“Yeah, I wish.” He glanced around before his eyes fixed on something.
I turned my head in the same direction to find Alejandro talking to three women sitting at a high top table in the corner. They were laughing at something he said. There was no doubt our boss was a charmer, and for some reason, that didn’t seem to sit well with my friend.
Turning back, I looked at Ben as he stared that way. When his eyes narrowed a bit, I chuckled.
“You okay over there, buddy?”
Ben shifted his eyes to me. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
He wasn’t fine. His spine had straightened, his jaw was tense, and the happy-go-lucky smile he wore all the time was nowhere in sight. He’d made it no secret that he was into our boss, and there were times when I thought maybe Alejandro returned his feelings. Their banter was confusing, but this spoke volumes.
“I’m gonna go grab some more napkins from the back,” he muttered.
I looked down at the pack of five hundred I’d just unloaded around the bar. Before I could say anything, Ben’s path to the back room lead him around the table where Alejandro would see him.
He looked up at Ben as he approached. Ben, who wasn’t smiling, never looked his way.
I’d never really paid attention to their dynamic until now, and it was fascinating. It was like watching a live soap opera.
As I stood there and watched, Alejandro’s demeanor changed completely. His smile slipped a little, and I’d bet he had no idea what they’d just said to him. What they didn’t know was all his attention had just walked into the back without even a side glance at him. Alejandro looked at them, pointed over his shoulder in the same direction Ben had gone.
As he stepped back from the table, one of the women slid a cocktail napkin across the table to him. He looked at it, smiled and nodded, then tucked it in his pocket. When he turned to walk away, he glanced over at the bar, catching my eye.
I tipped my head back to acknowledge him, then raised my brows.
Alejandro took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose before disappearing into the back.
My attention was drawn away from whatever the fuck was going on when business started to pick up just as Anna came in the front door.
“Hey Nick, how are you?” she said, glancing around.
“I’m good. How about you?”
“Good.” She scanned the bar again, then looked a little disappointed. “Dad said he needed me tonight. Baseball requires popcorn, evidently.” She continued to look around as she leaned on the bar. “Is he in the back?”
Before I could come up with an excuse for her not to go back there, Ben came walking out carrying three bottles of vodka. I grinned and shook my head because, by some miracle, his smile had returned until he spotted Anna. Then his eyes went wide before he corrected his expression.
Oh fuck. There was a story behind that change-up. But I focused my attention back on Anna. “Yeah, I think so.”
Fortunately for me, a customer needed a drink. I’d be asking all kinds of nosy and invasive questions later. Payback was hell, and I was looking forward to it.
Things didn’t slow down until almost eleven. I had my mind on Preston when Ben started his questioning, but this time, I was ready for him with a boatload of my own.
“You never told me how things went last night?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
“I hate to disappoint you, but we talked about his plans and drove by some properties he’s considering.” And kissed the fuck out of each other.
Ben definitely looked disappointed. “Seriously? That’s it? Mr. Hot-As-Fuck demands your attention, and all you do is talk?”
I grinned at him. “You want details, then you’re gonna have to spill some, too. You went out of here all grumpy and came back wearing a smile. Wanna share with the class what that was all about?”
I’d never seen Ben turn that shade of red before, making me laugh.
“That’suh,” he said, looking around, “a, uh, story for another time. Plus, you haven’t spilled your beans yet,” he muttered under his breath as he continued to stack empty beer mugs in the dish tray under the bar.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”
Anna came out from the back with her dad by her side. She raised her hand to wave goodbye, then fixed her eyes on Ben. “Bye Ben. See you later.”
