You’re such a dumb ass! Talk about flirting with disaster!
I sigh and shift my weight from foot to foot, debating what to do. I look longingly back at my car, the car that Nash had a mechanic come look at and fix before I even got back home on Sunday. Turns out it was something simple with a spark plug, I think he said. But still… He had it fixed.
I sigh.
It’s the possibility of seeing more of Nash, of him casually dropping by to check on me, that pushes me in the direction of the door.
I open it and walk into the dark interior. Even in the middle of the day, very little light shines in through the small, high windows.
The bar looks totally different without the wild lights and the wall-to-wall crush of bodies. The high tables are clean and empty, the black floors are polished to a shine, there is some kind of instrumental music pouring softly from the speakers and the only illumination in the whole room is the backlit liquor display cases behind the bar.
Nash said Cash would be here all day, but I’m beginning to think I should’ve had him set a specific time. I have no idea where to look for him.
My flip flops make a hushed flapping sound against my heels as I make my way across the room. I walk to the bar and pull out a stool to sit on, hoping Cash is keeping an eye on the place since the door was open.
I nearly swallow my tongue when Cash pops up from behind the bar. “You must be Olivia.”
“Holy mother of hell!” I say, grabbing my chest to still my racing heart.
He laughs. “With a mouth like that, you’ll fit right in here.”
If I weren’t so surprised, I’d probably take exception to that comment. Instead, I laugh.
“You bring out the worst in me. What can I say?”
Cash is wearing a black tank top that perfectly showcases his muscular arms and the interesting tattoo that adorns the left side of his chest. I try not to think of him as mouthwatering, but that’s the word that keeps going through my head.
Dammit!
He puts his elbows on the bar and leans in closer to me. “That’s because you haven’t given me the chance to bring out the best in you.”
His voice is deep and quiet. His brow is arched, much like it was that first night—in a suggestively challenging way. I feel my pulse pick up.
Good God, he’s even hotter than I remember!
Somehow, I’d managed to convince myself that he wasn’t as appealing as Nash, that because he’s the bad boy of the two, he’s less attractive. Sweet Lord, was I wrong!
I try desperately to hang onto my brain and make a better impression this time. I know I’ll only get this one chance to redeem myself.
I smile politely and respond. “Well, that won’t be a problem if I start working for you, right?”
He leans back and smiles crookedly. “Already threatening a sexual harassment suit?”
“No, I… of course not! I... I didn’t mean…what I actually meant was…” In my head, I hear the sound of an airplane falling from the sky at terminal velocity then crashing into the side of a mountain with a loud explosion.
Shut up, Olivia! Please, just shut up!
“Don’t back down now! This was just getting interesting.”
I exhale. I’m both relieved and a little irritated.
He’s teasing me!
“Are you always this evil?”
“Evil?” he asks, his expression innocent. “Me? Nooooo.”
With a grin, he plants his hands flat on the bar and lifts himself onto it, throwing his legs over and hopping down right beside me. I actually squeeze my eyes shut for a second in hopes that the vision of his biceps and triceps straining against his smooth skin won’t be permanently etched onto my mind. I think I’m too late, though, because it’s all I can see on the backdrop of my lids.
Dammit!
“Nash says you bartend, right?”
My eyes open to his. He’s staring down at me, so close I can see the vague line where black pupil stops and nearly-black iris begins. Those eyes are amazing!
I see his eyebrows rise, prompting me.
“Pardon?” I ask.
“Nothing. I don’t even think it matters. If you’re this adorably sexy all the time, no one will care how fast you get them their drinks.”
I flush a little at his words. They shouldn’t please me. But they do. Quite a bit.
“That won’t be a problem.”
“What? You being adorably sexy? No, I can see that.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’ve been working at one of the busiest sports clubs in Salt Springs for the last two years. I can hold my own behind your bar.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and smirks at me. “You think so?”
I feel my spine straightening. “I know so.”
“The people that come here want to be served as well as entertained. Think you can handle that, too?”
I’m thinking to myself that I don’t even know what that means, but my mouth has already moved on.
“Not a problem.”
“So then you won’t mind giving me an…audition.”
His pause gives me a little chill that races down my spine. I clear my throat and reach deep for my bravado. “Audition? What did you have in mind?”
He doesn’t answer for a few seconds. Long enough to make me squirm. Long enough for me to think of all sorts of different types of auditions, a couple of which excite me.
Get your mind out of the gutter, Liv! He’s off limits!
He laughs. “Nothing too creative. I don’t want to push my luck with the sexual harassment thing. Yet.”
“Are you trying to run me off?”
“Oh come on. You can’t tell me you’ve never worked for someone who’s attracted to you. I bet that happens to a girl like you all the time.”
I resist the ridiculous grin that’s tugging at my lips. I can’t let him see that I’m pleased to hear him admit to being attracted to me, especially when “pleased” is code for “I can barely breathe I’m so excited”.
“A girl like me?” I ask in my calmest manner.
“Yeah, a girl like you.” Cash’s lids drop down part way over his eyes, making them look like heavy, bedroom eyes, and his voice is like the silk sheets I can imagine him sleeping on. “Feisty, sexy, gorgeous as hell. I bet you’ve never met a man you couldn’t wind around your little finger.”
He’s watching me like he wants to undress me right where we are—in an empty bar with low light and soft music. And there’s a tiny part of me that would love for him to do exactly that.