Eve took a step backward, jaw clenching. “I don’t do bars. I’m sorry.”
* * *
“Don’t thinkof it as a bar. Think of it as my home. Please, Eve. I grew up here. It’s all I have left of my parents.” Josie felt a hot flush spread over her skin and the prick of tears behind her eyes. “Please.”
“I can’t.” Eve’s voice seemed to have shrunk, no longer edged in steel but something else, something Josie couldn’t place. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m doing everything I can to help you with these kittens. Please at least consider helping me in return.” She knew immediately it was the wrong thing to say, and truly, she had given her help to Eve without expecting anything in return. Her plea to save the bar was something completely separate.
Eve’s nostrils flared, her iron-clad armor back in place. “Season two has already been filmed, and we aren’t accepting applications yet for season three. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t help you.”
“Fine,” Josie acquiesced, for tonight anyway. But surely fate had brought Eve Marlow to Swanson’s tonight for a reason. Right now, Eve felt like her last hope, and Josie could be as persistent as a cat trying to catch the red dot from a laser pointer when she wanted something.
But first, she needed to get back to the bar, and Eve needed to get the kittens home. She settled the bundle of kittens inside a box she often used to transport kittens to and from vet appointments. Then she lifted the box of supplies while Eve picked up the box of kittens, and together they walked downstairs. Eve called an Uber, and it arrived almost as soon as they made it outside. She opened the back door, speaking briefly with the driver before tucking the box of kittens inside.
Once the supplies were stowed, Eve turned to her. “You’ll be in touch tomorrow after you’ve spoken to the rest of your contacts?”
“I will.”
They stared at each other for a beat of silence before Eve said, “Thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome.” She watched as Eve slid into the backseat of the car, somehow managing to make even Josie’s black T-shirt look stylish. She was everything and nothing Josie would have expected her to be—cool and businesslike, at times downright intimidating, but beneath it, there was a softness to her that Josie hadn’t anticipated.
She hadn’t expected this attraction either, and it was inconvenient, to say the least. She didn’t want to like anything about Eve, not her reluctance to keep the kittens, not her refusal to even consider helping Swanson’s, and certainly not those piercing brown eyes that seemed to see right into Josie’s soul.
The animal rescuer in her felt intensely uncomfortable sending those vulnerable kittens off with someone who had threatened to have them euthanized, someone with absolutely no experience in caring for them. But she didn’t exactly have a choice, and deep down, her gut said Eve would never harm them. If nothing else, Josie had always trusted her gut impression of people.
Turning, she walked back inside, where she found Adam deep in conversation with the man who’d hit on her earlier, and from the look of things, Adam might have a chance with him after all. Kaia sat on her usual stool, texting on her phone, the only other customer in the bar.
Josie’s stomach dropped. A few years ago, this place would have been packed. Something had changed since her father died. She suspected the influx of newer, trendier bars in the neighborhood had played a part, but surely her inexperience was a factor too. Maybe her customers could sense that Swanson’s wasn’t her true passion the way it had been for her father. Maybe she was singlehandedly ruining everything her family had worked so hard for.
“How did it go?” Kaia asked, interrupting Josie from her spiraling thoughts.
“Okay, I guess.” Josie made her way behind the bar, tapping Adam’s shoulder to let him know she was back but not wanting to interrupt whatever he had going on with the sad businessman…who had a fresh tumbler of whiskey in his hands. Josie filled a glass of water and plunked it on the bar in front of him. “Drink this next,” she told him with a gentle smile.
He returned it with one of his own, giving her a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” she muttered as she made her way down to Kaia. “Please tell me I’m not old enough to be called ma’am.”
“Thirty-two?” Kaia looked her up and down, lips pursed. “I hate to say it, babe, but I think you’ve entered ma’am territory.”
“Shut up. You’re only a year younger than me.”
Kaia’s lips twitched with amusement as she sipped her beer. “Tell me more about Miss Television Star with the rescue kittens. Did you get her number or what?”
“I already had her number, actually. She’s…I don’t know, all business, I guess. She really doesn’t want to keep those kittens.”
“Can’t blame her there.” Kaia’s nose wrinkled. “You know I love you, Jo, but I can’t imagine doing what you do for those kittens, being up with them all night? Wiping their butts? It’s a lot to take on.”
“I guess.” She blew out a breath, checking to see that the sad businessman was indeed drinking his water. “On her show, she goes into struggling businesses and gives them a makeover. She fixes them up and gives them a fresh start.” Josie paused, scraping her thumbnail against a rough spot on the bar top. “I asked her to save Swanson’s.”
“Save Swanson’s?” Kaia’s eyebrows rose. “What are you talking about?”
“Look around, Kai.” Josie hadn’t told her friends how dire things had gotten, but they had eyes. It was no secret Swanson’s was struggling.
“Are you in trouble?” Kaia leaned forward, dark eyes locked on Josie’s. “Honey, why didn’t you tell me? Shit, and you’ve been letting me run this tab forever.”
“I don’t want your money. It’s not about that. I love having you guys here. I just need customers. I don’t know where they’ve all gone, really, but they’re not here anymore.”
