His gaze heated. “Not if you tell me exactly how you use them.”
I’d show him. But later. I tucked my phone away. We were secluded but not private. Instead, I changed the subject. “I hear I’m out of a job tonight.”
He nodded. “It’s a mess, but a small one.” His brow furrowed as he crossed to me. “They didn’t get ahold of you in time?”
“Wynter forgot I was coming early. It was going to be a brainstorming night.”
“But I still get to see you.” He kissed me, nice and slow, but also tame if any of the tourists peeked inside. When he pulled back, the crease was still in his brow. “I was just going to leave. You can join me.”
Surprise washed through me. “To your game night?”
His jaw was set, like he couldn’t believe he had invited me, but he nodded.
“You really want me to come?”
A shadow flitted over his expression. The offer hadn’t been easy for him. He’d protected that part of himself for so long. He cupped my cheek. “Leaving every Wednesday night when I could hang out with you instead hasn’t been the easiest.”
A small gasp left me. This man made me feel so treasured. I put my hands on his shoulders. “Having our own interests is healthy. Wynter and Autumn invited me out.” I smiled. “I’d have fun with you, but Warhammer is your thing, not mine. You go. Have fun. And we’llconnecton Friday.”
“For the weekend?”
I bit the inside of my cheek or I wouldn’t be able to speak around my grin. “If I’m invited for the whole weekend.”
“You’re welcome anytime. My place is y—” He clamped his mouth shut. “My place is always open to you.”
My place is yours. Was that what he’d been about to say? But he hadn’t. Yet what he had said was still sweet. “It’s like I’m your girlfriend or something.”
“Yeah, or something,” he said softly.
Tenor
I was finishing in my office when Teller entered. He closed the door. The interior walls of the office were tempered glass facing the hallway on the upper level of Copper Summit. Each room was dark, including Teller’s.
He plopped in the chair across from my desk. He reclined and locked his hands behind his head. “Must be a Friday night.”
“Get a calendar and you’d know.” I’d been working late each Friday night Ruby was in the bar.
“Did you see what Ruby posted of yours truly?”
I hadn’t. I took out my phone and pulled up Copper Summit on each app. A filtered photo of Teller scratching his beard and pondering the leak had hundreds of comments.
If I start drinking bourbon, will he show up?
I need to get to Bourbon Canyon ASAP
This picture makes me think aboutcocktails differently.
The comments were... thirsty, and some were downright inappropriate, but Ruby had replied conversationally, yet professionally to many of them, stoking enthusiasm and spreading information about our products. “Damn. She did some good work.”
“I was just thinking...” He rubbed his chin. “People really do want to get to know us. We can give them a little more.”
The pictures of me from the distillation room rose in my mind. To me, the image was boring, and that was likely what others would think. Ruby knew me, so she liked it. “I’m good sitting this out.”
His lips pressed together. “It’s not that I don’t respect your decision to keep offline. It’s just, it bugs the shit out of me. Before Katrina, you’d have done it.”
No. “Not everything stems from her.” Before Katrina, there had been Bobby. Keeping attention off me had always been the goal.
“Sure.” He gave me that narrow-eyed stare, like he was seeing right through me. “You ever go to Bozeman?”
