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“You,” I said, landing my gaze on the girl who had snatched my hot coffee and left me grumpy earlier that morning.
She laughed under her breath and avoided my stare. Her long hair covered part of her face, hiding from me.
Was it on purpose?
The bartender headed over to me. “What can I get for you?” he asked.
“Let me buy you a drink,” Harper said, and she shifted on the barstool to face me.
I wanted to push the long strand of hair out of her eyes and behind her ear, but I kept my hands to myself. “I’ll have a beer,” I said to the bartender. “Whatever’s on tap.”
While I had come up to the bar to order drinks for the table, I found myself interested in the mysterious new girl who had shown up in Breckenridge.
Was she here on vacation like everyone else that didn’t live in the small town?
Harper retrieved her credit card from her wallet and slid it across the bar’s counter to the bartender. “It’s on me. I’ll have a screwdriver.”
The bartender poured my beer first and then went to work on making Harper a screwdriver.
While I wasn’t one to let a woman pay for my drinks or buy me dinner, Harper had gotten under my skin earlier that morning.
The least she could do was apologize, and since that wasn’t happening, I’d settle with a beer on tap.
“Thank you,” I said to her, sipping my beer. The barstool beside Harper was empty.
I glanced back at my friends. They were giving me a thumb’s up gesture when they noticed I spoke with Harper.
“It’s the least I can do after this morning,” Harper said. “I’m dangerous before I’ve had my coffee.”
I sat on the stool and shifted around to face her. “You and me both.”
She wasn’t the only one who dealt in danger, but I held my tongue.
She didn’t need to know about my life, who I was, or what I did for a living. I liked the mysterious factor for once.
Harper knew nothing about me, and I could keep it that way.
The bartender handed Harper her screwdriver, and she sipped the orange liquid, her eyes winced with each taste.
Was she not used to the drink being strong? She had ordered vodka and orange juice.
“What are you doing in Breckenridge?” I asked.
Most tourists came in winter to the resort for skiing and snowboarding. We attracted watersports like rafting and kayaking in the summer, but spring typically was quiet and calm with newcomers.
“I’m here to blow up the town.”