“Rooftop access,” Josie told her.
“Separate from the stairs that lead to the apartments?” Eve asked.
“Yeah. There used to be a rooftop bar, but I had to shut it down because I couldn’t afford another bartender to work up there.”
“You had a rooftop bar, and you shut it down?” Eve’s eyebrows crawled up her forehead.
“It wasn’t as popular as you would think.”
“Show me.”
“Okay.” Josie led the way down the hall, unlocking the door that led to the roof. “Don’t get your hopes up, though.”
She went up first, with Eve walking behind her, heels clicking against the wooden steps. The stairs doubled back and forth, ending in a black steel door that led onto the rooftop patio. Josie pushed it open and held it for Eve, who walked past her onto the roof.
The space was about half the size of the bar below, divided on the side to hide the HVAC and other mechanical units up here. It had a bare concrete floor, with waist-high walls around the perimeter and a covered bar area against the far wall. Remnants from its former life had been piled everywhere, rusty stools and plastic milk crates filled with trash and covered in bird poop.
Eve walked it end to end, seemingly lost in thought. Josie was embarrassed for even bringing her up here. Once, this space had been nice, but now it was more of an eyesore than a potential source of income.
“It hasn’t been used in years,” she said apologetically.
“I can see that,” Eve responded, walking to the front barrier, where she stood with her arms clasped over her chest, staring out at the city before her. “How would you describe the average clientele before your father passed away?”
“Um, people looking for a drink after work mostly.” She thought of Dougie and Sal as she came to stand beside Eve. The view wasn’t anything to write home about. They were only three stories up, after all. But the fresh air was nice, and after dark, the city really glowed. Sometimes, she came up here to think. Or she had before she started working so many hours. Now, her only night off was Monday, when the bar was closed.
“Mostly beer drinkers or cocktails?”
“Beer.”
“Mm.” Eve’s response gave no indication if this was what she had expected or wanted to hear. What was she planning for Swanson’s? If Josie really let herself think about the absolute power she’d given Eve when she signed theDo Overcontract, it made her break out in a cold sweat. Deep down, she wanted to believe Eve wouldn’t do anything she would hate, but was that really true, or was Josie just being naïve?
The sun beat down on them, drawing out golden highlights in Eve’s brown hair. She’d left it down today, sleek and straight over her shoulders. It softened her look…just barely. She turned her head to look at Josie, and she saw the same honeyed tones in the chocolate depths of her eyes and in her tanned skin. Eve Marlow in the sunshine was a golden goddess.
Josie’s gaze dipped to her pink lips and then to the pulse pounding in the hollow of her throat. Her own pulse jumped in response, spreading that all too familiar warmth through her as she dragged her gaze back to Eve’s, only to find her watching Josie with that laser-like intensity she did so well. She had totally been watching Josie check her out, and she should probably feel embarrassed about that. She definitely should, but she didn’t.
Not when Eve’s pupils were blown with the same lust currently burning Josie up from head to toe.Holy shit.
She grinned, half-drunk off the hormones racing through her body. Sparks were good. Sparks were fun. Sparks were…inconvenient when she felt them for a woman who had the power to make or break her business and almost certainly had no intention on acting on her attraction to Josie, not as long as they had to work together. And maybe not even after, because somehow she imagined she wasn’t quite Eve’s type, whatever her type might be.
“We should get back downstairs,” Eve said, breaking the trance they seemed to have fallen into.
“Right.”
“You should be using this space.”
“I should?”
“Yes.” Eve turned away from the railing, her shoulder bumping Josie’s as she led the way back to the stairs, a silky strand of her hair brushing Josie’s overheated skin, causing goose bumps to rise in its wake.
Yeah, sparks were fun, all right, even if she never got the chance to let them ignite.
8
“Need a beer?”
Eve looked up from her laptop to find Josie standing in front of her, palms against the bar, friendly smile on her face. Swanson’s had opened an hour ago, but thus far, she and Josie were still the only ones in the place. “Sure.”
“Same one? The White Horse pilsner?”
