“I can get it.”
“I know you can. Humor me.”
She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed my lips. “Thank you.”
It was hard not to say I love you. But it wasn’t the right time—not yet. We needed to get away. Forget all this. I’d figure out how we could steal some time to ourselves after I got this other mess fixed.
I took her hand and led her out the back way. The town was quiet. The cruise ships had departed, leaving only the locals and those few tourists who were passing through town. Tomorrow was the night the ships stayed longer, which made everything busier.
As we stepped into my place, I saw there were a few things lying around. I picked up a shirt and threw it into the laundry. “Make yourself at home. I’ll hurry.”
“I may take a bath and relax. Try to sort my thoughts.”
She was going to be naked in my bathroom. My dick hardened. Nothing would happen tonight, but I wanted her to fall asleep in my arms. “Yeah, I’ll hurry.”
She giggled. Outside the door, I waited until I heard the lock engage. Jogging down the stairs, I pulled out my phone to call Reeser.
He picked up on the second ring. “I was expecting your call. Sorry, man. That was a shitty thing for Hennington to do.”
“I heard you were looking at becoming a distributor.”
“Yeah, I’ve started small, and I’m pretty full. I’ll beat Hennington’s rates.” Reeser was a good, honest guy.
“Sounds good. Can you handle my food and alcohol?”
“Yeah, I have the schedule. I’ll have my guys pick it up when I grab another customer’s load. We’ll split those fees since there’ll be full truckloads.”
“Perfect. Thanks, Reeser. I’ll tell the guys here.”
“Sounds great. After this first round, if you’re satisfied, any referrals would be appreciated.”
“Of course.”
I walked into the bar area. Crete was wiping down the dark wood counter. A couple of people sat at a table, drinking beers. Crete poured two beers from the tap and slid a mug my way. It was a local IPA that had a hearty wheat flavor.
“It’s handled. Reeser will be our new guy.”
“Good to know.”
A man I’d never seen before sat at the bar. He was clean-cut and reminded me of Hollis. “Whiskey, neat. The most expensive thing you have.”
Or not. Hollis was rich, but he didn’t flaunt it like this man.
“Coming right up.”
Without missing a beat, Crete poured the glass and slid it his way. The man downed it. “Keep them coming.”
I liked to get a sense of the new people in town when they came into the bar. If this guy was going to drink himself into oblivion, then cause issues, I was going to stop it now. The last thing I needed was to go upstairs to Lex only to have to come back down. “Rough day?”
“Yeah, some days things just don’t go your way.”
“Hear, hear.” I held up my beer. “I’m Drake.”
“Drake Foster?”
It threw me off that he knew my full name. Visitors rarely did. “Yeah. I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before.”
He thrust out his hand. “I apologize for my lack of manners. I’m Dixon Hennington, Chazz’s brother.”