I didn’t give Flynn my name on purpose; I didn’t want to get to know him. He was far too handsome, and charming, in an awkward and sexy way. It was obvious that he wanted to know more about me, and I couldn’t allow myself the luxury of a distraction like that. It was time for me to stop wasting my time on flings - and men in general - who really had nothing to offer besides good looks. Maybe he was a nice guy, but I wasn’t going to let that derail me from what I was in Red Springs to do. And I was only going to be in town for the summer, so I didn’t have any time to waste.

I made it back to the house and assessed the projects before me. The night before, I had explored some more and uncovered all of the furniture in the house. I didn’t want to sleep in the bed I’d found in the upstairs; it just seemed weird and inappropriate. I decided that sleeping on the air mattress I brought with me was the way to go, and ended up staring at the ceiling most of the night. It seemed that my grandmother didn’t have anyone to clean up the house, and all of her belongings were still in it.

I wished I had known that packing up that house, sorting through everything, and finding a place for it all to go was going to be part of my summer project. That was going to be a far larger task than I’d anticipated, and I made a mental note to get boxes. I figured I could sell most of the furniture, or make some kind of a deal with an antique dealer to take it all. But, in the meantime, the first order of the day was to fix that porch swing. I wanted to be able to sit on it in the evenings and read, write, or just relax. I had all the supplies I needed, and I was a smart girl. How hard could it be?

I dragged the chain from my car; it was heavier than I’d expected. Annoyed that the men were probably right and I’d need some help with this, my irritation took over and I committed to getting that damn swing up before bed. It was already afternoon. I had no idea how the day had gotten away from me. Spending all this time thinking, though, was burning daylight.

I grabbed all my new tools and got to work. As I unscrewed the old chain from the swing, lost in my work, I started to feel a bit more free. Not a particularly handy person, I was proud of myself for undertaking the whole house, but this porch swing would be my first victory.

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the swing had other plans. I was able to secure the new chain to the bench itself as it sat on the porch. However, I had not only failed to realize a ladder would be necessary to get it up high enough to actually attach to the roof of the porch, the heavy chain, attached to the chair, was simply too heavy for me to lift up into the air. Thoughts of Flynn hanging the swing for me crossed my mind. He looked like he was handy. I mean, he was hanging out in the hardware store, and clearly he knew the owner. It had taken me over two hours just to remove the old chain and attach the new one. I hoped that every project wasn’t going to be a problem like this one. I only had the summer to get this sorted out before I had to go back to school, and I didn’t have the money saved to just pay someone to do all of it for me.

I had a contractor coming the next morning. My friend Abigail, back home, was an architect, and she reached out to a fellow architect here to get me a recommendation. It seemed there were not that many to choose from, way out here to begin with. I neglected to get his name, but I wasn’t too concerned about it. The small-town vibe here was nice, and I’m sure it was some old guy who had a bunch of people come and handle the stuff I needed done, that I couldn’t do myself.

Hoping it wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg, I decided I needed to eat, and I could definitely use a drink. After showering off the chipped paint, sawdust, and the grime of the day, I concluded that there was no way I was going to go shopping for groceries, and I’d just take myself out for a beer and a burger at the local watering hole. I was going to be here all summer anyway, so I might as well get to know the town a little bit. I grabbed my eReader and tossed it in my bag before heading out.

A casual town, I didn’t get all dressed up. After all, I didn’t really know what to expect, but thus far, everything seemed pretty mom and pop shop to me, and I didn’t want to stick out. So, with dark jeans and a white t-shirt on, I ventured out on my own. Getting used to the idea of being alone had been a struggle for me at first, but I’d become accustomed to taking myself out to dinner every now and again, and the people-watching was quite nice.

When I arrived at the bar and grill, there were a few people already there, but it wasn’t packed. An adorable young thing greeted me as I walked in.

“Hi there, miss, can I help you?” she asked me, her blonde ponytail bouncing with every word.

“Hello. I’m here for beer and a burger; this a good place for that?” I asked, glancing around at the decor, which was a cross between a hunter’s paradise, with antler chandeliers and all, and a rustic diner. It was quite the mix, and there were framed photographs everywhere.

“Yes ma’am, it sure is. Are you here alone, or is it a table for two?” She looked around me, as if I was hiding someone.

“Just me, kid. You can seat me at the bar, if that works.” I knew that kids like her never expected to see people under the age of eighty dining alone, but it was pretty common in the city. Generally, establishments expected you to sit at the bar and not take up a table if you were by yourself, and I’d also gotten used to that.

