Page 6 of Before You Can Blink (Rust Canyon #4)

Her eyes dropped to her lap. “Um, both?”

Strange answer, but okay.

“How ’bout I buy you a drink, and you explain how it is that you can be both new to town and only passing through at the same time?”

She shifted to turn sideways on her stool, and her pretty blue eyes scanned my face critically. “You even old enough to drink?”

Well, shit. For a minute, she gave off the impression of being a shy little thing, but damn, if it didn’t rev my engine to learn she hid a flash of fire beneath that meek facade.

I straightened to reach into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. Slipping my ID out of the slot, I handed it over. “See for yourself.”

She let out a surprised huff but accepted the offer of my driver’s license.

Her eyes scanned the text printed on the laminated card before lifting to meet mine. “Made it by the skin of your teeth, Jett Sullivan.”

My knees about damn near buckled at hearing her angelic voice say my full name .

“Three months isn’t cutting it that close,” I argued, my smile never slipping.

She hummed, handing my identification back to me. “Sure seems like it when I’ve got three years on it.”

I wasn’t shocked to learn that she was older—considering it was barely legal for me to purchase alcohol—and I found myself even more intrigued.

“Okay, so we’ve established that I’m twenty-one and you’re twenty-four . . .” I let my words trail off, and she confirmed my calculation with a dip of her chin. “But you’ve still got me at a disadvantage, sweetheart.”

One of her eyebrows rose. “How’s that?”

“You know my name, but I haven’t had the pleasure of learning yours.”

That flush was back, tinting her cheeks the prettiest shade of scarlet. “Daisy Morrison.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Daisy. Now, what are you drinkin’?”

There was zero hesitation in her reply. “Whiskey neat.”

I reared back, surprised and a little impressed by her choice of drink.

Twisting my head around, I called out to Lou further down the bar, “Can we get two whiskey neats down here?”

Lou gave a firm nod. “Coming right up.” He grabbed a bottle of well whiskey off the bottom shelf and poured a generous amount into two lowball glasses before setting them on the counter.

I held my glass up. “To new friends.”

“Friends?” Daisy slid a finger over the rim of her glass. “We’ve just met.”

A chuckle worked its way up my chest, and I leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “If it wasn’t clear, darlin’, I’m trying real hard to get to know you better.”

“Fair enough,” she agreed, lifting her glass to tap against mine before taking a healthy swallow, wincing as the liquor burned a path down her throat .

“Now, tell me, Daisy Morrison. What brings you to Rust Canyon?”

Her pink tongue darted out to catch an errant drop of whiskey, forcing me to bite back a groan. “A job.”

Now we were getting somewhere. “What is it that you do for work?”

“I’m a teacher.”

I pressed a single finger to the bar top. “You teach here?”

“Well, not here .“ Daisy gestured around the bar. “But in Rust Canyon, yes.”

My head cocked to the side. We didn’t get many newcomers to our tiny town in the middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma.

“Pardon me for askin’, but how did you find yourself all the way out here?

I can tell you’re not from around these parts.

” Her voice carried no trace of the twang that everyone who had been born and raised here seemed to have.

She let out a heavy sigh. “It would seem the demand for teachers is lower than the supply of them graduating. I spent a few years working as a substitute, but as time went on, my job search kept expanding west, hoping to find a permanent position with my own classroom. When it reached the Great Plains states, I saw a listing for a full-time teacher needed in Rust Canyon and applied. Now, here I am, hoping it’ll look good to have experience on my resume while I keep searching. I don’t plan to stay here long-term.”

You and me both, honey.

“What grade do you teach?”

“I’m certified for K-6, but right now I’ve got the first graders.”

I chuckled. “Ah, the tiny terrors.”

“They’re actually quite sweet,” Daisy protested.

The same dreamy smile that all the girls got when talking about children curved on her lips, and alarm bells sounded in my brain.

That smile was enough to tell me she wanted babies someday, and that was not something in my plans.

There wasn’t room for a family on the road, and I already knew I’d be a shit father.

I was too selfish, too reckless to take on that responsibility.

If I was smart, I’d call it a night now and walk away before I got in too deep with someone who wanted more than I was willing to give. But something I couldn’t explain kept my ass glued to that barstool beside Daisy, eager to learn everything there was to know about her.

Hours passed by in a blur, and I discovered she was used to uprooting her life.

