I pulled her attention away from them. “The Maple Leaf. It’s a bar that always has great live music. You’re going to like it.”
She rested a hand on her leg. “Glad to know you are now an expert on what I like.”
“I’m an expert on a lot of things.” I stretched out my legs, brushing my leg against hers in the process. Her body tensed ever so slightly, but it wasn’t in a bad way.
She gazed out the window, and I was glad it was a clear night out. The windows on the streetcar were open, providing a nice breeze. I needed it with the way my body heated around her. She felt it too. I know she did. There was an electricity sizzling between us like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I wanted her so bad it hurt.
I followed her gaze. She was checking out the houses lining St. Charles. “Beautiful, aren’t they?” I leaned in close and smiled when I noticed the goose bumps forming on her exposed shoulder. Considering the heat, I knew I was the cause of them.
She took a moment to answer. “The homes? Yeah, they’re gorgeous. Is this the Garden district?”
“Yes. Home sweet home.”
“Have you always lived here?” she asked absently, probably deciding which house she’d want for herself.
“Born and raised, and I never want to move anywhere else.” I also had no choice. New Orleans would always be my home.
She turned away from the window and her face was mere inches from mine. “Really?”
I fought the urge to taste her lips. I couldn’t rush the moment and lose my chance. “Does that really surprise you?”
“I mean, you told me you were from here, but don’t most people our age want to explore new places?”
If she only knew how tied to New Orleans I was. At the moment, I couldn’t have cared less where I was though. The company was all I needed. “Why explore when you have everything you need right here?”
“Yeah. Whatever.” She turned away again, but I didn’t miss her lingering glance. I let her enjoy the view until we reached our stop.
I touched her leg gently. “This is us.” I pulled the cord to request a stop, then I led her off the car. “It’s just a few blocks from here.”
We’d only made it a few steps when Jess walked between us and grabbed Allie’s hand. “Have a nice ride?”
“Splendid.” Allie’s face was slightly flushed.
Jess grinned. “It looked like you were enjoying yourself.”
I laughed. Obviously, I wasn’t the only one who picked up on it.
Allie gave it right back to her. “Yeah, I wouldn’t have thought you noticed. You looked pretty distracted yourself.”
“Unlike you, I’m not going to pretend otherwise.” Jess smiled again before pulling Allie along with her to catch up with Jared. Man, he had her interested.
I pushed open the door to one of my favorite bars. The Maple Leaf doesn’t look particularly special on the outside, but the music and overall feel of the place made it worth coming back to. I headed straight through to the back patio, checking behind me to make sure Allie was still with me.
“Owen!” Hailey noticed us immediately and decided to annoy the hell out of Owen by pulling him into a hug.
I laughed to myself as he quickly broke away. “Aww, damn it, Hailey. I should have known you would be here.”
“Don’t bother hiding it, Owen. You know you’re glad to see your favorite sister.” She grinned.
“You mean my only sister.”
Hailey quickly lost interest in Owen when she noticed the girls. “Hi. I don’t think we’ve met.” She held out her hand.
Allie accepted her handshake. “I’m Allie.”
Hailey moved on to Jess next.
Hailey smiled at Jess before turning her attention to Allie again. “Nice to meet you. So you’re friends with my brother then?”
Allie’s brow furrowed slightly. “Sort of…”
“Enough of the twenty questions. We met them down at the hotel. Allie’s dad owns the place now,” Owen explained.
“Oh!” Hailey caught the glare I shot her and recovered quickly. Letting the girls know there was anything important about the hotel wouldn’t be a good thing.
“Watch it, Hailey,” Jared warned.
Hailey nodded at us both. She understood. “It’s really nice to meet you both. My best friends deserted me to spend the summer abroad, and I could really use some other girls around.”
“Wait, Beth and Jill both left already? Who are you here with?” Owen pretended not to care, but he was still her big brother.
“I came by myself to meet up with Jamie. Not a big deal.”
“Oh, okay, but don’t leave by yourself.”
“Like I can’t take care of myself?” She put a hand on her hip.
“Just humor me, Hailey.”
“Sure.” She rolled her eyes. “God, older brothers can be annoying. Do you have any siblings, Allie?”
“Nope, I’m an only child.”
Interesting. It looked we had something in common.
“So lucky,” Jess broke in. “I have four younger brothers and sisters.”
“Four? Wow,” Hailey was probably picturing having to deal with more than one Owen.
Jess nodded. “Yeah, I know. Thankfully, I was always able to escape the chaos by crashing at Allie’s because her mom is cool. She’s so lucky.”
“My mom is pretty cool.” Allie seemed to be lost in thought for a minute. I wondered what the story was. She’d mentioned her dad bought the hotel, but from what I knew, there wasn’t a Mrs. around.
Satisfied she wasn’t going anywhere, I slipped back inside to get us some drinks. There was a line at the bar, but the bartender served me immediately. I didn’t know him by name, but he definitely knew who I was. I ordered myself an Abita and decided to go with another Oasis for Allie. She seemed to like the last two. I listened to the band for a few seconds before heading back outside. Allie was exactly where I left her.
“I got your drink for you.” I held out her glass.
She seemed surprised. I guess she hadn’t noticed my absence. “My drink?”
“You seemed to like it the other night.”
“And you still aren’t going to tell me what’s in it?”
“Nope.” No reason to reveal any of my cards yet.
“Well, there are other ways of figuring it out.” She gave me a coy smile.
“Are there now?” Now this was good. Things were finally moving in the right direction.