Page 8 of Cold Foot Cash

And just like that, the moment was done and gone, and she was back to being alone in a moment she hated.

He’d been nice to ask, but as she watched him flirting with the two gorgeous women, with their short skirts, and tits pushed up high in tiny crop tops, she remembered why she didn’t grow crushes on gym rats. They were incapable of keeping attention on one female at a time.

But then again, Lance wasn’t hot and he’d cheated on her. That thought was brutal. So true. Lance wasn’t a gym rat, or even classically good-looking, and he’d still given his attention to others. The smile faded from her face.

Men were all shitty. It didn’t matter if a woman lowered her standards, or settled. Men were all the same. She had always judged Carolina for her taste in perfect-looking, six-pack wielding hot guys, but she was no better off. Harley had thought if she attached her heart to an intellectual man who wouldn’t be caught dead in a gym, who was down to earth and modest, she would be safe from heartbreak, but that’s not how the world worked, now was it?

Out of habit, Harley moved to twist the wedding ring that wasn’t there anymore. She had flushed it down the toilet months ago when Lance had showed up at her favorite bar on a date night with his mistress and flaunted his new relationship in her face.

Out the window, that vacancy sign was glowing such a bright shade of green.

Maybe it would be good for her to get some space and some rest in this sleepy little town. She hadn’t taken a vacation for a long time. Perhaps if she stayed here for a few days, she could find some clarity, and maybe even feel like she wasn’t drowning for a little while.

That sounded so nice.

Harley took another swig of the beer, and studied the label. It was good. It was some kind of local beer, it looked like, called Happy Hooker, brewed right here in Darby, Montana. She liked it.Good choice, Stranger.

She looked back up at where Cash had been, but he wasn’t talking to the girls anymore. He was leaned over the pool table, lining up a shot. He knew what he was doing, from what she could tell. His form was good.Clack. His shot on the cue ball broke up the others with a sound that reached her ears way over here.

He was talking easily to a couple of the guys he was with, and good Lord, they were all hot as hell. Hot as hell? She couldn’teven remember the last time she’d noticed a man in that way. Being away from the storm in Bozeman was kind of nice. Of course Cash had hot friends. Birds of a feather, flock together, or whatever that saying was.

He was laughing now, and good Lord that man had a smile on him. Perfect white teeth and his grin reached his bright-colored eyes. Somehow it made him hotter, and something clicked into place for her. Of course someone wanted to pretend to be him. This man was pure charisma, and he had looks for days.

I promise I’m not what anyone is looking for.He’d said that to her earlier, but he had to be full of crap.

The girls he’d been talking to returned, and one handed him a drink. The smile faltered a little on his face as he asked her a question, but returned as he took the drink from her and took a sip. The other girl leaned in and pushed up on her tiptoes, and whispered something in his ear, and Harley didn’t miss it—his hand slid to her waist. He was a total player. It was so interesting to her, watching the mating rituals of hot people.

He nodded at the girls and then pointed over to Harley.

What the hell?

Head lowered, eyes locked on Harley’s, Cash said something to the girls, then waved to them and sauntered Harley’s way.

Oh crap. She patted the table and looked around like a panicked animal looking for a hidey hole. She hadn’t paid her check yet, so she couldn’t just run away, and besides, even if she ran, she wasn’t that fast.

“Pipe down, I’m not trying to stress you out, stalker,” he said easily as he sat across the table from her. “Are they looking?”

Eyes wide, Harley leaned over so she could see around his bigass shoulder muscles, and laid her attention on the two beauties that were still standing by the pool table, looking this way, and shooting daggers from their eyes directly at her.

“Um, yeah. They’re staring at me.”

“Perfect.” He leaned back in his chair and cocked his head. “I told them we’re dating.”

“What?”

“Fix your face. They’ll think we’re fighting.”

“Um, we can’t fight, because we don’t know each other, and I don’t care about your feelings enough to engage in the effort of fighting.”

“Engage in the effort…girl, talk regular. Those two are shifter-chasers, and I know you’re probably a shifter chaser too, but at least you’re over here sulking in a corner instead of trying to fuckin’ marry me.”

“Oh, that sounds like such a hard life, Cash. You have hot women trying to marry you.”

His eyebrows arched up. “Harley is a cool name. Is it short for Harley Davidson?”

“Is Cash short for Cashew?”

His smirk faded. “Okay, that’s a lot.”

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