Law had been shooting pool with a couple of the numerous Jennings boys when Nia Hollister came into the grill.

Silence fell.

Even though music still blasted from the jukebox, there was an odd hush.

He wasn’t fooled into thinking she didn’t notice.  Still, she didn’t seem to pay any attention as she slid onto a bar stool and smiled at Leon, the bartender who had been working behind the counter for as long as Law had lived in Ash.  Law didn’t think Leon had aged a day since Law had met him.  He was also sure Leon hadn’t smile once in those nine years.

“Damn, ya see the ass on her?” Ethan Sheffield muttered.  One of the deputies from the sheriff’s department, he was young, happily married and one of the biggest damn flirts in the whole damn town.

And while his wife understood Ethan’s harmless flirting, Law didn’t want the guy anywhere near Nia. Smacking the deputy in the gut with his cue stick, he said, “Play the next round without me.”

Without waiting for a response, he headed over to the empty stool next to Nia.  It wouldn’t stay empty for long, he knew.  Even as he settled on it, he saw a few familiar faces hovering close by, almost as if they were waiting to see if he struck out.

Screw ‘em.

“Didn’t know you were hanging out around town,” he said as Nia’s gaze slid his way.

“You didn’t ask.”

“True.”  He nodded at Leon and the bartender brought him a beer.  “I’ll tell you, if you’re out looking for wild night life in Ash, you already found the hot spot.”

An amused smirk curled her lips as she glanced around the small bar and grill.  With the music blasting from the juke box, the empty stage, and the booths roughly half-full, it was actually a fairly busy for the small place.  But he knew what it looked like—dead.

He liked it.

“I’ll try to contain my excitement,” she said, leaning in closer.

He told himself it was so she wouldn’t have to raise her voice over the music.   And maybe it was.   It also brought her close enough that he could smell the scent of her skin, her hair…nice…

“You want to get excited, hang around a few weeks.  We start our county fair.  That gets really exciting.”

“Hmmm.  What’s the highlight…?”

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