Jude nodded. “Good to see you too, Cece.”
It was a little strange that no one called him Jude other than his father and me, but the rush of being different to him always thrilled me, even when I’d thought he couldn’t stand me.
“Nice to meet you, Cece. I’m Claudia, and that explains why I don’t recognize you. I’ve only come in on weekends.”
“I take Fridays sometimes. I’m glad we’re not closing, thanks to you.”
“Well, it’s not official yet. My congratulations shot was a little premature.” I picked up my empty glass. “But it’s really nice to meet you. If I do take over, you can show me the ropes—like exactly how a bar works since my experience has mostly been just drinking in one.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Not much to know. The drink orders are usually simple. I manage the staff schedules, but when you come on and want to do that—”
“You are more than welcome to keep doing that. I don’t plan on changing much around here. I just wanted to keep it open because I couldn’t allow Kelly Lakes to sacrifice its only bar.”
“And we thank you for that.” Cece craned her neck to the other end of the counter when someone called her name. “Excuse me for a moment. We’ll talk more, but it was great to meet you.”
“You too,” I said, watching her head over to a cluster of customers and take orders, surprised at my sudden fascination.
“This is kind of cool. And maybe not so scary.” I slid my arm into the crook of Jude’s elbow and leaned in. “Cece seems nice.”
“She is. Her mother still lives across the street from us. I’m sure she’ll help you.” He leaned in to whisper in my ear. “See anything you want to change?”
I rubbed my neck to halt the goose bumps trailing down my arm from his breath fanning hot against my neck. It would be great if I could at least act my age around Jude and not like a dizzy teenager.
“Other than the walls and flooring, not really. The seating definitely, but I need to figure that out and it could come in time. I’m even starting to get excited at my dopey new bar name.”
“It’s a great name. Not dopey. I told you, you’re going to be great…”
“What?” My head whipped to Jude when he trailed off.
“If Artie keeps looking at you like that, he and I are going to have a discussion. In fact, I think that’s now. Excuse me.”
“Stop,” I said, grabbing his arm. “I told you I can handle him.”
“It’s a matter of respect. I’m not surprised he offered to buy this place so damn cheap, and he would have ended up running it into the ground if he had. Larry would have closed before he would have sold it to him. He’s at least decent like that.”
I cracked up when he flicked his eyes to Larry and back to me.
“And to think, you were the one tellingmeto calm down when we came in.”
Artie headed back to the bar, throwing a bill onto the counter and shooting me one more scowl and irritated shake of his head before turning away.
“That’s it,” Jude said, popping off the stool and heading in Artie’s direction. My heart was now in my throat for another reason.
“Jude, you can’t beat him up.” I pressed my hand against his chest. “Off duty or not.”
“I won’t. I just want a word. That’s all,” he said, his eyes still focused on where Artie had stopped to talk to someone on his way out. “Remind him of the manners he’s supposed to have.”
My cop boyfriend, or whoever Jude was shaping up to be, couldn’t go after someone on my behalf when I hadn’t even officially bought the place yet. I loved that his first instinct was to defend my honor, but I needed to show my own authority and not have Jude throw his around when it wasn’t needed.
I grabbed his face just as he was about to charge at Artie and pressed my lips against his. He went rigid before his shoulders fell and his body relaxed. I smiled into the kiss when his lips melted against mine. I kept it PG, no tongue, even though I wanted nothing more than to slide mine past those sinful lips and taste him. I left a couple of lingering pecks before I eased back, the tiny but sexy smirk tipping Jude’s mouth tempting me back for so much more.
The distraction worked as Jude slid back onto the seat. Was that confusion or lust in his dazed expression? I couldn’t tell or tear my eyes away as I ran my tongue along my bottom lip, still tingling from the contact.
“Can I talk to you outside?” he asked, motioning toward the small crowd at the other end of the bar and all the pairs of eyes now fixed on us.
“Sure,” I said, hopping off the seat as my stomach dropped and followed him to the entrance.
Shit.I always went too far. Yes, the kiss had worked to distract Jude enough from going after Artie, but that wasn’t the only reason why I’d done it. He was being all kinds of sweet and open, but after the story he’d told me tonight about his divorce and what he’d gone through with his parents, I needed to learn to take his cues and follow his lead.
