Chapter 4

(Flashback)

Hallie drained her third Corona in just a couple hours and set it down with a hollow thunk on the bare wooden table. She looked around the table at her friends who were staring intently at her.

"Fuck, I don't know. Let me see. " She stood up and rested her butt against the table edge, surveying the bar. She took a measured examination of the men in the room, table by table. None looked really interesting. She ran her eyes down the bar stools and got to the last one. Her eyes fell on a tall, muscular man slowly sucking on a bottle of Budweiser. He had short hair which framed his rugged, good-looking features. His shoulders were fairly broad and from the bar stool up, he looked good. Real good, Hallie thought. He snuffed out a cigarette and motioned for Pete to get him another bottle.

The man swiveled the stool around to face outwards and looked straight at her as if she'd called his name. Her hands gripped the table behind her unconsciously as her knees felt a little weak. Three beers was not her maximum but since she had been thirsty and pretty much gulped down the first one, it was probably a good thing the table was behind her.

He turned towards the bathroom hall but didn't take his eyes off of her. At the last second, before his neck twisted too painfully, she saw the corner of his mouth turn upwards in the faintest smile. Hallie's mouth fell open as she watched him walk slowly away. He was well-muscled, with strong legs and a nice, not-too-rounded butt. She gazed at his butt for a second and suddenly whirled back around to her companions at the table, her long hair flying out behind her, curls bouncing. She sat down and ducked her head. "Ok. Found one."

"Who?" Tracey asked, craning her neck. They were playing what had become a required game when the group was out together. An unofficial "Who here right now would you do?" census of the male patrons in the bar. Everyone was required to come up with one candidate. Hallie was always the last one to make her choice, being accused of being too picky all too often by her friends.

"The guy at the end of the bar who just left to go to the bathroom. He's been in here before. He's gone now. He would be the ONLY one here tonight."

"I don't see him! What's he look like?" Kelly said.

"He's gone to the bathroom. He'll be back. He's kinda' tall and...hot. Rugged. Sexy. Wish I was a bottle of Bud." Hallie said quietly. The table erupted with squeals and giggles. Hallie was not prone to scoping out men, nor making comments about their finer attributes, so the fact that she could come up with one tonight, let alone be so forthright in her comments, made her friends howl.

"I'll drink to THAT!" Kelly said and rose to tell Pete to get them another round.

XXXXX

Pete sat a bottle down in front of Hallie and grinned.

"We didn't order another round yet, Pedro. What's this?" she looked at him.

"Somebody bought you a beer." he said, as Kelly snickered and kicked Tracey under the table.

"Get the fuck outta' here!" Hallie said, disbelievingly. She was definitely not in need of another beer. "Who would do that?"

"That guy at the end of the bar. His name is Daryl. He bought you a beer." Pete said. "I'll drink it if you don't want it." he offered, joking, his hand moving towards the bottle of Corona sitting now in front of Hallie.

"No she wants it!" Kelly said, pushing Pete's hand away. "Trust me, she waaants it." she said, dragging out the word, as Tracey and Beth burst into a gale of laughter.

Hallie peered around Pete to try to see the guy at the end of the bar. His head was turned and he was taking another sip of Bud, the bottle to his lips. Oh, man, thought Hallie. She watched as a blonde walked up and said something to him, motioning to the empty stool next to him. He shook his head and said something back to her. She patted his arm and walked off. Daryl turned around and looked towards Hallie.

"Oh, fuck. It's him. I gotta say thank you, don't I? I have to go talk to him." she said to Kelly.

"Yes you do, Sweet Cheeks!" she said. "You wouldn't want to be RUDE, would you? Now get your ass over there and talk to him. He's hot. The blonde just tried to sit next to him and he wouldn't let her. I saw him. He's waiting for you. Now GO!" she said, slapping Hallie's thigh with a loud smack.

XXXX

"Fuck shit." Hallie muttered. She picked up the now-sweating Corona bottle and walked slowly towards the end of the bar. She looked at her target. Nice Levi's. Button-down plaid shirt, no wrinkles, no snaps, thank God. No wallet on a chain. No cowboy boots, just clean leather work boots. The closer she got to him, the better he looked. Under the shirt she could see well-defined muscles. Ladies and Gentleman, we have a winner. She sat the bottle down on the bar next to him and cleared her throat.

