“I’d be happy to. Nick here can keep an eye on the bar. And the door,” Ben teased.
I just nodded at the asshole. “Yeah, you go help the boss.”
Before he walked away, Alejandro stepped over to me, holding some papers in his hands. Looking up, his knowing expression made me wonder if this might have to do with Preston.
“I’ve adjusted the schedule for the week after Thanksgiving. We’ll be fine for a few days while you’re gone, so don’t worry.”
My brow furrowed, looking at him. “While I’m gone? Where am I going? I’m not going anywhere.”
Alejandro started to reply when the hair on the back of my neck stood up. “Way to blow a surprise, buddy.”
I closed my eyes for a second as a small shiver ran through my body at the sound of his low register. Fuck, he was voice porn.
Alejandro chuckled and threw up his hands. “Sorry, man. Thought you’d already…” he trailed off, and curled his lips in as if to stop himself. He put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll let Pres take it from here. Come on, Benjamin, we have work to do in the storeroom.”
“Thanks, buddy,” he muttered sarcastically as Alejandro led Ben away.
I shifted my gaze to Preston, who sat on a stool, leaning toward me. “Hey.”
One word from him had my face heating up. Memories of our kisses made my pulse race as I looked down at his lips. When he caught me staring, his smirk snapped me out of it.
“Oh, hey.” I smiled as I leaned across the bar to be closer to him. “What are you doing here? Isn’t it almost time for you to open?”
Preston reached out and put his hand on mine, instantly making my breath hitch. I hated the walls I’d put up between us. Giving him a kiss right now felt like a good idea.
“Simmer down there, sexy barkeep.” His smirk was doing things to my pants. He might as well have shoved his hand down my jeans. Would he do that? Take me in hand and…
I released a heavy sigh as he chuckled at me. “Got a few minutes to talk?”
Glancing around at the nearly empty bar, and the two guys watching a rerun of a classic baseball game on the big screen television, I shrugged. “I don’t know if I can. I’m kinda busy right now.”
Preston burst out laughing as he kept his hand on my arm. I smiled and glanced down at where we were connected. God, I wanted those long fingers all over me. I bet he was amazing when he—
“What are you thinking about so hard over there?”
My eyes snapped up from my arm. His handsome face and the dimple in his chin stole my attention while his eyes held the promise of unending pleasure. It caused a wave of heat and need rise from deep in my belly.
And I had to stop before I lost control right here in the bar.
I cleared my throat as I stared at him. “You know exactly what I’m thinking about. How big it’s going to be.”
He laughed again, making his dark brown eyes sparkle. “I guess that’ll depend on you, and how good you are.”
It was my turn to laugh. “I’m very good. Don’t you worry one second about that.”
Somehow, we managed to inch closer to one another. Preston still had his hand on my arm, but now he was skating those long fingers over my exposed flesh. “I take it you’ve changed your mind about my proposal?”
My brow furrowed. “What? No. I haven’t changed my mind. I still want to design your building. What makes you think I changed my mind?”
Preston glowered at me and sat back. He looked around the still empty bar and lowered his voice. “You just said you were wondering how big it’s going to be, and that you’re very good.” He looked at me expectantly. “That’s why I thought you changed your mind.”
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t. I was wondering about how big the building was going to be.”
He stared at me with absolutely no expression, as if he were frozen. So I went on.
“And you said how big it was would depend on how good my designs were, and I promised you I was really good at drawing up plans for remodeling old buildings.”
Preston continued to stare at me.
