Chapter 7 #2
“Buttercup?” Sue Ellen squeaked, her face going pale as she looked back and forth between Lincoln and me. “You call her ‘buttercup’?”
Ah damn. From the crushed expression on her face, it was obvious she and Lincoln had hooked up. If I had to guess, she wanted a repeat of whatever they’d done, but he hadn’t felt the same.
“You startin’ your usual shit, Harley?”
At the angry voice, everyone’s attention shifted to the man at Lincoln’s side.
He was just as handsome as the man who’d been the center of my daydreams for the past few months, but in a different way.
He stood maybe an inch shorter than Lincoln, which still made him at least 6’2, if not taller.
He was strong and stocky, built like a football player, and had attractive chocolate-brown hair and deep brown eyes that looked like they could see into a person and read all their thoughts and feelings.
Where Lincoln dressed like a biker, this dude sported a long-sleeve pearlsnap shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. And he rocked that mountain man look just as perfectly as Lincoln rocked the biker look.
“Oh, so now you’re talking to me?” Harley snapped, crossing her arms over her chest in an obvious attempt to enhance her cleavage.
However, when a woman was as skinny as she was they were usually lacking in the chest and behind, which just so happened to be the case with her.
She was long and lithe, but also very close to unnaturally thin, my guess from insane and unnecessary dieting.
“Only came over here to tell you to move along, Harley. And I suggest you do that pretty damn fast.”
“Real nice, Hayes” she bit out, her words dripping with disdain. “Let me guess, now that perfect little Tempie is back in town, you’re done fuckin’ me. Well I got news for you, Officer. She doesn’t want you.”
I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about or even who Tempie was, but by the way the man’s jaw hardened and those brown eyes went wired, it had been the wrong thing to say.
“Woman, clue the fuck in,” he growled. “I was done when the promise of you failed to live up to the reality.”
“And what the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
How she could ask that was beyond me. It seemed pretty clear what he meant by that.
“It means what you gave in the sack wasn’t worth puttin’ up with your goddamn mouth. Move the fuck along, Harley, before you really piss me off.”
A shiver worked its way up my spine, and I found myself actually pitying her. Not because this guy was in the wrong—I didn’t know either of them well enough to have an opinion on that—but because she’d just been dressed down brilliantly in front of what looked like half the town.
Harley stood there for a second longer, looking like she wanted to scratch his eyes out, but wisely decided to give up. Grabbing hold of Sue Ellen’s elbow, she twirled around and started to storm off when Lincoln’s friend spoke again.
“Oh, and just a word of warnin’. You put Tempie’s name in that nasty mouth of yours again and we’re gonna have some serious problems. And that’s not somethin’ you want, princess. Don’t give a shit if your daddy’s mayor or not.”
Harley Madison’s dad was the mayor? Well hell.
She shot one last scathing look over her shoulder in his direction before finally shoving through the crowd of gawkers.
I was so busy staring off at where the two women I didn’t really care for had disappeared to that I jumped at the unexpected brush of Lincoln’s fingertips against my jaw as he tilted my face back up to his. “You didn’t answer me, darlin’. You okay?”
“Uh….” For the love of god, Eden, say actual words! “Y-yeah. I’m good. Wasn’t my first run-in with her, doubt it’ll be my last.”
Lincoln’s forehead wrinkled with displeasure, and his voice took on a growly timbre when he asked, “She started shit with you before?”
“Well, not exactly.”
“She was being ugly to a checkout girl at the market, and Eden jumped to her defense,” Nona exclaimed with far too much excitement in her voice.
The other man let out a smooth, husky chuckle that would have probably made my knees shake if Lincoln hadn’t already turned them to jelly. “You willingly went head-to-head with her? That takes some guts.”
My face drooped into a frown. “She was in the wrong. And she was being mean for no reason at all.”
His mouth pulled up into a smirk that made him even better-looking, but it was the warm, approving smile tugging at Lincoln’s lips that made me melt. “Like I said, guts. You got my respect, sweetheart. I’m Hayes Walker. Nice to meet you.”
I reached out to shake his hand, doing my best to ignore the little thrill the contact sent through my body. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get used to the men in Hope Valley. It was like there was something in the water or the air that made some of the finest men to ever walk the planet.
“You too. I’m Eden.”
Just then a voice rang out from the speakers by the stage, and I turned to see Rory leaning into the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for The Makin Hardware Store Guys!”
Everyone started clapping and hooting as the men on stage went right into a Luke Bryan song that I really liked.
“The Makin Hardware Store Guys?” I leaned in to ask Nona, who was whistling and catcalling at the men on stage.
“Yeah!” she called over the music. “Told you, these are just folks who like to play around as a hobby. They all work at Makin Hardware for their day jobs.”
Lincoln’s fingers brushed against my skin again, only that time it was to take my hand and pull me from my chair. “Come on, buttercup. Dance with me.”
“Oh, but… I can’t.” I tried pulling against his grip as he led me out to the dance floor. “I’m not a very good dancer.”
Giving my hand a jerk, he sent me flying into the solid wall of his chest, wrapping his other arm around my waist as he looked down at me and winked. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll lead, you just hang on and follow. I got you.”
Oh sweet merciful hell.