Chapter 4
KENDRA
It’s a few nights later, and only two tables remain in the restaurant.
One is a couple in the corner holding hands over the table. I’m trying not to feel envious of their easy laughter and the way they’ve spent the night talking and touching.
“That’s Kobe and Hailey.”
Arlo catches me watching them and leans against the bar next to me. There’s a note of envy in his voice too. I guess I’m not the only one wishing I had a love like that.
“I served with Kobe. He’s a good guy. They live on the other side of the mountain, near Hope. But we don’t hold that against them.”
The only other table is a group of hipsters that were on the brewery tour this afternoon. They’ve spent the entire evening since in the bar. What started as a sampling of craft beer led to downing pints like water and breaking into song.
“I’ve given them their last orders,” Arlo tells me. “A taxi’s on its way to take them back to the lodge.”
“There’s a taxi service around here?”
Arlo grins. “We’ve got a guy who comes up from Wild. He’s not a registered taxi. Just uses his car occasionally to collect drunks like these.”
I feel a tingle down my spine and look up to find Travis watching me. He’s perched on a stool at the end of the bar with his laptop in front of him. There’s a scowl on his face and Arlo must see it, because he pushes off the bar and away from me.
“Better get back to work,” he mumbles.
Travis has been here all night, helping when needed but mostly tapping away on his keyboard while nursing a beer.
I’ve felt his eyes on me throughout the night, and every time I look up, I’ve caught him looking at me. He doesn’t even bother to look away. He just keeps those intense eyes on me, his gaze following me around the room, making my blood heat and my core ache with longing.
There’s no denying this attraction between us. No one looks at someone like that if they’re not interested.
Every time I feel his eyes on me, my panties dampen and butterflies flutter behind my ribcage. Travis has had this butterfly effect on me ever since I was eighteen years old.
To think that he might like me back has my heart singing in all sorts of ways.
A cheer goes up from the corner where the drunk men are. One of them has spilled his beer on the table, and it drips onto the floor.
With a sigh, I grab a cloth and head over to the table.
“Sorrrry.”
The man has red eyes and he’s slurring. He lurches toward me as I approach the table, and his hand rests on my shoulder.
“What’s your name?”
His breath stinks of beer and I dart forward, trying to get out of his grasp. But I’m not quick enough. His hand slides down my back, and his hand cups my backside.
I freeze at the contact. It’s supposed to be a part of the job, being occasionally groped by drunk men, but I’ve never been able to get used to it.
The sound of a bar stool scrapes behind me, and a moment later Travis is grabbing the guy by the shoulder. The drunk man stumbles sideways, the grin slipping off his face.
“Don’t fucking touch her.”
There’s a hard edge to Travis’s voice that I’ve never heard before. He doesn’t give the man time to apologize before he swings his fist. It connects with the drunk’s nose, and blood spurts everywhere.
“What the fuck, man?” The man clutches his nose as blood drips into his hipster beard.
“Get the fuck out of my bar and don’t come back.”
Travis’s face is red, a vein throbs in his neck, and his eyes glow dangerously. I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s wild in this moment, my protector, and God help me, my panties dampen at the sight of him.
I get out of the way of the men, sure there’s about to be a brawl and powerless to stop the male energy that’s flying around the room.
Arlo comes out from behind the bar and Kobe joins him, standing behind Travis. They’re a formidable sight. Three big, burly ex-military mountain men and two of them wearing bikers’ patches.
The two groups of men face each other, sizing each other up.
I glance at Hailey and she’s standing anxiously at the side of the bar, her hand on her pregnant belly. I go to her and take her hand, ready to flee through the back door if things get heated.
Luckily, there’s one in the group of drunks who’s sober enough to see sense.
“Come on.”
He herds his friends to the door, and as soon as they’re out of the restaurant the tension drops from the room.
“Are you okay?” Travis strides to where I’m standing with Hailey, the fire in his eyes still burning and making my knees weak.
I nod. “It was just a butt squeeze.” I try to make light of it, but my words make Travis growl with anger.
“No one touches you.” The possessiveness of his words make me shudder in a good way. But he’s probably this protective of all his staff.
He lifts his hand to run it through his hair, and there’s blood smeared across his knuckles.
“You’re bleeding.”
