“Hello, Michelle,” I said.
Her beautiful green eyes stared up at me as that cute smattering of freckles along her nose and cheeks glistened under the dim lights of the bar. But even though her eyes were wide, her face was guarded. Unwavering in its emotional state, despite the shock flooding her beautiful, sparkling gaze.
Her clothes were stained and her hair seemed a little stringy, but it didn’t matter to me.
Michelle was still in town, and I could feel her body heat beating against me.
“What are you doing in Stillsville?” she asked.
“Some things have come with Anton’s estate again. I flew back in to take care of them personally,” I said.
“So you did leave.”
The way she said it slapped me across the face. That seemed to happen a lot in this town nowadays.
“I did,” I said.
“Back to your vineyard?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Back to Maria?”
“To my personal assistant, yes.”
I watched her brow tick in confusion as a bit of softness drifted over her features.
“What’s going on with Anton’s estate?” Michelle asked.
“There’s a potential buyer for his home. I’m here to clean it up and get it show ready before they walk through it and make an offer.”
“Ah.”
“Yep.”
“Well, nice to see you,” she said.
Then she moved past me and headed towards the door.
I reached out and grabbed her arm, feeling her body as it stopped. I looked at the profile of her face as she stared hard out the door, refusing to turn and make eye contact with me.
“Could we go somewhere?” I asked. “To talk? Maybe have a bite to eat?”
But before she could respond, I felt my body careening into the wall.
My hand ripped away from Michelle’s smooth skin as my body barreled into the bar wall. People around me gasped and the bouncers were already making their way for the encounter. I looked over at Michelle and saw her eyes wide with terror as she stood there. The sore loser that had lost his money at the hands of his drunken pool game schemes had his arm against my neck while two of his buddies stood around us.
“You were a piece of shit in high school, and you’re a piece of shit now.”
“Pretty sore loser if you ask me,” I said.
“I want my money back, or I’ll mess you up something good, MacDonald.”
“It was just a game of pool. High school was years ago. People change, obviously,” I said.
“Damn bullies like you and Andy never change.”
Damn it. Even after leaving town for an entire month, they still had my name associated with his.