Beside Matt, the other woman narrowed her eyes at Dara, but Dara didn’t bother with a silent glarefest. Instead, she slipped back into the crowd and headed up to the bar for another drink.
Have at him, sweetheart. He’s not mine.
Something tightened in her chest. She looked back, and sure enough, the woman had gotten Matt’s attention. And was she ever working it—shoulders back, tits out. Dara knew the game and couldn’t blame her for trying, but her stomach knotted at the prospect of things turning out like Matt’s last few dates had gone. The attraction to his wallet, the inevitable realization that she was with a virgin—Dara cringed. If she was honest with herself, she’d have been put off if she’d found out a guy had never had sex. Not as rudely as that bitch he’d gone out with, but she definitely preferred men with experience.
She swallowed as she watched their conversation.
Go easy on him, honey.
The woman’s eyes darted toward Dara, and her lips tightened. So did Dara’s.
Fuck with him, and we’re gonna have a discussion out in the parking lot.
Chapter Seven
“Are you still here?”
Matt turned around to see Beth staring at him. “Yeah, why?”
“Because you’re you, and”—she made an exaggerated gesture of checking her watch—“it’s almost last call?”
“So?” He shrugged. “I was having a good time.”
“Uh-huh.” Her eyebrow arched, and he didn’t have to ask why. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d stayed at Hanson’s Place until closing time, but tonight, before he knew it…
He cleared his throat. “I guess we’d better go. Where’s Dara?”
Beth grimaced. “Last I saw her, she was talking to Paul Worley.”
Matt searched the thinning crowd for that familiar cowboy hat and found it near the bar. Paul had an elbow resting on the back of a barstool, and he was grinning as he said something to Dara, which made her laugh. Matt gritted his teeth. Paul was freshly divorced too, and it was a miracle his ex-wife had ever convinced him to get married in the first place. She’d left him not three months ago, and rumor had it he was already working his way through every single woman’s bed in Aspen Mill. As if he hadn’t already done that during his younger years.
Matt turned to Beth. “I’ll let her know we’re going to take off.”
“Good idea. I’ll pay the tab and meet you two outside.”
He followed her up to the bar, and while she took care of the tab, he approached Paul and Dara.
Paul glanced at him, and his jaw tightened. “Coolidge.” He raised his beer. “Nice riding tonight.” Matt didn’t miss the unspoken now get the fuck out of here.
“Thanks.” Matt looked at Dara. “Beth and I are getting ready to head out. Do you—”
“Oh, is it that time already?” She pulled out her phone. “So it is. Shit.” She turned to Paul and smiled. “Well, it was nice catching up with you.”
“Yeah, you too.” Paul didn’t sound all that sincere. Maybe even a little defeated. “Have a good one, Dara.” He gave Matt a slight nod. “You too, Coolidge.”
“Same to you.”
On the way out, Dara glanced back at Paul. “It’s funny. When we were in high school, I was convinced he would never grow up.”
“And you think he has?”
She snorted. “Oh hell, no. That’s what’s funny—turns out I was right.”
Good. That asshole doesn’t deserve a woman like you.
She went on, “I might’ve been blind enough to douchebags to marry a couple of them, but him? Even my high-school self smelled the vinegar on him.”
Matt wrinkled his nose but chuckled. He held the door open for her, and as she stepped outside, said, “Well, even douchebags have their place. I hear he’s selling used cars in Goldmount.”
Dara giggled. “Why, it sounds like fate, doesn’t it?”
Matt just laughed.
Beth was waiting by the truck, and she eyed them. “What’re you two conspirators snickering about this time?”
“Oh, nothing,” Dara said. “Just amused by how little some people change over the years.”
His sister laughed. “Considering who you were just talking to? Yeah, I’m with you.”
Still chuckling, the three of them piled into the truck. As Matt started the engine, Beth said, “I swear, almost everyone from high school is a normal, well-adjusted adult now. Which is a miracle in itself, considering this town.”
“Amen,” Dara and Matt both muttered.
“But there are definitely exceptions to that rule.” Beth groaned. “I swear, if that man shows up at the farm one more time claiming he’s looking for a horse, I’m going to smoosh his face in a pile of manure.”