I finish my beer in one swallow.
“Is Reese coming tonight?” Beau asks from across the table.
I grunt in response. Reese has been my best friend since I was a kid. But tonight, tonight is about family. And apparently, a redhead across the bar.
“He’s busy at work or some shit. He might drop in later,” I tell him, but I don’t even look at him as I speak.
Ace grins. “You gonna stare all night or?—”
“Shut up,” I grumble, already pushing back my chair.
Because earlier tonight, riding back across the ranch, I’d watched fireflies flicker through the grass, thinking how the prettiest things wait for dark to show themselves.
How beauty hides until night falls.
And now, watching that woman glow under neon lights in the middle of my bar, every instinct I have settles into one dangerous thought.
Some things look beautiful when night comes.
But they’re still trouble.
And something tells me that the firefly that just walked through the door is about to burn a whole lot brighter than anything I’m ready for.
CHAPTER FIVE
LOLA
The secondI walk into the bar, I know I’m not just being watched. I’m being studied.
This place is loud, packed wall to wall with cowboys in worn jeans and boots, women dancing in denim shorts, a live band hammering out something country and rowdy enough to make the whole floor shake.
And I totally love it. Not having anyone recognize me. Not being forced into boring conversations. This place seems wild, which is exactly what I wanted.
Violet grips my wrist and laughs. “See? Fun.”
I barely hear her because I see him, and my stomach erupts into butterflies.
He’s sitting at a table near the back with three other men, beer bottles in front of them, all of them big, broad, and really intimidating.
And then there’s him.
The man from outside the cafe. The one everyone went quiet around. The one people moved out of the way for without being told.
And now he’s here.
Dark blue eyes fixed on me.
And suddenly, the room feels too warm.
He’s wearing a tight black T-shirt stretched across a chest built like he lifts cattle for fun. Tattoos crawl down both arms, disappearing beneath the sleeves, dark ink against tanned skin. His shoulders look capable of carrying the entire damn world without breaking.
His jaw is rough with stubble, his expression unreadable.
He’s just watching… me.
The men at his table are all handsome in their own ways. But him? He doesn’t just look good. He is gorgeous. The kind of man you see once and never forget. And somehow, his eyes are already on me, which causes the heat to crawl up my neck.
“Earth to Lola.” Violet nudges me. “You good?”