He slides up to me at the bar, all bold confidence and charmingly lopsided grin.

My heart stops somewhere on the way up my throat. I swallow it back down, willing my stomach to stop competing for gold in gymnastics.

“Would it be too cheesy to ask what a pretty girl like you is doing all alone at a bar?”

I square my shoulders, put on Confident Abby, and smile back at him. Confident Abby never shies away from a conversation with a stranger. Confident Abby is sexy and mysterious and her stomach is definitely not doing summersaults right now.

“Can’t a girl go to a cowboy themed bar in Glasgow on her own?”

He grins, settling into the seat beside me.

“And are you enjoying the view?” He gestures vaguely to the array of cowboy garments and poor line dancing.

“You gotta give them credits for committing to the bit,” Confident Abby replies. “I could also ask what a guy who looks like he came straight out of outlander is doing in a cowboy themed bar. But I trust you have your reasons.”

“Outlander eh?” That has him smiling even more. “You’re not from here are you?”

I shake my head. “Nope. Guess.”

“American?”

I roll my eyes.

“Ah, Canadian. Sorry.”

“Make it up to me by buying me a drink?” I don’t know why I’m going along with this. He has no idea who I am. But Confident Abby is on a mission and wants to see how far she can take this.

“I was gonnae ask if you’d come dance with me? Give you a chance to prove your skills before getting a drink or two in ye.”

“Did your accent just get stronger?”

He smiles bashfully, the first hint of humility painting his handsome features.

“Usually works on foreign girls.”

“And how many foreign girls have you been with?”

He takes my hand and guides me to the open dance floor. “How about we get to know each others names first before taking about body counts?”

“That is a very smooth way of evading the question.” I’m not ready for him to ask my name. I’m not ready for the reaction I know will come.

“Seeing as you’re intent on this sexy bit mysterious bit, I’ll go first. I’m Jack.”

Tim McGraw starts playing over the speakers. The dance floor is immediately swarmed. Jack spins me into his chest, keeping me close from the crowd.

He’s got the kind of natural dance skills that come from knowing you’re attractive. At well over 6 foot, he’s already the centre of everyone’s attention, and his curling ginger hair, stormy blue eyes, and wicked grin come together to make him irresistibly magnetic.

Confident Abby flickers as I move with him, our bodies flush as the music picks up.

“I’m Abby,” I saw over the noise.

“Abby,” he says back, feeling the way the word sounds in his mouth.

Suddenly he stops dancing, looks down at me.

“Wait…”

Here it comes. I beat him to it as Confident Abby evaporates.

“Yeah. We’ve done this before.”

The music stops.

“Shit.”