Why did I do that to him? Why did I do that to myself?
He clears his throat. “I need to get back to work. Holler if you need anything.”
He walks away, his strides long, as if he wants to put as much distance between us as he can.
Guilt, so much fucking guilt, shatters through me.
I’ve already spilled a beer on myself and messed up three orders.
One waitress keeps shooting me death glares.
The other is giving Maliki all her orders after my screwup.
So much for proving myself tonight.
I’m blaming it on my conversation with Maliki. It completely threw me off my game.
I know when the bachelor party arrives. They come straight in my direction and are annoying as hell. With every shot, they have a stupid saying.
“Here’s to losing your freedom!”
“To having your balls on a leash!”
“To having only one pussy for the rest of your life!”
I’m positive Satan invented bachelor parties.
I’m never getting married again.
Fourteen
Maliki
The bar is slammed tonight.
Money is flowing.
People are enjoying themselves.
Normally, I wouldn’t complain.
It’s what you want in your business.
What I don’t want is every motherfucking man flirting and drooling over my new bartender, roommate, my … whatever the fuck Sierra is to me.
Friend?
I shake my head, attempting to clear my thoughts, but it doesn’t help.
Shit.
Now, I wish I hadn’t started the no drinking on the job rule.
My night is a circle of actions.
Ask someone what they want. Look at Sierra. Make their drink. Look at Sierra. Give them their drink. Look at Sierra.
She’s smiling, and the men love it. No doubt she’s killing it with tips, but she isn’t overly flirty or eating up the attention. What drives me insane is that they perceive her friendliness as interest.
Yeah, fucking right.
I’ve seen Sierra flirt.
I know what it looks like when she’s interested in someone.
Because she does it with me.
She’s flirted with me since her illegal ass sauntered into my bar. At first, it was almost comical. She couldn’t flirt worth shit, and though I was drawn to her, I never planned on anything developing with us. She was legal and, even though she tried to hide it, innocent.
So damn innocent.
Some men love innocence.
Me? Not so much.
Innocence leads to confusion.
Innocence wants more from you than a simple fuck here and there.
Innocence gets their heart broken.
So, yeah, that’s why I steer clear of innocent blondes.
Although, Sierra isn’t exactly innocent anymore.
I’ve done a decent job of controlling myself until I see a guy take hold of her elbow. Sierra jerks away, and he grabs her again—this time with a creepy-ass smirk.
All I see is red as I drop the glass in my hand and charge over to them. I’m at her side in seconds, and I reach across the bar to shove him away.
“What the fuck, dude?” the guy yells, catching his balance.
I point to him. “Keep your filthy-ass hands off my employees.”
He gets closer, and the booze on his breath reeks. “Dude, I was only talking to her.”
I don’t have time for this bullshit. “You order your drinks from me the rest of the night, do you hear me?”
The scrawny guy perks up his chest—an attempt to look intimidating, but it does the opposite. “How do you know she doesn’t want me to touch her? She’s been teasing me all night.”
Sierra rolls her eyes, not bothering to look my way, and grabs the guy another beer. “Here.” She hands it to him. “I’ll add it to your tab.”
“Thanks, gorgeous.” He winks at her and turns his attention to me. He tips his glass my way, swings around, and walks away.
Sierra smacks her arm into my stomach to block me from jumping across the bar and kicking his ass.
Her eyes are narrowed when she looks at me. “This is your bar, Maliki. You can’t pull that with customers.”
“I can if they’re making you uncomfortable,” I grind out.
“I can handle my own.” She blows out a noisy breath and crosses her arms.
“Doesn’t mean you have to or will under my watch.”
“Oh, really?” Anger burns across her face, which confuses the fuck out of me. “Maybe you shouldn’t be hanging out with a woman you’ve hooked up with on my watch.” She scoffs. “Literally.”
“What?”
She makes a sweeping gesture toward the woman parked in the corner on my side of the bar.
Oh fuck.
“I recognize her,” she hisses. “She might not be moaning your name while you’re banging her on your desk, but I saw her. That’s the woman you were screwing the night I came over.”
Oh, so she wants to talk about that night.
I’ve been dying to do this.
This is the wrong place, wrong time, but here goes.
“Why did you come here that night?” My tone is even, and I lower my arm to stop her from ducking underneath it and scurrying away. “We hadn’t talked in fuck knows how long. In fact, it was the night before your wedding.”
She clenches her slender jaw, and a blush rises up her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter.”
“If it doesn’t matter, then why don’t you tell me?”
“We have a crowd of people waiting. I have men to flirt with.” Her lips curl. “And you have a woman you’ve fucked to serve.” She smacks my shoulder. “Gotta run, boss.”
I fasten my hand around her arm, stopping her again. “Why did you come to the bar?” I grit out, wanting the answer more than my next breath.
She came for a reason. A woman doesn’t visit another man the night before her wedding for no goddamn reason.
“Tell me.”
She wriggles free from my grasp and looks away from me. “I needed a drink.”
“You needed a drink?” I snort. “Bull-fucking-shit. Your husband might have bought your lies, but I see right through you.”
