Collide (The Barker Triplets 2)

She tossed the fur wrap onto the bar and grinned, feeling either crazy or happy, she didn’t know which. What she did know, was that the pressure on her chest was gone and she could finally breathe again. She pushed her hair out of her face and then took another long drink. The whiskey burned on its way down, but her tongue was pretty much numb to it after two shots of tequila and two stiff drinks.

Danny paused in front of her, a rag in his beefy hand. She glanced up. “Shit, you lost a crap ton of hair, my friend.”

His eyebrows rose so high it was comical and Bobbi studied him carefully, suddenly feeling talkative. And free. And talkative.

“You know, if you shaved that tuff of feathers off the top, hit the gym and lost that gut, you’d make a hell-of-a lot more in tips.”

His face flushed red, the jowly cheeks puffed up so much that he looked like he was gonna blow. “Who do you think you are girlie?” he rasped. “Coming into my bar, wearing,” he nodded, “that getup and acting like you’re the fucking Queen of England?”

“Danny,” she began slowly, because all of a sudden her tongue felt thick and she had to concentrate hard in order not to slur her words. She couldn’t be drunk already…could she? Had she become that much of a lightweight?

“First off,” she said slowly, “the swearing is another reason you won’t make huge tips and secondly, don’t you know who I am?”

He shook his head and crossed his arms over her chest, his thick bushy eyebrows knitted tight as he frowned at her. “Nope, never seen you before.”

She tipped her glass back and finished it, slamming it down and indicating she wanted another. “Hmm, it’s been a while.” She watched him as he slowly filled her glass again, “I didn’t think I changed that much.”

“Hmph,” was all she got in reply.

“I’m just saying you used to have a lot more hair.”

At his dark look she leaned forward. “The good news is that bald guys are in. Hell, Captain Picard from Star Trek? Hot guy. Oh,” her grin widened, “Georges St. Pierre? You know

the UFC guy? Totally freaking hot.”

His eyes narrowed and he stepped closer. Bobbi knew she should just probably keep her mouth shut. Obviously Danny didn’t give a rat’s ass what she thought, but for some reason her tongue seemed to have a mind of its own. Just like the old days. The ones she’d tried so hard to forget.

She looked up pointedly, her expression intense. “And honestly, you should feel pretty damn good because you’ve got a really, really nice shaped head.”

His frown deepened as one of his hands crept up top, apparently to smooth some of that fuzz he had going on, but she saw the slight caress—the way he cupped his head and she smiled. “According to my Auntie Lacey that means your mama turned you every night when you were in the crib so if you want to thank someone for a head as round as a basketball, you should thank your mom.”

His eyes widened even more.

“Lady, are you for real?”

Christ, but he didn’t get it. She was complimenting him, or at the very least, trying to. “Danny, it’s me. Bobbi Jo. I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.”

Danny took a step back, shaking his head as his eyes traveled from the top of her glossy head, down her face and back up again.

“Bobbi Jo Barker?” he said gruffly. Danny’s eyes narrowed and he rubbed the stubble that graced his chin as his eyes shifted and moved behind her.

Bobbi turned her head but all she could see were a bunch of booths, none of them occupied, save for the one on the end, but it was too dark to see who sat there. She saw faded denim, large Doc’s and a red headed waitress with attitude.

“One and the same,” she answered turning back. She finished her whiskey and nodded for another.

“I think you need to take a break.”

She glanced up at Danny. “Am I causing trouble?”

“Not yet you aren’t but now that I know exactly who you are I’m figuring trouble is on the way if it’s not here already.”

“Christ Danny, since when do you speak in riddles? And you don’t have to worry. I’ve changed. Trouble is no longer my middle name,” she grinned, or at least she attempted too, but with her fuzzy mouth she wasn’t sure she was successful. “Heck, you didn’t even know it was me.”

For a moment her mind wandered and she thought of the church she had left behind. A church filled to the brim with her family and friends. With Gerald’s family as well, including his dried up witch of a mother. But still, had they deserved what she’d just put them through? If she had truly changed would she have done something like that?

Runaway bride, that’s what I am.

“I promise to behave,” she said carefully, pushing her glass toward Danny. She needed to forget how the threads of her life had become so damn tangled. She needed to not feel how hollow and empty she was inside. She needed to be some place else and right now, the only some place else she wanted to be was right smack dab in the middle of Drunksville, USA.