed. “You want a drink, or are you here to test out your pick-up lines?”

His grin widened, and he tipped his hat back slightly. “Aw, darlin’, if I was trying, you’d know.”

The table whooped again, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from firing something back. He was insufferable. Now I knew why the girls in the back hated when the circuit came into town.

Before I could get their order, a girl from the other table, the one with shiny auburn hair and a tiny little outfit, came bounding over.

“Oh my god,” she squealed, clutching onto his arm. “Are you Dalton?”

His smirk turned downright wicked. “In the flesh, sweetheart.”

I exhaled through my nose, turning away before I said something I’d regret. I’d come back when someone called me over because I wasn’t sitting there while they flirted with the buckle bunnies.

I was back behind the bar, grabbing drinks for another table, when one of the girls who had walked in with the bull riders made her way over.

“Sorry about my friends,” she said, tossing a thumb over her shoulder toward their table. “They’re annoying.”

I laughed, shaking my head as I wiped my hands on the rag tucked into my waistband. “It’s fine. I’ve dealt with worse.”

She leaned against the counter. “They sent me over to grab a round of beers for the table.”

I grabbed a few cold ones from the fridge and popped the tops with one swift motion. “Are you all in town for the event?”

“Yeah, and that one?” She indicated toward the guy who’d been obnoxiously trying to hit on me. “He won the event bonus. That’s why he’s acting a little extra reckless tonight.”

I snorted. “A little money in his pocket and he thinks he’s untouchable?”

She chuckled. “Something like that. But he’s harmless. Just high off the win.”

I rolled my eyes. “Harmless or not, doesn’t mean I have to deal with his shit all night.”

She laughed, grabbing the bottles. “Fair enough. Just thought I’d give you a little warning.”

I watched as she walked back to the table, setting the beers down in front of the guys. The blonde one glanced my way before turning to the girl who’d approached their table. I narrowed my eyes, slowly wiping down the bar.

Yeah, I had a feeling this guy was going to be a handful tonight.

5

Poppy

“What’s a girl with a Southern accent doing working in a bar all the way up in Seattle?”

Fable—I’d learned her name earlier—was perched on the bar, swinging her legs slightly as the night wound down. Most of the patrons had already cleared out, leaving the rowdy group of bull riders finishing up their drinks. The manager was holed up in the back office, which meant it was me, Fable, and the lingering chaos behind us.

Somehow, she’d become the unofficial go-between, placing orders for the group and keeping the peace. Over the course of the night, she’d introduced herself, casually mentioning that she worked with one of the stock contractors and was married to the winner’s best friend.

I rested my hands on the bar, arching a brow at her. “Guess I could ask you the same thing—what’s a stock contractor’s right-hand woman doing babysitting a bunch of drunk bull riders?”

“Valid point,” she chuckled. “To be fair, I only help with marketing for the bulls and the ranch. My best friend, Harleigh, is usually with me, but she had to stay back this week.”

“Cool. I’m from Dallas, hence the accent.”

“Ahhh, I knew it sounded familiar. We live in Lindley.”

Lindley was a small town on the outskirts of the city. I’d never actually been, but I’d passed through plenty of times as a kid.

“I know exactly where that is,” I laughed, grabbing a few empty glasses from the other side of the bar top and dunking them in the sink.