The dishwasher of the evening came and grabbed the tub from her.
“Thank you.” She let the door swing back closed and headed to wash her hands.
“I thought you loved gossip.”
“Right, well, you hear enough… .” Her mother loved to gossip, about everyone. Since Jo moved, that was the only thing their conversations seemed to consist of. Months of gossip-heavy phone calls with her mother had sort of killed any love of that particular form of conversation.
“So, what do you think?”
“Well, I’m a dozen yards away from the guy, and I still don’t even know if I’m looking at the right one. But overall, I’d say he’s obviously cute, or else he wouldn’t have gotten your attention.”
Amanda smiled. “He’s cute, all right. He used to compete on the pro rodeo circuit; then he came home when their mama died. He was always a cutie in school, but he’s really filled out. Of course, there’s always the matter of his—”
“Amanda.”
“Yeah?”
Jo picked up another drink ticket from the printer and started finding the bottles listed. “You know I adore you. And you’re my best server.”
“Yup.”
“But if you don’t get your cute little ass from behind my bar and out serving drinks and stop filling my head with gossip I didn’t ask for, I will seriously consider docking your pay.”
Amanda just smiled at the empty threat and filled a tray with the bottles from the order. “Well, don’t mind me. I’m going to go scout out the playing field, see if there are any other contenders.”
“Have fun,” Jo said with a laugh.
Twenty minutes later, a new face settled down in front of her at the bar.
Or, rather, a surprising face. New? Not so much. Not since Amanda made a big-ass deal over him.
“Changing scenery?” Jo leaned over the bar, as much as she could at her height, and smiled.
Trace Muldoon smiled easily. “Change the scenery, change the experience.”
“And exactly what kind of experience are you looking for?”
He shrugged, as if he hadn’t intentionally gotten up and moved to come sit at the bar. “Right now, just a bottle of Bud and some PBR on the screen.” He looked to his left, then his right, and leaned in close as if imparting a secret. “I can’t take watching poker on TV. Boring as hell.”
“Only thing more boring is watching golf,” Jo agreed, pleased when he laughed. Flirting was a part of the job. She’d learned that one early. Flirt, be agreeable and pleasant, and appear attainable, and your tips will soar. Give the Fuck Off vibe and eat ramen. Of course, that didn’t mean flirting ever had to lead anywhere. Not unless she wanted it to. But her friend had already pinned all her hopes on this one, so he was off limits.
And suddenly, it clicked. He’d been in here once before, hitting on her. He’d come in with Red last time as well. Hit on her—an abysmal strikeout, despite the serious attraction. It had been like he’d been out of practice or something. The moves were right, but they hadn’t felt natural. Tonight seemed to be a much different story.
“Where’d your friend go?” She twisted the top off with her bar towel and set the bottle in front of him. “Did he abandon you?”
“Oh, Red. He caught a ride home with one of our guys he saw here. Running home to the little woman.” He winked. “If the little woman weren’t my sister, I’d say more about that. But she could kick my ass if she caught me by surprise, so I’ll just leave it there.”
“A wise man. I like that. I like your sister, too. Peyton.” He nodded. “I admire her.” She propped a hip against the cooler under the bar and watched him a moment. “You used to do the cowboy thing, right?”
“Used to?” He looked mortally offended and placed a hand over his heart. “Sweetheart, ‘cowboy’ is a state of being. Not just a profession.”
“Is that right?”
“Cowboy born,” he said solemnly, as if repeating something serious. “Cowboy bred. I’ll be a cowboy still as I’m buried dead.”
“Ha. Cute. Let’s try that again. You did the whole professional rodeo thing, right?” This time she used air quotes.
“That a city thing?”
“What?”
He mimicked her air quotes. Only on him, they looked ridiculous. Was that how it looked when she did it?
“It’s just a … I don’t know. Never mind, just answer the question.” She swatted at him with her towel and grabbed the next drink ticket.
“I did the rodeo circuit for a while.”