Collide Read Online Free Page A

had to concentrate hard in
order not to slur her words. She couldn’t be drunk already…could
she? Had she become that much of a lightweight?
    “First off,” she said slowly, “the swearing
is another reason you won’t make huge tips and secondly, don’t you
know who I am?”
    He shook his head and crossed his arms over
her chest, his thick bushy eyebrows knitted tight as he frowned at
her. “Nope, never seen you before.”
    She tipped her glass back and finished it,
slamming it down and indicating she wanted another. “Hmm, it’s been
a while.” She watched him as he slowly filled her glass again, “I
didn’t think I changed that much.”
    “Hmph,” was all she got in reply.
    “I’m just saying you used to have a lot more
hair.”
    At his dark look she leaned forward. “The
good news is that bald guys are in. Hell, Captain Picard from Star
Trek? Hot guy. Oh,” her grin widened, “Georges St. Pierre? You know
the UFC guy? Totally freaking hot.”
    His eyes narrowed and he stepped closer.
Bobbi knew she should just probably keep her mouth shut. Obviously
Danny didn’t give a rat’s ass what she thought, but for some reason
her tongue seemed to have a mind of its own. Just like the old
days. The ones she’d tried so hard to forget.
    She looked up pointedly, her expression
intense. “And honestly, you should feel pretty damn good because
you’ve got a really, really nice shaped head.”
    His frown deepened as one of his hands crept
up top, apparently to smooth some of that fuzz he had going on, but
she saw the slight caress—the way he cupped his head and she
smiled. “According to my Auntie Lacey that means your mama turned
you every night when you were in the crib so if you want to thank
someone for a head as round as a basketball, you should thank your
mom.”
    His eyes widened even more.
    “Lady, are you for real?”
    Christ, but he didn’t get it. She was
complimenting him, or at the very least, trying to. “Danny, it’s
me. Bobbi Jo. I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.”
    Danny took a step back, shaking his head as
his eyes traveled from the top of her glossy head, down her face
and back up again.
    “Bobbi Jo Barker?” he said gruffly. Danny’s
eyes narrowed and he rubbed the stubble that graced his chin as his
eyes shifted and moved behind her.
    Bobbi turned her head but all she could see
were a bunch of booths, none of them occupied, save for the one on
the end, but it was too dark to see who sat there. She saw faded
denim, large Doc’s and a red headed waitress with attitude.
    “One and the same,” she answered turning
back. She finished her whiskey and nodded for another.
    “I think you need to take a break.”
    She glanced up at Danny. “Am I causing
trouble?”
    “Not yet you aren’t but now that I know
exactly who you are I’m figuring trouble is on the way if it’s not
here already.”
    “Christ Danny, since when do you speak in
riddles? And you don’t have to worry. I’ve changed. Trouble is no
longer my middle name,” she grinned, or at least she attempted too,
but with her fuzzy mouth she wasn’t sure she was successful. “Heck,
you didn’t even know it was me.”
    For a moment her mind wandered and she
thought of the church she had left behind. A church filled to the
brim with her family and friends. With Gerald’s family as well,
including his dried up witch of a mother. But still, had they
deserved what she’d just put them through? If she had truly changed
would she have done something like that?
    Runaway bride, that’s what I am .
    “I promise to behave,” she said carefully,
pushing her glass toward Danny. She needed to forget how the
threads of her life had become so damn tangled. She needed to not
feel how hollow and empty she was inside. She needed to be some
place else and right now, the only some place else she wanted to be
was right smack dab in the middle of Drunksville, USA.
    Danny frowned, but filled the glass, though
he leaned close and said