“Plus, I like Caroline’s girl-next-door freckles,” Josh continued, drawing Noah’s attention back to the man sipping his beer across the bar. “They’re cute. Not what you’d expect from a woman who enlisted in the marines.”
“She’s tough,” Noah said, knowing her “cute” looks had attracted their CO too. He’d heard the guys talking about them.
“Yeah, I get that. She pulled her gun on me when I came in carrying a bourbon pecan pie.”
“She’s on edge.” He should probably reconsider letting her have her weapon. Although he doubted that he stood a chance of getting it back now.
“Sounds like she has every reason to be. Then she smiled and put it away when she saw me. You know, I think she liked my pie. Even if she did give it to your dad.”
“She might,” he admitted, still watched Josie out of the corner of his eye. She laughed with the girl sipping on her Bloody Mary.
I should ask her if Caroline’s pulled a gun on anyone else. I should find out if her dad plans to drop by, and make sure he uses the front entrance. I should tell her that I admire her. That I want her. That I know she’s afraid of getting hurt. Shit, I’m scared I’ll be the one to hurt her. But dammit, I want to help her face her fears. . .
He slapped his palm on the bar, silencing the voice in his head. “Hold on a sec.” Then he turned and walked to the service side of the bar. “Josie,” he called.
She glanced over her shoulder, then headed his way. The sway of her hips beneath her fitted black skirt drew his attention south. She’d paired the black mini with a pair of beat-up Converse sneakers and the Big Buck’s Country Bar T-shirt he’d given her the first night. Her hair was still damp from her shower and pulled into a librarian’s bun at the back of her head. She was an oddball mix of comfort and sexy as hell. She stopped on the other side of the wood access panel to the back of the bar.
He leaned forward and dropped his voice. “How about a dinner break when the rest of the staff arrives to man the bar? It’s quiet today.”
Her brow furrowed. “Noah—”
“If we pick something up to go, we could swing by the barn and check on the kittens. You’re responsible for feeding them, remember?”
“I’m not going to forget about my kittens—”
“Josephine,” a deep male voice called.
Aww hell. Noah closed his eyes. He’d know the chief of police’s voice anywhere.
He blinked his eyes open and glanced over his shoulder. Josie’s dad was off duty, judging from his jeans and worn flannel shirt. But Noah was still relieved he’d used the front door—even if it cost him a dinner break in the barn with the man’s daughter.
“JOSEPHINE.”
The deep, male voice carried through the bar. She could count on one hand the number of people who used her full name, and they were both immediate family. She turned and spotted her father. She’d bumped into him earlier, when she’d stopped home to shower. He’d been busy watching golf, and looking like he was headed for a well-deserved nap on his day off.
“Hi, Dad.” She met him halfway to the bar, before he moved closer to the door leading to the back room and the dishwasher determined to aim first and ask questions later.
“Stop in for a drink?” she asked, tearing the handwritten list of orders off her pad.
“Not tonight. I came to see you.”
“Oh?” Her hand clutched the torn slip of paper.
“Does your boss give you a dinner break?” He nodded toward Noah, who had turned away to pour a beer behind the bar but remained within earshot.
Only on the days when he wants to visit the barn.
“You bet, Chief Fairmore,” Noah called as he turned off the tap. He delivered the beer and returned to the middle of her bar, not far from her dad. “We’re slow tonight, and I know you don’t get much time off from keeping our town safe, so take your time. Enjoy dinner.”
“Thanks.” But her father moved closer to the bar instead of the door. She followed and slipped the drinks orders across the polished wooden surface to Noah, who glanced at them briefly before looking up at her dad.
“Have you heard from Dominic?” her father asked.
“He called the other night,” Noah said, but his expression didn’t offer a hint of emotion.
“While he was stateside?” Her father sp
oke as if he were conducting an interrogation.