“That man is a dog.”

I jerked my head around, pretending to be focused on the task at hand instead of watching the sexy jerk who’d been flirting with me all night.

“What?”

The bartender, Ayiesha, gave me a knowing grin. She braced her elbows on the bar and leaned forward. Her black-and-white striped shirt still looked pristine, even though she’d been here for several hours longer than I had, and her makeup was flawless.

She’d been working on teaching me how to mix up basic drinks after someone mentioned to her that I was a quick learner. She told me it was helpful when the servers could mix up a simple rum-and-coke. According to her, it made life easier all around. It made sense to me, and I was always open to learning new things.

I wasn’t too certain I liked that grin, though. “What?” I asked again, feeling blood rush up to color my cheeks. I hadn’t been that obvious when I checked him out, had I?

Although, seriously, who could blame me? He had a face that was model beautiful, saved from being too perfect by a scar on his chin and a faint crook to his nose, making me think it had been broken once. His cheekbones were chiseled and high, like some Greek sculpture had taken his time with crafting each one. And his eyes. Wow.

“That boy was flirting with you all night, girl. I ain’t the only one who saw.” She shook her head so that her thick dreadlocks, secured in a ponytail at her crown, bounced around. “We were taking bets on whether or not you’d fall for his tricks.”

“I said you would.”

I glanced over as a new server joined the conversation. It was Kari, the woman who’d trained me. She looked me up and down, eyes narrowed. “But I’m betting I’m wrong. He’s leaving with that girl instead of waiting for you. What, didn’t he ask for your phone number?”

My face went hot, and I knew from past experience that my cheeks were close to flaming red. “Yeah, he asked.” Squirming uncomfortably now, I added, “Twice. Why?”

“Twice?” Ayiesha laughed, throwing her head back so that the rich, full sound bounced around the room. “Oh, that’s good. That’s really good. But you told him no, both times?”

Shifting around, I jerked up a shoulder. “Well, yeah. I don’t know the guy.”

Kari huffed out a sigh and pulled a wad of cash from her pocket, slamming a five on the bar top. “You win.” She rolled her eyes at the bartender, who was still chuckling. “Again. I’ll go make sure the others know to pay up.”

“You guys were betting on me?” I gaped as Ayiesha collected the bill. It disappeared into her pocket.

“Absolutely.” She beamed at me. “It was a safe bet, in my opinion. You’ve had a bunch of guys in here flirting with you. That sweet, innocent Midwestern vibe of yours hooks them fast. But, like I said, sweet and innocent as you may be, you’re too smart to drop your panties just because a guy has a pretty face.”

My cheeks heated even more. I wasn’t use to this kind of talk. “Um. Thanks, I guess. I need to get these drinks out.”

“Wait.” Ayiesha put a hand on my lower arm. When I hesitated, she leaned forward and lowered her voice. “All joking aside…stay away from that guy. I know he seems nice enough, but trouble follows him everywhere he goes. You’re a nice girl. You don’t need to get mixed up with that shit. Okay?”

I studied Ayiesha and saw nothing but sincerity in her eyes.

“I’m not looking to hook up with anybody right now,” I told her. “I’m just trying to get by.”

It was almost two when I let myself into my little apartment.

It wasn’t in the area I’d hoped to live when I’d moved to Philadelphia back in April, but I’d had to make the choice between splurging or conserving the money left over from the life insurance policies my parents had taken out, and the bookstore’s insurance. I’d only gotten a modest amount for the sale of my parents’ home, but that, combined with the insurance policies, meant I wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while, as long as I was cautious.

Since I’d always been cautious, I’d taken the conservative route and settled for a smaller, simpler apartment in a quiet, safe area in Philadelphia that wasn’t anywhere close to the more historical part of town.

I’d come to like the little place I’d found, as well as the neighborhood. I could take the subway to get around the city and visit all the historical sites I’d read about for so long. At almost any time of day, I could go out and find some new kind of cuisine I’d never had. And the bookstores…

I’d avoided the antique stores in the city, but there were so many other ones. There were more stores within a few miles of my place than there were in the entire town of Eufaula. I’d been blown away by how many bookstores there had been in Oklahoma City when I’d first started college, but Philadelphia made that look like nothing.

It had taken me a while to start visiting them, but once I talked myself into it, I was glad I’d gone. I stuck to the new bookstores. Antique bookstores and used bookstores smelled too similar, and I’d forever associate the smell of old books with my parents.

I had a new book on the small table next to the little loft seat I’d bought at a yard sale back in the spring. Seeing it, I had to debate on whether I had the energy for a few pages and…of course, I did. I might fall asleep out here on the couch again, but if I read until I passed out from exhaustion, what did it matter?

But first, I wanted to change out of my clothes. I smelled like chicken wings, French fries, and onion rings. It had taken me a while to figure out how to get that smell out of my hair, and the right products to get it out of my clothes, but I’d finally succeeded. I wasn’t about to make my couch and bed smell like Stripes, the place where I’d been working since the end of October.

This was my third job since moving out East, and I still wasn’t sure if I was going to stick with it.

For the most part, the people who came into the sports bar were easy to get along with. I worked the evening shift, and the crowd was typically loud and boisterous, more men than women, although it wasn’t just a guy’s place. People came to cheer on their favorite sports teams and grab a drink after work and…flirt with the servers.

I shoved that thought, and the image of the cute guy from earlier, out of my head.

He wasn’t the first one who’d flirted with me since I’d started, and he wouldn’t be the last.

But for some reason, he stuck out in my mind, and I didn’t know why.

There was something in his eyes, I decided.

In the bathroom, I stripped out of my uniform and dumped it into the hamper I kept just for work clothes. After letting the water warm up, I climbed into the shower and set about scrubbing my hair, leaving the shampoo in to help wash the scent of fried food out while I continued to think about the guy.

His eyes were sad. Beautiful…a strange shade of blue that almost looked purple. But sad.

I’d always been a sucker for that sort of thing. If I saw somebody unhappy, I wanted to hug them and make them feel better.

For the past year, though, I’d been too busy working on holding myself together and didn’t much have the energy to worry about anybody else, except in the abstract.

The cynical part of me that had seemed to have been born in the days and weeks after Wylie and I broke up stirred. She whispered to me in a caustic voice, He’s probably playing you. You’re too easy to read for some of these people.

I wanted to shrug it off, pretend like that couldn’t be the case.

But I didn’t entirely believe that myself.

Instead, I decided to ignore my inner, cynical bitch in favor of wine and a book.

That was a more pleasant option anyway.