Free Diamonds and Dust (Lonesome Point, Texas) by Jessie Evans Page A

for a heart-stopping moment Tulsi thought he was going to kiss her.
    Instead, he whispered, “Don’t look at me like that.”
    “Like what?” she asked, just as Clint, the bartender, materialized behind her.
    “Hey, Tulsi, can I get you two something to drink?”
    “Two whiskey shots and a draft beer chaser, a pale ale if you’ve got it,” Pike said, not breaking eye contact with Tulsi. He waited until Clint moved away down the bar to fix the drinks before he continued. “You know like what. Don’t play games with me.”
    She swallowed hard. “I’m not playing games. I’m… I just…”
    “Just what?” He leaned closer, until she could feel his breath warming her lips, sending a tremor of need rocking through her from head to toe.
    She didn’t want to talk; she wanted to taste him. She wanted her tongue stroking against his and his big hands roaming over her body so much that it felt like she’d die if she didn’t get to be that close to him. Just one more time. Just once before he went away and left her behind all over again.
    “Just what,” Pike repeated softly.
    “I can’t help it,” she said, her longing so thick it felt like she was choking on it. “I’m sorry, but I j-just c-can’t.”
    Pike’s gaze softened as he lifted one hand, brushing his knuckles lightly from her cheekbone to the point of her chin, stealing her breath away. “Relax, okay? It’s just me. You know I would never hurt you.”
    Her lips parted to say that he’d already hurt her, hurt her so badly that she’d done something unforgivable, but before she could speak, Clint set the drinks down on the bar beside her with a loud thunk thunk thunk .
    “Two whiskey shots and a pale ale,” he said, an edge in his usually friendly voice. “You want me to start a tab, Mr. Sherman?”
    “No, I’ll pay now.” Pike shifted to pull his wallet from his jeans pocket, putting some much-needed distance between them and giving Tulsi a chance to pull herself together.
    She couldn’t afford the luxury of easing her conscience. She couldn’t let her mouth run without thinking or give Pike any reason to suspect the truth.
    “That’ll be fifteen dollars even,” Clint said, but he didn’t reach for the credit card when Pike laid it on the bar. “You okay, Tulsi? You seem a little shook up.”
    “Oh no, I’m fine.” Tulsi turned on her stool, forcing a smile for the forty-something bartender who had always gone out of his way to look after her and her girlfriends when they came into the saloon.
    “Are you sure?” Clint smiled, but the warmth in his eyes faded as his gaze shifted to Pike. “I can call someone for you if you need me to.”
    Tulsi shook her head. “Everything is fine, but thank you, Clint. You’re one of the good ones.”
    “You too, sweetheart,” he said gruffly, his skin flushing beneath his whiskered cheeks. “Just let me know if you need anything else. Anything at all.”
    Tulsi nodded but kept her gaze on the bar, as he moved away, and Pike claimed the stool beside hers. She had to get a grip. She couldn’t give away her secrets or make a scene with Pike in a bar in the middle of the day. Someone would see and go tattling to her dad the way they had the night she went line dancing with Bubba’s fiancée, Marisol. Daddy was still making jabs at dinner about the spectacle Tulsi had made of herself, his attitude making it clear he equated dancing in public with working a pole down at the seedy strip club near the border.
    She knew he was being ridiculous, but she hated the way he’d looked at her the day he found out about the dancing. She didn’t know if her heart could take another bruising like that one, at least not until her mom got back into town to counter Daddy’s disapproval with a hug and a whisper to “ignore it, honey,” in the kitchen after supper.
    “Looks like you’ve got no shortage of protectors,” Pike said, lifting his whiskey shot and downing it with a twist of his wrist.