“I was. I mean, I think it’s a cool name anyway. But yeah. Of course it means that.”
“But… you said it was a placeholder.”
“Yeah, we can change it if you like, if you have a better idea. Because—”
“No.” I stand up on my toes and press my mouth to his. “I love it. I loveyou.”
“Fuck,” he murmurs. He picks me up by the waist and sets me down on the counter behind the bar. I wrap my legs around him and kiss him hard, sliding a hand under the soft cotton of his T-shirt to drag my nails over his warm skin.
“I wish I could take you right here,” he says roughly, and I giggle in response. Because that would be so damn hot, fucking him right here where I met him. You know, if my brother and all these people weren’t around.
“Jesus, you two,” Cory mutters beside us. “This is a little inappropriate for the workplace.”
“Yeah, it is.” Myles draws away from me. His eyes track over my face in thought. “You know, you told me you don’t date bartenders.”
“Well, yeah. But that was just some stupid rule…”
“I’m sorry,” Myles says, twisting to face Cory, “but I have to quit.”
Cory’s eyebrows spring up. “For real?”
“Yeah. It’s time for me to do something else.”
“Hey,” I say, squeezing Myles’s shoulder. “What are you doing?”
He glances back at me, smiling calmly. “It’s alright, I have a little money set aside.”
“Okay, but don’t quit because of me.”
“I’m not. Honestly? I don’t like who I am here—who people think I am. I’ve been telling you to be your true self and then I come to work and put on a show just to make a few tips…” He shakes his head. “I don’t like myself here. Besides”—he nuzzles back against my neck—“I hate going to work at night when I’d rather be in bed with you.”
Cory screws up his face, backing away with a laugh. “Alright, I’ve heard enough. Get out of here.”
Myles laughs too, his eyes lighting up as he gazes at me. “You want to get out of here?”
I nod eagerly.
“Your place or mine?”
“Mine?” I go to grab my purse, and that’s when I remember. Somehow, in the chaos of everything that happened this evening, I forgot what I did this afternoon. I glance back at Myles, feeling myself waver. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, a grand romantic gesture to win him back, but now—
“It’s a long way to your place. But I guess my place isn’t that close, either.” He sighs. “I wish we’d got that apartment we talked about so I could take you there right now.”
My lips open in disbelief. It’s like he can read my mind. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I’d love to be able to take you back to our own place, to wake up beside you…” He shrugs. “I know it’s pretty full-on, given we’ve only just made up, but—”
“No.” A nervous sort of happiness ripples through me as I grab my purse. “Come with me.”
39
Iopen the door to the new apartment with my heart in my mouth. It takes me a moment, fumbling along the inside wall, to find the light switch. The empty space floods with light as we both step inside.
My gaze sweeps over the room and I’m pleased to find I love it as much as I did when I was here this afternoon, a nervous wreck. I’m not much better now, though; apprehension swirls in my stomach as I watch Myles, waiting for his reaction. He slips his hands into his pockets and walks away from me, casting his eyes about the place. When I see a tiny line form on his brow, I’m gripped by the urge to explain, to tell him why I did such a monumental thing without him here, and that we don’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to, because—shit—it really looks like he doesn’t want to, the way he’s wandering from the bathroom to the bedroom to the kitchen, taking everything in but saying nothing.
I’m rooted to the spot, my pulse drumming in a mad rhythm as he finally turns back to me. I feel that same sense of vulnerability, like everything I’m thinking and feeling and wanting is so close to the surface and he can see it all.
Just breathe.
