Chapter 1
Haven
I pull at the hem of my skirt and sigh loudly in the almost empty bar. It won’t get busy for probably another hour so I thought I’d get some studying done, but it’s proving to be a hopeless case.
“Quit pulling at your skirt. You look great!”
I slam the textbook closed. There’s no sense staring at the same page over and over. I can’t focus anyway. I turn and look at Emmaline, who’s sitting at the other end of the bar. She of course has to say I look great since she helped me pick out some new clothes. I pull at my skirt and look down at myself. “No, I look like a big girl in a too small skirt.”
Emmaline laughs and walks around to join me behind the bar. Her fiancé, Theo, owns On the Rocks, and she and I have become friends. “No, you look great. I wouldn’t lie to you. Haven, you’re a knockout.”
I open my mouth to interrupt her, and she raises her hand up to stop me. “Hear me out. Yes, you are a curvy woman, but all those loose-fitting clothes just made you look bigger. These—" she says, pointing at my fitted T-shirt and denim skirt, “show off your body. I’m not kidding, just you wait and see. You look amazing!”
She’s looking at me with a stern expression on her face, and I know better than to argue with her. Plus, it won’t do me any good anyway. I’ve bought the clothes. Heck, Emmaline helped me go through my closet, and she got rid of almost all my old, comfortable clothes.
“Ready, babe?” Theo calls as he walks out of the back office.
Emmaline gets a huge smile on her face. “I’ll be right there.”
She wraps me in a hug and pulls back to look at me. “Trust me?”
I roll my eyes and smile. “I have to. You did throw out most of my clothes.”
She laughs and then hugs me again before leaving with Theo.
I shouldn’t be jealous of their relationship, but I am. I’d love to have a man look at me the way Theo looks at her. But well, not just any man. Parker.
I close my eyes and shake my head. I can barely go an hour without thinking of Parker. We’ve been best friends forever. Well, since grade school when he punched a boy for pulling my hair. After that, we were inseparable. I literally followed him everywhere. As we grew up, the differences between us became even more obvious. He was the captain of the football team, most popular boy in school, and could date any woman he wanted.
Then there’s me. I was voted class nerd in high school—unofficially, of course. I went to libraries instead of dances, and I have more curves than Parker’s last three girlfriends combined.
In high school, I kept waiting for him to friend-dump me. It’s obvious I didn’t fit in with his jock friends or cheerleader groupies, but Parker didn’t care. He always chose me...
Now he’s gone. Oh, we knew it was coming. He’s wanted to join the military since he was young, and as soon as he graduated high school, that’s exactly what he did. He turned down countless football scholarships and joined the Army.
That was three years ago.
We still talk when we can, mostly by email. I’ve seen him a few times, and each time I worry that things are going to be different between us, but they never are. We’re always able to pick up right where we left off. Hopefully, it’s like that next week when he comes in for leave.
“Can I get my usual?”
I hear Frank before I see him. I turn toward the fountain and grab a cold mug to fill up with draft beer when I finally look at him. He’s a regular, and I can count on him to show up every day around this time.
I walk toward him with the beer in hand. His gaze goes down my body and back up again before he swallows, staring at me wide-eyed. “Haven?”
I set the beer in front of him and laugh. “Really, Frank? You know it’s me.”
He starts to stutter. “Yeah, but I mean I didn’t know you had legs and... uh... uh....”
He’s looking at my breasts. I’ll give it to him, he’s trying not to, but he keeps coming back to them before finally grabbing the mug in front of him and taking a big swig.
I put my hand on my hip and look at him. Maybe Emmaline was right. “Yes, I have legs.”
He swallows, nodding.
I wait for him to say something else, but when he doesn’t, I just shrug. “Okay, well let me know when you need another.”
I start to walk away. Maybe I can study a little more before more people arrive. The other bartenders just walked in, and I know I can get in a little more studying if I try and focus.