Chapter Three
“Tell us againhow the hot new base manager blew you off,” Dallas said. “That story will never get old.”
The three friends were having a late dinner in Lou’s Pub, a favorite spot for the locals. Rumor had it that two Irish brothers, the original founders of Grand, used to bootleg their homemade whiskey to the army from the building back in the mid-1800s. The pub was dark, it had game tables set up at the back of the room where old men played chess during the day, as well as a dartboard that was currently in use by a couple of twenty-somethings who had nothing better to do with their evening. It smelled of stale beer, chewing tobacco, and horses, with a hint of pine-scented air freshener thrown in to keep the ladies happy.
Dan didn’t know why he’d even bothered mentioning Jazz to his friends. It had to be the masochist in him, because it wasn’t as if they were going to help boost his self-esteem. “I didn’t ask her out. I invited her to dinner so we could discuss base operations and because she’s alone out at the airfield. Besides, what makes you think she’s hot?”
Dallas smirked and took a chug of his beer. “The invitation to dinner. So, is she?”
Definitely. And, eventually, they’d find that out for themselves. Dan didn’t need to make it easy for them, though.
“Hell no. She’s yellow-toothed, tattooed, and built like a linebacker. She has a face like a horse.”
Ryan carefully selected a french fry off his plate and dredged it through a puddle of ketchup. “You tried to impress her and it backfired on you, huh? Face it, Dan. You’re losing your touch.”
He had to agree. He couldn’t say for certain what he’d done to put her off, but clearly, he’d done something, because after a seven-hour drive from Missoula to a tiny backwater most people had never heard of, she couldn’t possibly “already have plans.”
“It’s more like she was so wowed by my charm she couldn’t trust herself to behave professionally around me. Luckily for you two, you don’t know what it’s like to have women throw themselves at you. It’s a curse.” He sighed. “Ah, well. Regardless of what she looks like, or how attracted she is to me, I’m going to have to spend money fixing the base up a bit more. She can’t be using the same facilities as the men for the whole season.”
“Why not?” Dallas asked. He took a bite of his burger, closing his eyes with a blissful expression.
Dallas was the definite free spirit of the group. He’d earned his way through medical school as a stripper and his dance moves were killer. He believed in live and let live. If something felt right, it should be done. And yet he was practical to the core.
“Because she’s a woman,” Dan said.
Dallas swallowed his mouthful of food. “So? She chose her career. It’s not like there’s a ladies’ room set aside for her use when she’s fighting forest fires.”
“See? That attitude right there is why women don’t throw themselves at you. Just because there’s no ladies’ room in the bushes doesn’t mean she can’t have one at the station. Since we own the airfield, we should at least make sure the facilities are comfortable.”
“You weren’t too worried about it until a woman showed up.”
“Dallie’s right,” Ryan agreed, jumping in and nodding sagely. “You were the one who said we should focus on getting the base functional and worry about the little things later.” He selected another fry from his plate. “Maybe someone warned her about your reputation for ‘charm.’”
Dan’s eye twitched. He conceded he might have a bit of a reputation around Grand, but in all fairness, he made it clear upfront to the women he dated that he wasn’t interested in anything more than fun. Besides, since he and his friends had taken on the Endeavour, dating had become one more chore and he was usually too tired to put in the required effort.
Before he could come up with a witty response, the front door opened and no further comment was needed.
“That can’t be the new base manager,” Dallas said to Ryan. “She’s not yellow-toothed, horse-faced, or built like a linebacker, although I’d be happy to take a closer look to check for any tattoos.”
“Mercy,” Ryan said.
Dan had his back to the door so he turned to see who had come in.
The heavy wooden door swung shut behind Jazz. She paused to check out the near-empty pub. She wore her leather jacket and carried her motorcycle helmet under her arm, but she’d switched to jeans and boots. If anything, the tight jeans made her legs look even longer. Her bright blond hair shone beneath the dim backdrop of emergency lighting over the door.
Mercy, indeed. Dan rubbed his twitchy eye.
Her gaze swept the room and settled on him. A faint flush crept up her throat. The situation struck Dan as funny. Dining at Lou’s alone must be her “other plans,” because unless she was here to play darts, there was no one else for her to meet up with.
He really had made quite the impression on her.
There was only one cure for awkward, and that was to deal with it head-on. He half-rose and raised an arm to flag her over. “Jazz,” he called out, nice and friendly. “Would you care to join us?”
“Great strategy,” Dallas whispered through the smile on his lips. “Makes it hard for her to give you the brush-off a second time. There are witnesses and now she’s forced to be polite.”
“Ha-ha,” Dan muttered from the side of his mouth. He was trying to mend a wrong impression, not turn it to rights.
Jazz made the slow walk to their table, her steps lacking enthusiasm, and he was sorry he’d asked her to join them. He should have let her pick a table, then gone over to say hello and left her alone, because he got the strong sense it was what she would have preferred.