“I haven’t always avoided my feelings. Just when they try to ruin my mood.”
Maya laughed at that and tilted her shot glass for a toast. “I hear that.”
Kate downed her shot and finally felt a buzz set in. “Sorry, Jess, but you know I’m never going to be Team Talk About Your Feelings, aka Team Romance. We all decided that a long time ago.”
Sunbathing on the deck of Jessica’s family’s fishing boat, they used to discuss things like destiny and soulmates. Jess had been a believer, Kate the cynic, and Maya the neutral observer.
“People change,” Jessica insisted. “I know I’ll win you over someday. I mean, I won’t. A man will. It just has to be the right man.”
“The right man?” Kate gestured to the passing waitress for another shot. “The right man is the one who’s going to help me forget my crappy life tonight. Like whoever’s on that bass. He’s already making me forget. Anyone who can play like that can make me forget all kinds of things.”
Maya and Jessica exchanged a glance filled with something Kate couldn’t quite identify. “The bassist? Do you know who he is?” Maya asked casually.
“Doesn’t matter who he is. I don’t want to know. I’m Team Sex, remember?”
“What if he’s eighty with a beard down to his waist?” Maya teased.
Kate twisted around to peer through the crowd toward the stage. Too many people were in the way, so she stood up. Even though she was on the tall side, all she could see over the sea of bobbing heads was the neck of the bass—a hand working the strings—and a black cowboy hat.
Okay, she could work with a black cowboy hat. And that hand moved so smoothly across the strings. It was a large hand, with long fingers and a wide spread. A man’s hand.
And then the crowd shifted just enough so she could see all of him. He was a big guy, just…big. Wide in the shoulders and long in the legs. Tall and powerful and husky and fit and tall. He played standing up, bent over the upright bass, pouring all of his attention into the strings he was plucking and slapping. Along with the black cowboy hat, he wore a black t-shirt and black jeans.
She couldn’t see his face under the cowboy hat, but just then he looked up and—pow. He grinned at her—or maybe it was at the crowd in general—the kind of smile that spread across his entire face and made her want to do wild and naughty things to him.
And wait—was that—holy shit! She almost hadn’t recognized him.
She dropped back down on her seat. “I do know that guy. I mean, I don’t know him, but he pulled me out of the mud earlier today.”
“It’s destiny,” Jessica said excitedly. “Clearly there’s something going on here. He pulls you out of the mud. Then he pulls you out of your bad mood.”
“You should talk to him,” Maya agreed.
“Are you guys trying to get me into trouble?”
“At least it’s the good kind of trouble.” Maya and Jessica laughed and exchanged a high five.
Kate sucked down more tequila. It was kind of odd that her friends weren’t warning her away from the bassist. Normally they would because he was a stranger. Except he wasn’t totally a stranger, since he’d already rescued her from the mud. But maybe they agreed with her that she needed some fun. Or maybe the tequila was blurring things just enough so she didn’t care.
Was he from Oregon, like the rest of the band? If so, what had he been doing on the muddy back roads of Lost Harbor? Visiting friends or family? Sightseeing?
If he was from Oregon, what was the harm? There would be no chance of running into him at the bank or the grocery store or Gretel’s Cafe.
She could follow Maya’s suggestion and go ask him.
She hadn’t come out tonight for anything other than seeing Maya and Jessica. But life had been very challenging lately, and maybe she really did need a distraction.
Like dancing.
“Come on, you guys. Remember when we used to secretly borrow Jess’s dad’s car and drive up here to go dancing? Why are we just sitting here! Let’s move!”
She jumped to her feet and ditched her jacket.
Maya shoved her chair back and rose to her feet, already moving to the beat. “So long as no one takes any damn selfies.”
“Why are you even worried? You don’t look anything like your usual self. I didn’t even