As the daughter of a naval commander, Daisy had lived in California, Hawaii, and even Japan before settling in Virginia, where she was granted a reprieve from the constant moving.

She shared that the rigors of military life had been too much for her mom, who’d split when Daisy was a kid, so it had been just her and her dad since she was six, and they shared a close relationship.

I joked that, between the two of us, we had a full set of parents.

I cataloged every bit of information about her that she was willing to give. Her favorite flower was tulips. Her favorite color was yellow. She liked animals but had never owned a pet. When she was ten, she had appendicitis, and that was the only time she’d ever been in the hospital.

When I caught her yawning, I checked my watch to find it was closing in on 1 AM. And only then did I realize it was a Wednesday night.

Guilt crashed over me for keeping her out so late when she had work in the morning. “Conversation was so good I lost track of the time.” I pushed off my stool and offered her my hand. “Can I give you a ride home?”

Daisy’s palm slid against mine as she stood. “That’s really not necessary.”

I frowned, wondering if, after the evening we’d shared, she was giving me the brush-off. That didn’t sit quite right with me, and I tried again. “It’s no trouble at all. Town’s small enough that even if you were in the opposite direction of where I’m headed, it wouldn’t be much out of the way. ”

She shook her head. “It’s not that . . .”

“Then what is it?” I pressed.

Sucking in a deep breath, Daisy said on the exhale, “I am home.”

My eyes widened as my brows shot up. “Here? In the bar?”

“Not in the bar. Above it,” she clarified. “I’m renting the apartment upstairs.”

I choked out a disbelieving laugh. “You’re tellin’ me our new schoolteacher is living above the bar?” When she shrugged, I mused, “That’s gotta be . . .”

“Loud?” she supplied. “Oh yeah. Why do you think I was down here? A nightcap is usually enough to dull the noise coming through the floorboards so that I can fall asleep.”

Shit. That was less than ideal.

“But the rent is low enough that I can afford it, and they’re nice enough to let me lease month to month in case I get an offer on a teaching job elsewhere.”

“Gotcha.”

I liked this girl. Not only was she pretty, but she was easy to talk to—hell, she had more words slipping past my lips in one night than I’d uttered in the past few weeks combined.

And since she wasn’t planning on sticking around, we might be able to have a little fun together without things getting too serious.

That’s exactly the kind of situation I was looking for.

“Well, can I at least walk you to your door?” Now that I knew where she was likely to be most evenings, I didn’t feel the need to push for more than a chaste goodnight on her doorstep.

Daisy ducked her head. “Sure. There’s an exterior entrance.” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder toward the rear entrance. “Out back. ”

Placing a hand on her lower back, I ushered her in that direction, sucking in a sharp breath when the chilly fall air blasted me in the face as we stepped outside.

The girl at my side dug around in her purse until she produced a set of keys that caught the glint of the bar’s exterior lighting. Shifting on her feet, she tilted her head toward the door directly behind her. “So, this is me.”

I shoved both hands in my pockets, rocking back on my heels. “It was nice meeting you, Daisy. Maybe our paths will cross again.” I was going to make sure of it.

She offered me a small smile. “Maybe.”

“If it’s all right with you, I’ll just wait out here ’til I hear you lock up.”

“Oh, you don’t have to—“ she began to protest.

“I know I don’t, but it’ll help me sleep easier tonight if I do.” I flashed her a crooked grin.

“Well, all right.” Daisy fit the key into the lock before pushing the door wide open. Gripping the side of the frame, she said, “Goodnight, Jett.”

“Night, Daisy.” I tipped my hat.

The door latched, and a split second later, I heard the telltale sound of the deadbolt sliding into place. Then, I walked to my truck with a pep in my step despite the late hour.

And to think I almost said no when Wade called me up asking if I wanted to grab a beer.

December

“When should we be expecting your lady friend, Jett?” Ma reached around me to set the small roasted turkey in the center of the table .

“No idea what you’re talking about.” I began loading my plate with the Christmas feast she’d prepared for just the two of us. This was our fifth holiday season without Pop, and my chest still got tight any time I dared to glance at his seat at the head of the table, which remained empty.

Dropping onto the chair across from me, my mother narrowed her eyes. “Don’t play that game with me, boy. Whole town’s buzzing about you and the new teacher cozied up at the bar every night.”

Of course they were. Rust Canyon thrived on gossip. Couldn’t exactly blame them; speculating on other people’s lives was about as exciting as it got around here.

“So, is she coming or not?”