“Mir said the bar has a dress code,” Emily said.
“She did?” That lying little…
My sister stuck her tongue out behind Emily.
Impudent, too. But then I got to see Emily decked out. She was pretty anyway, even with her hair messy, glasses skewed and in an old T-shirt and ratty yoga pants. But I didn’t know until now how much more beautiful she could be. I couldn’t believe I’d thought she was a vagrant when we first met. Now I wished I’d brought flowers, because a woman this stunning deserved them.
Emily deserved the best.
Making a mental note to get some later, I extended an arm. “Ready?”
“Yup.” She placed a hand in the crook of my elbow. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Emily
Although I’d spent close to two hours fussing over my hair and makeup, all the while arguing with Mir, the end result was worth it. The look on Killian’s face was the perfect reward for the effort—the darkening of his blue eyes and the soft exhale of breath when he’d said, “Wow.”
Mir was sitting in the back of the SUV, and she was chattering about stuff I wasn’t paying much attention to as Killian drove, but it almost felt like a date. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been out on one. Maybe early last year? Nor could I remember a time when there had been this many butterflies in my belly. I didn’t think I was this excited when I went out with the first-string quarterback from my high school.
The drive to Sam’s Brew was short. Killian jumped out and opened my door for me. Mir knocked on the window and said, “Hey, what about me?”
“You have arms,” he said, then reached over and opened it for her anyway.
My smile widened a bit. You could figure out what kind of man you were dealing with by looking at how he treated his mother and sister. And I liked what I was seeing between Killian and Mir.
The sign outside the squat wooden building read: SAM’S KARAOKE NIGHT! SING, DRINK AND BE MERRY! $4 HOP HOP HOORAY! Judging by the noise coming from inside, there were a lot of people there already. But then, it was a little after seven thirty now.
I took a deep breath. It was inevitable that I’d have to deal with the people in Kingstree at some point. At least I wasn’t facing them all by myself. If I got lucky, they’d be too busy interacting with Killian to notice me much. And at least the rumors about me being a yeti would disappear after this outing.
Killian held the door open; Mir walked in, and I followed. Killian put his hand at my back, the touch warm, and moved inside with me, matching my pace half a step behind.
The interior was dimly lit, with lots of small tables. Three giant TVs hung from walls, each one showing a different sport, although the sound was muted. A pool table occupied one corner, along with a dartboard and a jukebox. In the area opposite the main entrance was a raised stage, big enough for about four to five people to stand and sing, with a drum set in the back.
A middle-aged man in an unbuttoned flannel shirt over a white undershirt and jeans was belting out “We Are the Champions.” Given the accompaniment from the speakers, he was butchering the melody, but nobody seemed to care, since a lot of the patrons were singing along with him.
People in the bar were dressed just as casually as the singer, so that made me overdressed. So was Mir. I should’ve known better than to believe her. Sam’s Brew was a bar in a small town with casual folks.
I leaned over to her. “Dress code?”
“Maybe things have changed since last time I was here.” She shot me a shameless grin.
I snorted, then decided it didn’t matter. She’d probably just wanted to dress up with me, and that was fine. I could use dressing like a normal, responsible adult once in a while. Besides, it had been worth it to knock Killian’s socks off. That was an ego booster.
“Hey, Killian! And Mir! I didn’t think you’d come!” someone said in a loud, growly voice.
“Here to have fun with a friend.” Killian tilted his head my way.
“Oh?” The man’s eyes widened as he checked me out thoroughly. “Who’s this?”
“Emily. My next-door neighbor.”
The man looked like he’d just gotten sucker-punched. “No way. I mean… Yeah. I just… Huh.”
I almost laughed. If he’d seen me around town before, no wonder he couldn’t recognize me. “Nice to meet you,” I said, extending a hand.
“Yeah. I’m Bob. Pleasure.” He held my hand like it was made of glass, then let go slowly.