"I think I may need to thank you." she said. He turned to face her and looked down, smiling. Hallie, run. Run far, run fast, the voice in her head warned as she looked into his eyes. They were the most beautiful, brilliant clear shade of deep blue she'd ever seen. Riveting. Take-me-drunk-I'm-home blue. Fall-into-bed-in-a-minute blue. Sex-without-protection blue. Fucking snap out of it, McAllister! her brain screamed. Her mouth went dry and her heart stopped as their eyes met.

"Have a seat." the voice said. It was smoky, masculine. Dripping sexy. Hallie climbed up to the empty barstool and swiveled just a hair in his direction. He ran a finger down his neck slowly, from his chin to his Adam's apple. It was at this exact point that Hallie knew she was toast. One simple gesture, unconscious on his part. She was absolutely a puddle of mush. He could have taken her on the bar with everybody watching and when he was done she would have said "Thank you sir, may I have another." She said a silent prayer that she had shaved this evening before going out and turned around and kicked herself for having that last beer that put her in the danger zone for behavior unbecoming her normal reserved self.

Hallie took a sip of the Corona to try to bring her voice back. "Pete tells me your name is Daryl. Thanks for the beer, Daryl." she said, pointing the neck at him.

"Yer' welcome." he said, his slow Georgia draw revealing he was a local. He clinked his bottle against hers and looked at her as he took a sip. "Yer' feet reach tha' floor there?" he grinned.

"Only when I'm standing up, damn it!" she said. "I hate barstools the most." she smiled, her green eyes flashing. Jeezus, did this guy just ooze, she though as she continued to stare at him.

"Ya' got a name, Stretch?" he said, eyes twinkling.

"Oh, uhm, Hallie."

"Well, uhm Hallie, 're y'all celebratin' somethin' over there or just lettin' off steam?"

"The latter. It's been a long week." she said, rolling the Corona bottle between her hands.

"Ain't that jes' tha' truth!" he laughed. "Nice weather, though." Did I just mention the weather, he thought, mentally slapping himself. You idiot!

"Yeah, I like fall the best. Not so damn hot anymore, humidity backs down, it's just nice." she agreed. They continued to chat for a while, finishing their beers and Hallie buying the next round. They found out they both liked playing pool and agreed that the next table open would be theirs.

Daryl was fascinated by the girl on the barstool beside him. She was tiny, beautiful, funny, smart. Her feet didn't touch the floor but her hair fell almost to the bar stool seat. She had the most beautiful green eyes he'd ever seen. Her skin was smooth and clear. Between the green eyes, the pale skin, and the dark red hair, he was pretty sure there Irish somewhere in the family tree, and a lot of it. She laughed easily and touched his arm or his hand when she did. She also looked him straight in the eye when she spoke to him. Daryl wasn't used to that. It made him feel like he was the only guy in the room. He liked that. A lot.

They had started to move to a pool table and one of the girls she'd been with came up to them and said that it was time for them to join the group. Hallie protested a bit but Stacey insisted. There were a couple other guys sitting with them now and they were close to the pool tables, so it was inescapable, Daryl thought. Hallie and Daryl played a couple games of pool by themselves and joined the others.

Kelly had decided that shots were necessary. By this time, Hallie and Daryl each had both drank more than was usual and joined in as limes and salt were distributed, along with shot glasses full of tequila. They continued this pattern of playing a game or two of pool and rejoining the group for shots for a couple more hours until the pool became a reason to escape the racket at the table. Hallie and Daryl were now both past the tipsy point. They were to the teasing stage, the conversation just inching to the edge of the envelope that was what they both were thinking, but never going quite going far enough to discuss sex outright.

Hallie leaned over the table to line up her shot and Daryl moved behind her.

"Woman, you're never gonna make it from this angle." he said, bending over and whispering in her ear.

"Really. I was thinking you would like this angle." She said, turning her neck and smiling.

"I do, I surely do, but jus' not fer' pool." he growled, moving her hair aside and kissing her neck. Electricity shot through Hallie as his lips moved slowly up the side of her neck towards her ear. Hallie put a vice grip on the pool cue and her hand on the railing of the table to steady herself until he was finished. Oh my Lord, she thought. I swear, right here on the pool table if he doesn't stop.

"Daryl Dixon, you cannot expect me to make this shot with your lips attached to me." she said, putting down her cue and turning around. When she turned around, Daryl stepped up closer and pinned her between his thighs and the edge of the pool table, slipping his hands around her waist. He gazed at her and leaned in, kissing her on the lips, slowly at first, then more intense as she moaned into his mouth a little, opening hers just a bit. Hallie had her eyes closed and she was seeing stars. She put her hands on his chest and pushed back a little to try to break the kiss so she could breathe.