“You can sit anywhere you want.” She waved her pink polished fingers around the wide open room.

“The bar is fine.” I offered a closed-lip smile and walked in that direction without her.

“Ok, Flynn will take care of you there.” I jolted at the name.

“Flynn?” I asked, realizing she would have no idea why I was surprised.

“Yea, Flynn Healy is filling in for Mark, the usual bartender. His wife went into labor today.” She smiled, assuming I knew these people. “Do you know Flynn?”

Snapping myself back into the moment, that had begun turning to a daydream about Flynn’s sparkling brown eyes and killer smile, I replied, “No it’s just an unusual name, is all. I can seat myself at the bar.”

“Ok ma’am. If you need anything, just holler.” She walked off to help the lone waitress I’d seen with her tables.

I chuckled to myself, knowing full well that there couldn’t possibly be more than one Flynn in this small town, and wondered if it was really that small of a town, or if there was a reason we kept meeting each other in random places. In any event, I was starving, so I perched myself on a barstool and looked around for the fill-in bartender.

As he came out of the back, wiping his hands on a bar towel, he met my eyes almost immediately, causing me to let out a small laugh. I didn’t mean to flirt, I really didn’t. But he was wearing a black t-shirt that hugged his biceps just right, and blue jeans that gave just enough of an outline below the belt to stir a little something up inside me. He was fucking gorgeous; and since I wanted nothing to do with men, of course he was popping up everywhere I went. It was officially comical at that point.

“Well hello there, stranger, what can I get for you?” He set the towel down and leaned toward me over the bar, his sultry voice mesmerizing me.

“Are you stalking me?” I tried to joke.

“Well, since you showed up here, I could ask you the same question, couldn’t I?” He smirked.

He had me on that one. “Hmm, I suppose you’re right. Maybe it’s just a smaller town than I expected it to be. Could I please have a vodka tonic? Any vodka will do.”

“Coming right up.” He turned to make my drink, letting me take in his fantastic ass. I felt like I was about to be sitting in my own puddle, and was beginning to care less and less about my ‘no men’ policy. “So, how did your project go today?”

Not wanting to admit my defeat, I totally lied, “It went great. Super easy too.”

“That’s good to hear.” He placed my cocktail in front of me and leaned over the bar again. “So, you’re not from around here. Are you going to give me your name?”

“What makes you think I’m not from around here?” I attempted to be coy.

“I know everyone from around here. And you, are definitely not from around here,” he chuckled. I wasn’t sure if I should be offended, or if it was just a matter of fact.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You know every girl in this town?” I turned it back on him. After all, he probably was a player anyway. I mean nobody that hot isn’t, right?

He laughed at me; a smooth laugh. He knew I was fishing. “I grew up in this town. So yes, yes I do know every girl around here. I either went to school with them, or I attended their wedding to one of my buddies, or they’re the mom or sister of one of my buddies. That is how I know you’re not from around here. Believe me, I’d remember.” He walked away again, to help other customers, and while I wanted to pull out my book to read and get some food, I was mesmerized watching him instead.

As I sipped my cocktail, and felt the stress of the stupid porch swing project fade away, I second-guessed my resolve to stay away from this guy. When he came back, I was ready for another drink, which he brought me without asking.

“So, are you going to tell me anything about yourself? Or do I have to keep guessing, and running into you all over town?” he asked.

“Well, I like burgers,” I grinned. I was famished and before I let him get me drunk, I knew I needed to eat something.

“I happen to know a great place that serves burgers. How do you like yours?” he played along, smiling.

“I like it well done with lots of cheese, and mustard, and a sitting next to a pile of french fries,” I replied.

“I can make that happen for you. Sit tight.” He disappeared into the back, and when he returned, he set some silverware in front of me.

“The girl at the front said that you were filling in for someone tonight. Is this where you normally work?”

“Ah, so you get to ask me questions, but I don’t even know your name?” he replied playfully.

Still determined I wasn’t going to give him my name just yet, I nodded. “Yeah, that’s how this works; you didn’t know?”

He laughed again, shaking his head. “Ok, have it your way… for now. To answer your question, no I do not work here normally. The owner is a friend of mine, and his wife went into labor. He was planning to just close up and kick everyone out for the night, but I offered to tend to the bar and close up for him instead.”

“Ah, interesting,” I said, taking another sip of my drink and feeling it start to go to my head. Don’t flirt back, don’t flirt back, don’t flirt back, I repeated in my head, over and over again. “So, tell me more about yourself, Flynn.” My body reacted to him, even if my brain was saying I should retreat, so I decided to relax and enjoy his company, if only for the night.