Tinsel (Lark Cove #4)(17)

“You really think so?”

“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”

The look on her face said she didn’t really believe me. How was that possible? Logan was one of the most confident people I’d ever met. It rolled off him in waves. But his younger sister was a damn mess of self-doubts.

Was I the only one who saw this? How could that be?

Maybe others didn’t see past the front. They couldn’t look beyond the sexy clothes, fancy hair and stunning face.

But I saw underneath that superficial layer to a woman who was questioning everything at the moment. Thea had mentioned something about a magazine article. Had it shaken her up? Or had it just exposed the insecurities she’d been hiding from the world?

“Huh.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “I guess all those years spent at dinner parties and galas wasn’t for nothing. I’ve seen so many drinks mixed before, maybe I’ve picked up more than I realized.”

“That’s not the reason.”

She was smart. Smarter than she gave herself credit for.

I’d taught a few people how to mix drinks before, and they always needed a few reminders about the ingredients before they had it down. But not Sofia. For her, I only had to list them once.

“Well, I’ll do whatever you need me to tomorrow.” She filled up a glass of water and added a couple lime slices. “But promise to tell me if I get in the way.”

“Promise.”

She smiled and walked around the edge of the bar.

I dropped my eyes, not letting my gaze wander down her legs.

She was wearing a pair of tennis shoes today that I’d seen Thea wear a hundred times. They were forgettable when my boss wore them. But on Sofia, those shoes accentuated the tight fit of her jeans, which were only slightly less sexy than the leather pants she’d been in yesterday. Didn’t she own anything looser?

I studied the fruit tray as she slid onto a stool across from me. I’d cut twice the limes as usual this morning while I’d been doing prep because yesterday I’d noticed that she liked them in her water. Why? Because I was a good bartender, that’s why. It had nothing to do with the woman with another goddamn straw to her mouth.

“How did you learn all of this?” she asked.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

“I’ve got nine days left on my sentence, so you have time.”

I chuckled and filled a water glass of my own. “I grew up on a reservation about two hours away from here. After I graduated high school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I took a job working at a casino in town, dealing poker.”

“Poker,” she grumbled under her breath.

“Not a fan?”

“My ex was a professional poker player.”

“Ah. Well, this was small stakes. One day this guy came in and sat at my table. It was a quiet night so it was just the two of us for a couple hours. We got to talking. Hit it off. He worked at a dude ranch, and before he left, he told me if I ever wanted to try something different to give him a call.”

The business card he’d tossed on the felt table was still in my wallet.

Because of that man and that card, I’d taken a risk. I’d left the reservation despite my family’s protests. I’d taken a job that paid three times what I’d been making at the casino plus free room and board. And I’d had the chance to meet people who lived a different life.

All of the guests at the dude ranch had money. The ones I found the most interesting were those who’d started small. The men and women who’d come from humble beginnings, like mine, and made it big.

Maybe I wouldn’t be a self-made millionaire. But at thirty-two years old, I was working my ass off to hit that goal. And it had all started on that dude ranch, where I’d squirreled away a stash of money that I’d put to work for me these last five years.

“I called him the next day,” I told Sofia. “He got me hooked up with the ranch manager and they hired me to work at the main lodge. Started off washing dishes during the day and dealing cards to the guests at night. The bartender had me help him whenever I didn’t have a game. When he quit about six months later, I took over.”

“How long did you work there?”

“Three years. I was one of the few year-round employees. Most of the ranch’s crew worked in the summer only. So I took on other jobs in the winter besides bartending. Clearing snow. Taking care of animals. Whatever needed to be done.”

It was an awesome job for a guy my age, but once I’d turned twenty-one, I’d been ready to live somewhere on my own. I’d been sick of bunk beds and communal showers.

“Then what?” Sofia propped her elbow on the bar, her chin in her palm. Her attention was locked on me as she soaked up my every word.

It was unsettling to have a woman so refined give me her fullest attention. So much so that I nearly forgot her question.

“I, uh, went back home.”

What was wrong with me? I’d been around rich women before. They’d rotated in and out of the dude ranch week after week, and we got a lot of wealthy out-of-towners in Lark Cove. But unless a woman wanted me for something more than to mix her a drink, I only got the normal courtesies people paid their bartender.

Sofia’s attention made me nervous. The last time I’d felt like this had been for my job interview with Thea and Jackson five years ago.