What the actual fuck.There was no way she would ever be inconvenient. “Maggie, I don’t?—”
“I want to be wooed.” Her cheeks flushed as the words fell from her pretty lips. “I want to be asked out and be nervous getting ready for our first date. I want flowers and romance and effort. Not just a relocation.”
The words came out a rapid fire, but I stifled my smile as I spoke. “Breathe.”
She followed the instruction and inhaled deeply. “You said that was the best kiss of your life, and it was for me, as well. And that kiss held so much promise of passion and romance. A promise that needs to be delivered upon.”
Maggie laying out her cards and telling me what she wanted was sexy as hell. I nodded at her. “You want to be wooed.” She wanted a show, I’d give her a goddamn three act musical. “Okay, Margaret Amber Bauman. Operation: Wooing Maggie is officially underway. Prepare to be swept off your feet.”
CHAPTER 12
MAGGIE
Hours later,with the kids at my mom’s and the Snows taking care of their own dinner, I was still mortified as I walked into The Reverse Cowgirl. My mortification had to take a back seat as I watched my servers rush across the floor. Dinner was not a big deal at the bar, but girls’ nights were and it seemed we were hosting quite a few.
I pushed thoughts of Theo and his declaration out of my head as I picked empties up along my way to the back of the bar. I wasn’t sure what was happening. But I needed to talk to Loren about staffing appropriately.
“Loren.” I walked over to the bar’s night time manager. “I’ll be here all night, we can go over a few things when there’s a lull.”
I knew we would have some time between the time the after-work crowd left and the after-dinner crowd came in.
She nodded at me. “Sure, we’ll be quiet in about an hour. Paul called in sick, so I’m covering for him until Lance can come in. He was on his way home from another job.”
Aah, that explained the staffing issue.
“Sure.” I looked around and the place was busy. Not unusual for a Thursday, but not ideal when we were a man down. “Do you need anything from me?”
She pointed at the group of women. “They want a bottle of the Sterling Estate Chardonnay and the Taylor’s Creek Whiskey is nearly done.”
“They still selling well?” The Sterling winery was new, at least for us. I took a risk on the Texas brand a while back and it turned out to be my best seller.
She nodded and I did as she asked. Between going over the books and posting the schedules for the next two weeks. Once the bar was a little quieter and Lance showed up, Loren and I were able to talk. I warned her about Fred, and that he and his brothers were not welcome in the bar.
“Fred hasn’t been in here, but both brothers were in earlier in the week.” She leaned back in her chair. “Went on as usual about how you stole this place from their family.”
I just nodded, my jaw tight. The eyeroll it needed was not worth the effort. Let them spread their poison. I couldn’t control it and I didn’t care either. The bar was mine. Fred agreed to it in writing and the divorce made it legal.
Just as the place started getting busy again, Theo walked in, a smile on his face as walked over to the table where Loren and I were talking. He held a bag from Bowler’s, the local diner. Loren and I ended our meeting, and I gathered my papers to work in the back office.
“Hey.” Theo stood at the table, and took the pile away from me. “Are you going to work in your office?”
Nodding, I stood slowly, still unable to say anything to him. “Uhm…”
He stifled a grin, and I wanted to slap that smug look off his face. “You have something to say?”
I shook my head and started toward my office. I used the short distance to gather myself. I breathed deeply and by the time Theo closed the office door behind him, my confidence had returned. “Theo.”
As I looked around and realized we were alone. In a very small space. He placed papers on the desk and handed me the bag of food. “I brought you dinner.”
I blinked fast. I mean my sisters would bring me food if they knew I was working late. Even Tiffany did it when necessary. Both Holden and his brother brought me food from time to time since their dad owned the best steak restaurant in southern California. Fred certainly never made sure I was fed. Well, except for the few dates we went on in the beginning of our relationship. But I was not going to act surprised. The man was trying to woo me. He needed to earn my awe.
“Thank you,” I said instead. Before I could say anymore, a crash came from the bar. Without saying a word, I sped out of the office, Theo not far behind me. “What happened?”
Loren pointed to one of the waiters standing over a big red mess on the concrete floor. “The crate cracked as we picked it up. It's the screw top selection from Sterling. That’s our entire supply for the month.”
A crate of our bestselling wine was now a giant, sticky, pink mess. I counted to five. Counting to ten would take too long, and I was likely to start crying. Not a good look for the boss.
Loren started ordering the staff around so the cleaning could get under way.