She shrugs, her voice almost sounding resentful. “Whatever. I need to get back to work and make some cash.”
Reality slaps me, reminding me again this isn’t the place. I shake my head and return to my customers. Penny grins and signals to her empty glass.
Penny works for one of my beer distributors. We clicked, went out a few times, and fucked a whole lot of times. That ran smooth for nearly a year. I’d made it clear I wasn’t looking for a relationship, and everything was perfect until she developed feelings and hit me with the L-word. She’d said it numerous times during sex—those don’t count—but never over a meal. So, I had to end things with her.
We didn’t talk for months before the eve of Sierra’s wedding. She randomly showed up, and I needed to clear my head—to forget about Sierra.
And because I kept needing to forget about Sierra, I used Penny as that buffer—until I realized it wasn’t fair to her. I haven’t seen her since the night I broke it off, though we both left in an understanding that we’d remain friends.
I didn’t invite her tonight, haven’t spoken to her in months, but I can’t kick her out. She’s done nothing wrong.
Friends don’t ignore friends, but I’ve tried to stay clear of her the best I can tonight. It’s difficult, considering she keeps ordering drinks and food.
I make her a vodka soda, and before I get the chance to walk away, she seizes my arm in her hand, her fingers dancing along my skin, and leans forward, her cleavage spilling out.
“Are you doing anything tonight?” she whispers.
“Working and then crashing,” I answer, bored.
“You want some company?”
“Nope. I’m pretty t
ired.”
“Oh, come on. You never turn me down when I’m in town, and we need to catch up. It’s been a while.”
I jerk away and take a step back. It’s just my luck that when I glance to the other side of the bar, Sierra’s attention is pinned to us. Her face is pinched together as she gives me a stony glare.
Of motherfucking course.
“I’ve been busy,” I practically fume.
She narrows her brown eyes at me. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing.”
She motions to Sierra. “Is there funny business going on with you and prep-academy girl over there?” She laughs. “Where did you find her? She looks like she belongs anywhere but here.”
I grimace at the truth in her observation. She’s right. Sierra doesn’t belong in a run-down bar like this.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, feigning disinterest. “She’s my employee, and I want to make sure she’s okay.” The last thing I need is Penny starting shit with Sierra.
Her eyes latch on to Sierra, who’s turned our back to us, and her face turns guarded. “Liar. You’ve been undressing her all night, staring at her ass, slamming shit around anytime a man talks to her. I know what it looks like to want someone. You’ve given me those looks plenty of times.”
The way I’ve looked at her will never match how I look at Sierra. Never.
“I’m busy, Penny,” I say. “Enjoy your night.”
She sighs loudly and doesn’t speak until I shift on my heels to leave. “What a shame. A man like you falling for a woman like her.”
I whip around. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“I know who she is.” She plays with a toothpick in her mouth and grins. “The mayor’s daughter. She might fuck you, Maliki, but she’ll never keep you.”
“And you could never keep me, Penny.”
Fuck this night.
I wish Liz or Mikey were here. I’d ask them to take over, so I could go upstairs, have a drink, throw something, run a mile.
Anything to forget Penny’s words.
Anything to stop thinking about a woman I can’t have.
“Sit your cute ass down. You’ve had a long night.”
The bar is closed, and it seems working the rest of the night has cooled off Sierra. And me. Neither one of us has mentioned Penny, and I have no issue with that.
Sierra snorts. “Uh, you did most of the work and were here earlier than me, meaning you’ve had a longer night.”
My attention fixes on her, and I fight with myself on whether to say what I want to tell her. Against my better judgment, because I feel it needs to be said, I do. “You know, you don’t have to work here. I’ll loan you the money, help out, whatever to get you back on your feet. If you need an advance for the bar renovation, I can do that, too.”
She winces. “Where is this coming from?” She’s silent for a few moments. “Is this your way of telling me you don’t want me working here? Did your spread-legged friend convince you I don’t belong here?” She tosses the rag she was cleaning the bar with down into the sink.
I love seeing pissed off, attitude-filled Sierra.
Not so much when it’s thrown at me.
“Penny?” I shake my head. Just when I hoped we could go without mentioning her. “Penny has nothing to do with this. What I mean is, you can find something better for yourself … for your image.”
“Fuck my image,” she seethes. “And fuck you for letting your fuck buddy, Penny, change your mind about me. If I’m a burden to you, I’ll move my needing-a-better-image ass out. If you don’t want me around for whatever lame reason you’re thinking, I’ll quit.” She shakes her head and sucks in a deep breath to keep her voice steady. “I mean, I don’t understand why she’s so bothered with my working here. I’m not stopping her from screwing you again. Call her over.” She flicks her hand through the air and slides it over the middle of the bar. “Fuck her right here, right now if you want.”
I’ve never seen Sierra so pissed off, and it’s fucking hot as hell.
My cock jerks in my jeans. Not with the thought of fucking Penny there, but with the idea of seeing Sierra spread wide, allowing me to have my way with her. Sierra’s back hits the bar when I crowd toward her.
