“Sounds good.”
He left and I continued my task. I’d barely finished when I was interrupted, again. Clyde poked his head over the booth ledge and gave me his typical blank look. “You’re done. Want to talk about your schedule?”
I’d gotten used to it after one day, but even with Greta’s warning, he was difficult to read. Like now, I didn’t know if he thought I’d done a great job or a horrible one.
“Yeah,” I replied, sliding out of the plastic booth and following him to his office. It stood in the back, beyond the U-shaped bar. He pointed to the blue plastic chair that had seen better days and chose the desk chair opposite me. A large burgundy binder that took up the entire desk held a calendar, and my god, my heart picked up pace at how organized it was. “Is that how you schedule staff?”
“Yes, why?”
“I love it.” I leaned forward and admired his penmanship. Huh. Clyde was more my style than I’d thought. “You have great handwriting.”
“Thank you.” I swore he blushed a bit. “Now, you did good work today. Greta said you were focused and easy to work with and she didn’t lie. I need help on weekends in the summer and, say, two weeknights. The school year will be busier, specifically during football season. The hours would increase then. You cannot serve behind the bar for another two years, but you can deliver to the tables, so I’ll schedule you on the floor each time. Does that sound okay?”
“Yeah, that sounds great, Clyde! Thank you.”
He gave me a semi-smile and pointed to the door. “I’ll see you Friday and Saturday, three o’clock?”
“You got it.”
“Welcome to the team, Kenzie Hill. You can leave for today.”
I fought the urge to chuckle as I left his office. I was going to cross offget a jobandget my schedulefrom my list the second I got back. With a huge smile, I waved to the remaining people in the bar and Felix held up a hand. He was sweet, almost innocent in how he flirted, and communicated in soft tones. I didn’t get butterflies and my legs didn’t press together when he was around, but I did enjoy chatting with him.
He was the complete opposite of Tanner, who was tall, hard, extreme and delicious.Shit. Tanner is delicious.The walk to their house was only about ten minutes and it was still light out so I headed there with more pep in my step than before. I could lie to myself and say it was because I loved my new job and schedule, but I knew it was Tanner. The heat in his eyes before he’d left…the almost predatory way he’d looked at me. Yup. We would have a fun night before he left.And knock off another number from my literal someone-to-do list.
I walked, a little breathless from my brisk pace, and found him relaxing on the couch in just a pair of loose shorts. His hair was messy in the perfect way, his jaw hinting at a day’s beard and,god,I wanted to kiss him. He brought his gaze to my face and smiled so big I felt it in my toes. He spoke first, his deep voice like a siren, calling me to him. “A guy could get used to you coming home to him.”
“Yeah?” I moved toward him, a moth to a flame, and stopped when the TV caught my attention. “Uh, what the hell?”
“Oh. This.” He chuckled and curled his fingers around my belt loop, pulling me onto his lap. I straddled him, him bringing his hands straight to my ass and wasting no time exploring my thighs. He dragged his nose down my neck, my body betraying any resistance I had, and he nipped at my ear. “Delicatessen.”
“Huh?” Maybe it was the lethal combination of his lips and touches, but the word didn’t make sense. “What?”
“I can’t believe you didn’t have this on your precious list, Ken. Our next film.Delicatessen.We have to write six paragraphs on how we felt about the visuals of it.”
“Fuck.” I leaned my forehead against his, grinding my hips against him before sliding down. “I forgot.”
“When pigs fly. You forgot?”
“Shut up. I blame you.” I arched up and grabbed his tousled hair, loving his throaty sounds of pleasure. “You’re distracting.”
“You’redistracting.”
We fought for control, kissing and tasting each other with a frenzy that didn’t make sense. He’d left my bedroom less than twenty hours ago. We shouldn’t be this crazed, but, fuck it. “Tanner,” I breathed, biting down on his ear lobe. “I smell like fried food and beer. I’d like to shower. Dare I ask you to join me in five minutes?”
“Literally can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.” He held on to my hips and dug his fingers into my skin. “God, thinking about your soapy body rubbing against mine… You might kill me, woman.”
I giggled. Yup. I had a high-pitched giggle that sounded nothing like me. I hopped off him. “Five minutes.”
“I’m counting down the seconds, Kenny. You better hustle.”
I did hustle. I took the stairs two at a time, stripped out of my bar-scented clothes and threw them into the hamper in my room. I used mouthwash before turning the extremely hot water on, my body on fire with anticipation.Will he lick every part of me, slowly?
Yes, please.
I washed my hair, my face, and used my favorite floral body wash. I was still alone in the shower.Where is he?Worry took root and I second-guessed my invitation. Had I crossed a line, asking him to join me? Was that not part of our list game?
No. He wants me. I saw it.
