“They can wait.”
He really waited for us to finish before he took our plates, filled up our waters then went to check on the others. I watched him go, Natalie did too. “You sure about that brother thing?”
Her head whipped around again. “Why? You seeing something else?”
“Lingering glances, that just now…he’s not making sure anyone else is eating, and I just met the man.”
Her head snapped to Liam. He glanced back and smiled. Even I felt that smile, and it wasn’t directed at me. “Yeah…” I turned the stool around, leaned back against the bar. “Pretty sure you’re wrong about the brother thing.”
She jerked her head back to Liam and almost fell off the stool again. The door opened; my gaze drifted to it to see Killian. He was wearing jeans, a button-down and boots. That black hair and blue eyes, he was rude, but the man was hot. “What’s his deal?”
Natalie turned in her stool. “Killian Reid?”
She said that like she’d never given him thought. Were we not both looking at the same person?
“He’s quiet, sticks to himself.”
The way he moved through the bar was kind of awesome. He reminded me of an outlaw from back in the day, like Billy the Kid. The bad ass with his six-shooter that everyone knew to fear so gave him space. His gaze moved over Natalie and me before it drifted back to me and lingered.
“Oh, here we go,” I muttered.
“What’s that mean?”
I didn’t get to answer because Killian walked behind the bar. I felt him right behind me. “You need more water. Both of you.”
“We just had water,” Natalie said.
“You need more.”
“But then we’ll be peeing all night,” I shared.
“If you don’t, you’ll be hating the world tomorrow.”
I turned in my stool, and being this close to him, I could see the speckles of darker blue in his eyes. I lost my train of thought. It just flew right out of my head. He pushed my glass of water in front of me, and I drank it, the whole damn glass.
“Good girl.”
Heat raced down my body thinking of the various scenarios he could say those two words to me. I almost slid off my stool.
“Round two,” Natalie said, grabbing my arm and pulling me to the stage. I was drunk, feeling pretty damn good, and even if the man thought I was a hooker; he was hot. So I grinned, shot my fingers at him like a gun and said, “I’ll be back.”
He watched, arms crossed over his chest. Unlike Liam and everyone else in the bar who were getting into it, he just stared. Probably hoping I was a better hooker than I was a singer.
When we finished our set, because we sang more than one song, Killian was gone. I hadn’t even seen him go.
“Keys,” Liam said to Natalie.
“I’ll take you home.” I turned so fast, I got lightheaded. Killian stood behind me. He didn’t wait for me, grabbing my arm in a gentle but firm hold, and pulled me out of the tavern. We walked to a shiny black pickup. He opened the door and lifted me in. He said nothing as we drove. He knew where I lived. I got excited for about two seconds until I realized everyone knew where I lived.
He helped me out of the truck, up to my front door. He even unlocked the door and walked me to my room. He then left and came back with a glass of water. “Drink.”
I drank.
He filled it up again, left it on the bedside table and walked out. I heard the lock flip and his heavy footsteps down the front steps, the engine roaring to life. He’d seen me home, and though I could get excited about that too, I realized it was more likely that Liam wanted to see Natalie home, and I was the third wheel.
I didn’t even change; I fell back on the bed and was out seconds later.
I stood in line at the café; my sunglasses weren’t doing a good enough job at blocking the light. My head felt like a drum ensemble was playing. I hadn’t been sick, but I’d had a close call twice when I woke up. I tried to piece together last night, but much of it was a blur. What was oddly crystal clear were my interactions with Killian. Recalling the gun I shot at him, I moaned and rolled my eyes, which only made them hurt. He’d brought me home. He had my house key. It was why I’d come into town, but I needed more caffeine and silence.
The girl behind the counter rang me up and in a loud, perky voice told me to have a nice day. Not likely. Stepping outside, my hand lifted to block the sun; the pounding in my head increased, but the hot caffeine was nice.
“Morning.”
I knew that voice. Looking up, Killian was so tall he was blocking the sun. “Hey.”
“You look like shit.”
“Kind of you to notice.”
He pushed his hands into his pockets, like he was there for the long a haul. Like I was a zoo animal and he was visiting. “You need something?” I asked.
“No.”
I’d narrow my eyes at him but that would only cause me more pain.
Without a word, he grabbed my hand and started dragging me down the street to the tavern. I didn’t have the energy to ask what he was doing. The door opened, Liam shouted, “Hey, it’s Celine Dion.”
“Why are you shouting?”
“Not shouting, Babe.”
“Sit,” Killian ordered.
I did because I was going to anyway.
He walked behind the bar and started making a drink. “I think I’ve used up my monthly allotment of alcohol.”
“Drink it. It’ll make you feel better.”
Looking at the pee yellow liquid, bile rushed up my throat. “I don’t think so.”
Killian dropped his hands on the bar and leaned into me. “Drink.”
“Bossy,” I said, but lifted the glass, took a