“Is that what you want?” I say, out of patience. “For me to fuck her right here, right now, in front of you?”
Her eyes widen, my words startling her, and she chews on her lower lip. “Not particularly, but it’s whatever. There’s nothing between us, right?” She nudges my shoulder, but I stay firm in my spot, only inches away from her. “No, you’ll screw every other woman in this town though.”
A mix of emotions flashes across Sierra’s gorgeous face—frustration, desire, hunger. I wouldn’t be surprised if mine resembled the same.
I lean in, my lips touching her cheek. “What’s up with your fascination with my sex life?”
She gasps when I cup my hands on the sides of her waist and prop her up onto the bar—exactly where she told me to fuck Penny. Her legs spread, producing the perfect amount of space for me as I shift between them. She shudders, goose bumps fluttering over her skin, when my hand settles on her thigh.
Her attention drifts to my hand, but I don’t move it, and she fights to keep her voice steady. “I’m not obsessed with your sex life.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Call me crazy for being curious about the chick you boned in your office, which I’m sure wasn’t the first time that happened. Hell, you’ve probably screwed her on this bar.”
I remain silent.
It’s the truth.
“Wow,” she says. She shoves me back, drops off the bar, shudders, and scrapes her hand over her body. “Let me get the whore germs off me—both yours and hers.”
I clench my hands. “Do I ask you if you’ve slept with anyone who comes in here?”
She flings her arms up, and she’s so close that her hand almost smacks me. “I’ve hardly touched anyone in this godforsaken town!”
“Good.”
“Unlike you.”
“Babe, you have no idea what I’ve done with who, so quit that imagination floating through your brain and stop assuming I’m fucking every woman who smiles at me.” I draw out a breath. “You know, I’m a little confused on why you even care.”
I move closer, and she backs into the bar again. She doesn’t stop me from repeating my actions from earlier—grabbing her waist, hoisting her onto the bar, and sliding my body between her toned legs.
I capture the back of her neck, dragging her closer to my face, and my fingers caress her skin. “Do you want to be one of those women, Sierra? Is that why you care so much?”
Her breaths come out in tiny pants. Her eyes flash down to mine and turn wild as they drink me in. She’s turned on, and fuck, so am I.
I ease my hand down her neck, cupping her chin, and I tilt it away, giving me space to brush my lips along the curve of her jaw. Her skin is soft against my lips. I skim kisses up her neck, feeling her chest hitch against mine, and suck on the spot below her ear. I sink my fingers into her bare thighs and spread her legs wider, noticing a flash of her panties underneath her short shorts.
This is a bad fucking idea.
It’s a line I swore I’d never cross with her.
I’m not the man for her. She needs a professional, nine-to-five man who wears fucking loafers. Not me, not a man destined to spend his life here and a man who can’t give her the life her parents have all these years.
“Is that it?” I ask, my voice harsh as I whisper against her skin. I can feel my dick growing harder with every touch. “Is that why you’re so pissed off?”
She trembles. “I work here. That’s why.”
“Bullshit.” I pull back, my hands tightening on her thighs. “I can read you like my favorite book, Sierra. I see you—the real you—and as much as you fight to hide every thought running through that pretty little head from me, I see it. Let me give you an example
: Right now, I see how pissed you are at me.” I lower my tone. “I also see how much you want me.”
She reaches down to dig her fingers into my hand resting on her thigh. “You’re so full of yourself.”
I raise a brow, staring up at her. “Am I lying?”
“Maybe I can see through you. Maybe you’re the one who wants me.”
“Trust me, you can’t read me.”
She laughs. “Oh, but I can. Do you think I don’t notice your jealousy as much as mine? That I don’t see how you have to snap yourself out of your feelings for me? You want me as much as I want you, Maliki. The problem is, you’re too chickenshit to do anything about it.”
“Too chickenshit?”
“Too fucking chickenshit.”
My lips crash into hers.
Chickenshit, my ass.
We moan, and just as I start to taste her, just as my tongue enters her mouth, a loud banging blares through the room.
What the fuck?
My phone rings.
The bar phone rings.
Someone bangs on the bar door and is yelling behind it.
I make out something along the lines of, “Forgot my wallet!”
“Fucking hell,” I grumble, pulling away from her.
The first time I’ve tasted her, and it gets interrupted like this.
Is this a sign we shouldn’t cross this line?
We both catch our breaths, and I wipe my arm along my face while stalking to the door. I’m half-tempted to tell the person to fuck off, but they won’t stop fucking knocking.
I unlock the door … and in walks Penny.
You’ve got to be shitting me.
I hear Sierra curse under her breath.
She hops off the bar and practically snarls in my direction. “It’s been a long night. You should probably help her find her wallet.”
She glares while passing us on her way back to the apartment, and I pray it’s not to pack her bags and leave.
As much as I want to chase her, I have to get rid of Penny first.
“Well played,” I tell Penny, working my jaw.
She raises her brows. “What do you mean?”
“Come on. You forgot your wallet?”
Just Roommates Page 11