He winces as he flexes his fist. I don’t know if it’s his blood or the drunk man’s.
“We need to get this disinfected. Where’s the first aid kit?”
“My office.”
I grab his wrist and lead him out the back and into the office. My heart’s racing from the contact and what just went down. Travis stood up for me and took that asshole out.
I find the first aid kit and pull out a disinfectant wipe to mop up the blood. Then I get another one to clean out the cut.
“This might hurt.”
I dab disinfectant on his cut, but he doesn’t even wince.
“Tough guy, huh?”
Travis smiles. The fire has gone out of his eyes, and he’s back to the affable guy I know.
“You can’t be in the military and then cry over a minor cut.”
It’s not just a minor cut. The knuckles are turning purple, and they’ll be bruised tomorrow.
“I’m gonna bandage this up for you. You need to rest it.”
“Yes, doctor.”
I glance at him, and he’s smiling at me. My gaze darts to his lips, and I look down quickly before I do something stupid like kiss him.
“Why’d you leave the military anyway?”
I haven’t seen Travis since he spent Thanksgiving with us six years ago. It was soon after that that my parents passed away and I hit the road. I heard from Quentin that he was back, but I could never bring myself to see him until now.
“My time was done, and I was needed back here.” He gives me a funny look I can’t interpret. “Where have you been for the last six years anyway?”
It’s my turn to be evasive. “Here, there, everywhere. The east mostly. Seasonal work in Kentucky and waiting tables in South Carolina.”
Anywhere I could get away from the memory of my parents is what I don’t add.
“What brought you back to the mountain?”
You, is what I want to say. It’s been six damn years since I saw him, and he still plagues my dreams every night. No other man has ever lived up to Travis. I came back to see if I still felt the same, hoping that I wouldn’t so I could move on with my life.
“To see if it felt like home yet.”
He tilts his head. “You gonna stay?”
“That depends.” I finish wrapping his hand and secure the bandage. Our heads are inches apart, and my heart’s beating so loud he must hear it.
“On what?”
“If there’s anything worth staying for.”
There. I’ve said it in the most obvious way short of telling him I came back for him.
We stare at each other, our faces inches apart. I can’t breathe.
Travis reaches his good hand up and cups my chin. He leans forward, and my lips part. I’ve been waiting for this kiss my whole damn life, and as he presses his lips to mine, all thought flies out the window. His lips are firm and warm and hungry.
His fingers grasp my neck, pulling me toward him and making my entire body light up. A moan escapes my lips. This is everything I ever dreamed of. Everything my schoolgirl self ever wanted.
The sound of the door to the restaurant swinging open has us jumping apart.
“You seen the mop?” Arlo asks as he swings his body around the office doorframe.
“Yeah.” Travis’s voice is tight with irritation. “In the cleaning cupboard.”
“Not there, boss.”
Travis sighs and heads for the door. He glances back at me, and his eyes are lit up like fire. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
He leaves the office with Arlo and I touch my lips, loving the way they tingle from his touch. A smile creeps across my face.
The kiss was better than I imagined. All these years, I’ve waited for Travis to kiss me. I’ve not let another man get close. I’m a twenty-four year old virgin. Stupid I know, but I’ve saved myself for him, for the only man I’ve ever wanted to touch me.
It seemed too easy to give it to someone else. I thought I’d meet someone who made me feel the way Travis does. But after working plenty of bars, I haven’t met anyone I want to be intimate with.
Buzz Buzz
Travis’s phone vibrates from the table where it’s sitting.
A text from my brother lights up the screen.
You’re keeping an eye on Kendra, right?
I want a full report.
I stare at the words, and my chest tightens. Travis has only been so attentive because Quentin asked him to be.
My stupid girlish fantasy got away from me. Thinking he’s sitting at the bar watching me because he’s attracted to me, but he’s only watching me because my brother asked him to keep an eye on me.
He hit that guy not to stand up for me, but because Quentin wants a full report and he’ll need to tell him what he did to protect his little sister.
And here I am throwing myself at him, practically begging him to kiss me.
Embarrassment prickles my skin. I’ve been so stupid.
I’m a silly girl who doesn’t know a damn thing about men. I’m not going to stick around to embarrass myself anymore.
Grabbing my purse from the locker, I head upstairs to my room.