"I think we're done playing pool." she said, opening her eyes slowly. Daryl was grinning now, his hands still around her waist.

"Yeah. May wanna' sit down now." he said slowly, still grinning.

They sat with the group, Daryl's chair touching Hallie's, their thighs touching, his arm around the back of the chair. At some time during the evening, it went around her shoulder, played with her hair, rubbed the back of her neck. More tequila was ordered, or as Kelly would shout out, "Hey Pete, mas tequila por favor."

Daryl took the slice of lime out of his mouth and looked at Hallie. She was looking at him, her eyes wide, biting her lower lip slowly. He leaned in and brushed her lip with his thumb.

"I...have...to...pee." he said slowly, deliberately, as if willing himself to rise.

Hallie giggled. "Then I think you should go to the little boys' room." she said. "Do you remember how to get there?" she teased.

"Think so. Wanna come with me? Give me a hand?" he grinned.

She punched his arm hard. "No, I'm not going to hold it while you pee, but I will walk you as far as the juke box. We need some decent music around here." she said.

XXXXX

Hallie looked at the selections and dropped six in quarters. The first selection was her favorite. "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. She was always a bit surprised to find it hadn't been replaced by something newer, more country. The machine whirred and made mechanical noises and the bar was filled with booming guitar. Hallie sighed and began moving with the music, perusing the remaining selections. The next pick was for Daryl, whom she had correctly pegged for a Lynrd Skynrd man. As the Zeppelin tune played, Hallie continued to move, her hips making circles, figure eights, gliding, dipping to the steady beat laid down by Page and Plant. She pushed the button for an old Marshal Tucker Band tune and moved both her hands to the top of her head, fists clenched, hips continuing to sway suggestively.

Daryl walked out of the bathroom as a guy in a brown cowboy hat walked in, whistling, and said "Damn!" appreciatively. He rounded the corner and looked to the juke box, stopping dead in his tracks. He watched Hallie move, her eyes closed, her hands raised, moving through her hair, her hips and butt moving slowly with the music. She wasn't dancing for anybody else in the room, even him, just for herself. He continued to watch for another minute. The whistling guy came out of the bathroom and stopped, both of them standing in the doorway watching Hallie sway. Daryl suddenly became very uncomfortable realizing that if he was appreciating her, other guys surely were as well.

"Think it's time ta' take her home." Daryl said, trying to let the other man know that she was not on the market. He started to move towards the jukebox.

"Lucky bastard!" the guy said, raising his forefinger to his hat, but Daryl didn't hear. All he could do was watch Hallie's butt, mesmerized. He walked up to her and put both hands on either side of the front of the jukebox, leaning in. Her hips moved back before she realized anyone was behind her, brushing against his crotch. She turned quickly, surprised, and realized she had been dancing. Her face turned beet red and she put her hands on his chest to steady herself.

"Fuck. Was I dancing?" she said quietly.

"If by dancin' ya mean givin' every guy in here a boner, yeah." he moved her back against the jukebox. "Think it's time ta' get outta here?"

"Daryl, I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize, I...I just love that song."

"Don't 'pologize ta' me. Apologize ta' the rest a' tha' guys who ain't gonna get ta' do this." he growled. Daryl picked her up by the waist and wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her to him. The juke box skipped as he bumped it. Hallie wrapped a leg around his hip and kissed Daryl hard on the lips, her hands gripping his head, moving through his hair. Daryl could feel her breathing faster as they kissed. He was praying that she couldn't feel how excited he'd become watching her and now kissing her. He knew that he needed to take a minute before he turned away from the jukebox.

Kelly looked toward the jukebox and dropped the salt shaker on the table with a clunk, watching Hallie and Daryl at the pool table "Holy fuck!" she laughed and smacked Tracey on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Wow!" Tracey shouted. "Looks like I don't need to drive her home tonight." she said, shaking her head. "I've never seen her like this with a guy before."

XXXXX

Daryl pulled away slightly when the Skynnrd song came on. "Think' we outta be gettin' out of here." he said again. This time it wasn't a question.

"Ok." Hallie said, her eyes still closed. "I'd like that. My place." she said. She opened her eyes, her legs still wrapped around him. "It's kinda' close, but I am in no shape to drive." she warned.

"Think I can." he said as he loosened his grip and she slid down, putting her feet on the floor. "Jes' not sure about walkin' right this second, though." he said with a grin.