Chapter 15
Lila couldn’t remember a more pleasant evening. Downstairs a rowdy crowd jostled each other, cowboys calling their friends to join them in a game of cards, girls giggling as they fawned over the men, the piano tinkling away above the noise. Each time Ralph set a mug of foaming beer onto the bar, the heavy thud seemed to reverberate through the crowd. There were no empty tables for dining—most were covered with cards—but Tommy found one in the corner where a few men he knew were eating. He pulled out a chair, sank into it, and promptly pulled Lila into his lap. “How’s this?” he purred into her ear.
She giggled like the other girls and slapped away Tommy’s hand as it eased into her crotch. “The best seat in the house,” she teased. “Fit for a queen.”
“My queen,” Tommy said with
