He shouldered past her and strode over to Dallas. Hannah had no way to stop him. She trailed behind him, kicking herself for giving him the money to stay. If she hadn’t, he’d have likely gone to his parents in Sweetheart for help.
“Hi,” he said to Dallas, extending a hand. “Tim Ryder. You are…”
Dallas glanced at the hand offered to him but kept his own on the table. He toyed with the white bishop. He met Tim’s eyes. “A friend of Hannah’s.”
Tim slowly withdrew his hand. His attitude clearly said,So this is how it’s going to be.Hannah’s heart sank. He liked a challenge. He pulled up a chair and sat down. “A good friend, I take it.”
“I like to think so, but you can take it however you want.”
The two cowboys had figured out that something far more interesting was going down and abandoned their board game. They sipped at their beers as they sat back to watch.
“You’re being an ass,” Hannah said to Tim. It was too late to worry about him making a scene. Her new fear was that the Endeavour cowboys might feel obligated to step in on Dallas’s behalf. For now, they appeared content to wait and see how things would unfold.
“I’d like a beer. You can bring one for your friend, too,” Tim said to her. “It’s on me.”
Hannah looked at Dallas, uncertain as to what she should do and hoping for guidance. The two men were so completely different. On the surface, Tim gave the more polished impression. If a stranger were asked to choose which of the two was more successful, they’d pick him based on first impressions alone. Dallas, on the other hand, looked more like a tousled, decadent god who’d just rolled out of some Greek maiden’s bed. She might have had something to do with that image.
“I’ll take a blond,” Dallas said to her, his eyes calm and expression unreadable.
She wished that she’d told him she’d had coffee with Tim. She should have given him more credit. Instead, she felt as if she’d been caught in a lie. Which, in fact, she had. It was an old habit. She’d often held things back when she didn’t have the mental energy to get into an argument with Tim. He liked to fight whereas she usually—but not always—gave in.
“Surprise me,” Tim said. “You know what I like.” He adjusted the cuffs of his shirt as he examined the board. “How about a game of chess while we drink?” he suggested to Dallas.
“No,” Hannah interrupted. “You can’t have a beer and you aren’t playing chess. I want you to leave.”
For a long moment, she thought he might argue with her. She had no idea how Dallas might react if he did. This moment really drove home that she didn’t know Dallas very well yet. The silence stretched until it settled over the entire room. The two cowboys looked ready to intercede. They watched Dallas closely, taking their cues from him.
“Okay,” Tim finally said, clearly not liking the odds—or the situation. This had to be a new experience for him. He’d been popular in high school and college. He truly enjoyed meeting new people. Marketing had been the perfect career path for him. She’d always felt so lucky that of all the girls he could have had, he’d chosen her. She began to feel sorry for him. Just a little. But then, he threw her under the bus. “How about we meet up for coffee again tomorrow morning?” he suggested, his smile just for her. “You have my number. Call me.”
The cowboys packed up their game and signaled good night on their way out the door behind him. She dropped into his vacated chair.
Dallas didn’t say anything. He simply sat across the table from her and waited while she got the chaos in her head straightened out.
“He called me this morning right after you left. I didn’t check the number,” she blurted out in a rush. “I thought it was you or I wouldn’t have answered the phone. He said he wanted to talk. I knew he wouldn’t give up, and I didn’t want him to come here, so I suggested I meet him for coffee. He told me he lost his job and his new girlfriend left him. He asked if he could borrow enough money to make his car payment and rent, and to hold him over until he can find something new. I didn’t know he’d use the money to find an apartment in Grand. He has a job interview here next week, too.”
He twirled the bishop, making it dance. “How do you feel about all of this?”
“Like I’m being dragged by my heels, kicking and screaming, back to my life the way it was a year ago, except now it’s all twisted and bent and broken,” she confessed. “I don’t want that life anymore,” she hurried on. “I would have told you about coffee”—at least, she hoped she would have—“except you’d already had a bad day and I didn’t want to add to it.”
“How much money did you lend him?”
“A thousand dollars.” She had no reason to feel defensive about it, either. It was her money. She could do whatever she liked with it.
“Is this something I should be worried about?” Dallas asked.
“Absolutely not.”
He continued twirling the bishop. Then, he set it carefully upright on its home square. “Do you want me to stay tonight or would you rather I go home?”
She wanted him to stay. She wanted him to chase her around the apartment and tell her how beautiful she was. She wanted the cuddling and foreplay he owed her. But there was no way she could ask for any of that tonight. Not while she had the past in her head. She and Tim had to settle a few things.
“Would you mind going home?” she asked around the lump in her throat, because she also wanted some space. She’d handled everything so badly and she wouldn’t be able to think it all through if Dallas were with her.
“No.” He leaned across the table, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. “But I will mind if you have coffee with him again,” he added.