The coal eyeliner and pointy teeth I’m going to help him put on later will also help.
“Pretty sure this is pleather.” He flashes a grin.
“I think the term is faux leather, and so is mine.”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s sexy as fuck. If I drop anything tonight, just blame it on your tits.”
I snort out a laugh. “This new, unedited version of you is wild. You’ve just had all those dirty thoughts running through your head all this time?”
A cocky grin spreads across his lips as his gaze trails down my body. “And you didn’t?”
“Oh, I definitely did. But until recently, I just thought it was very one-sided.”
He closes the distance between us. “I fought them, but I’ve always had feelings for you. I just don’t think I realized it until I heard your shrill voice yelling at me over the phone for ghosting you for twelve years.”
“My voice is not shrill.”
He smiles. “No, it’s actually pretty fucking perfect.”
I look up at him. I’m so gone for those soft green eyes and freckled cheeks. I can’t believe I ever thought I’d be able to let him go. Now, I just want to stand on that bar top tonight and scream, “He’s mine! That hot vampire right there—he’s all mine.”
Shit. That reminds me…
“Hen and Zara are coming tonight.”
He nods. “You thought they might. Didn’t you sort of tell Hendrix he had to?”
“Yeah, but that was ages ago. Before?—”
He smirks. “Before you married his former best friend and then purposely avoided telling him?”
“Yeah. That.”
He places his hands on either side of my face, taking care not to mess up the makeup I spent forever applying. “It’s going to be okay.”
“You sure?”
He nods. “Like the others, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled. But if not, we’ll handle it. Just like we have with everything else that’s come our way. I told you from the start, we are a team, and nothing will ever change that.”
A team. I’ve never been on one before.
I avoided sports in high school. I never joined the choir. Even at the bar, I was always the boss’s daughter until I eventually took over.
Even in my own family, I’ve felt sort of set apart. Different.
But I like the idea of being part of something with Hollis.
A team. A partnership.
A marriage.
The bar is quiet when we arrive. A few employees volunteered to come in earlier and decorate, but they left hours ago.
It’s just Hollis and me.
I go to flip on the lights behind the bar, but his hand stops me. “Wait,” Hollis says.
“What? Why?”
