“Seriously,” I groan at their sexual innuendos. “If you don’t hit it in the next thirty seconds, I’m going to take that ball and shove it up your—”
He taps the ball and my words are cut off as I watch it roll down the green path and hit the wall before bouncing off and heading straight for the hole at the end.
It goes in with a clunk and I hear myself groan loudly.
“How you like them apples, dimples?” Jackson asks, a wicked grin on his face as he prowls towards me.
“Yeah, yeah, nice shot, but you still didn’t win,” I say as I sit my hands on my hips like a sullen teenager.
“I know. But neither did you, so mission accomplished.” He smirks.
I pout at him.
“It’s not all bad, we can share the trophy.”
He laughs at my expression as he throws his arm over my shoulders again.
“Let’s get out of here,” he suggests as he steers me towards the exit. “Reece has had a rough day — I think he could go for a beer.”
“I could go for a change of god damn clothes, that’s what I could go for,” Reece mutters, and I can’t help but laugh.
Who would have thought mini putt could actually be fun?
CHAPTER NINE
Jackson
“What’s going on with your face?” Bryn demands.
I scowl at him. “What the fuck is that meant to mean? It’s my face. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
He narrows his eyes at me sceptically. “Well, you look weird. Like smiley and shit.”
“Thanks very much, man,” I mutter as I check another thing off the list in front of me. “You’re doing wonders for my self-esteem.”
“I aim to please,” he quips with a bow. “Now, back to business… are you ready for me to ruin your day?”
I groan. “Not particularly. Can it wait until later?”
“Not really, but I do have some good news as a side dish of sorts.”
“Hit me with the Brussels sprouts first,” I tell him as I close my folder with a loud clap.
“Maddy is sick. She can’t come in tonight.”
“Motherfucker.” I groan. “We open in an hour, couldn’t she have let us know earlier in the day?”
He shrugs at me. “She only just started puking, what do you want me to do about it?”
I rub my temples. “How come you got the job of delivering the bad news anyway? Where’s Clay?”
“I literally got the short straw. We drew for it.” He shrugs.
“Sucks to be you,” I drawl. “I’ll take that side dish of good news now thanks.”
“I’ve got the perfect fill in.” He grins as though he thinks he’s some kind of genius for thinking of whoever this dream replacement might be.
“Tick tock, bro,” I tap my watch, “you want to spit it out or what? I’m pretty sure you’ve got cooking to do.”
“Katie.” He crosses his arms across his chest and gives me a look like ‘I’ve nailed it, right?’.
“I don’t think so,” I say with a shake of my head. “I’ll have Kim do it, and I’ll get Rachel in to cover her shift.”
“Rachel is on holiday,” he answers without missing a beat.
“Alexis?” I ask hopefully, even though it’s becoming clear that either him or Clay have already explored every other possible avenue.
“Broke her arm last night at basketball.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“So, do you want to call Katie or should I?”
I groan.
“C’mon, man, she’ll be perfect.”
“How on earth do you know she’ll be perfect? You’ve never even met her.”
“Clay said she was hot, and you’re always harping on about her, so I figure she must be a bit of alright.”
I wrack my brain trying to think of a solution that doesn’t involve me ringing up Katie and begging her to come in here and save my ass.
“You’re coming up blank, huh, boss man?” he says smugly.
“I could do it myself.”
“You’re pretty enough, but you have that weird face thing happening, so maybe not.”
I flip him the bird.
“Besides, you’re on the bar tonight, remember… you told Stu you’d cover for him until ten?”
“God damn, when it rains it fucking pours.”
“Call your girl already and quit your whining.”
I sigh and pull my phone out of my pocket. “Yeah, yeah… I’m calling her — but she’s not my girl.”
He says something smart that I don’t catch.
I walk away until he’s out of air shot and hit the call button. It rings four times before she picks up.
“Miss me already?” she teases, her voice soft and warm.
I chuckle nervously. “Umm…. yeah, something like that...”
“Why do I get the feeling you want something from me?”
“Probably because I want something from you.”
“Cashing in your favour so soon?” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice.
“I’m afraid so… but the good news is, it’s not a blow job I’m after.”
***
“I’m really sorry to ask you to do this.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “Honestly, it’s not a problem. I’m actually kinda excited to play host.”
“Well, hopefully you won’t have any problem customers and it’ll all be smooth sailing.”
She reaches out and grips my forearm lightly. “Jackson, relax, I’m only doing the basics… People come in, I get their names and have someone take them to their seats. When they leave, I ask them how they liked the food and I take their money. It’s not exactly rocket science.”
“Don’t forget to smile.”
“I’ll be utterly charming. You’ll see,” she tells me with a wink. “Now get out of here, you’re cluttering up my entry.”
She dismisses me with a wave of her hand, and suddenly I’m not sure who’s in charge of who anymore.
“I’ll be at the bar if you need me.”
She doesn’t look up from the computer screen in front of her. “Not going to need you, dreamboat.”
I shake my head. I don’t know what just happened. I got told.
I slink behind the bar. I can see her in full view from here, so at least I’ll be able to keep an eye on her as I make drinks.
She looks up from the screen and glances around the room until her eyes find mine. I wink at her and she gives me a wave.
I watch Clay walk over to the front door and push it open to let the queues of people that will be waiting outside, in.
I can see a group of women that look suspiciously like they’re on a hens night heading directly for the bar.
“Alright, boys,” I say to the two other bartenders who are behind the bar with me, “buckle up, women wearing penis headbands are never a quiet evening.”
***
“You got eyes on you, boss,” Jeremy, one of my servers tells me as he sidles up to the bar with an empty tray.
“Whose eyes?” I ask as I load up the batch of cocktails I’ve just made. I hope to god it’s not that group of hens again; they were way too excited and drunk enough that I’m not willing to serve them any more tonight. I feel like a hypocrite given some of the states I’ve got myself in at this very bar — but that’s the perks of being the boss.
“Whoever that chick is working the front…. and damn, man, is she replacing Matilda?”
I glance up at Katie and find that she is in fact looking my way. I give her a smile and shake my head at Jeremy. “She’s just filling in.”
“That’s too bad. I could have got used to looking at her.”
I chuckle at him and his young naivety. “You’re only saying that because Matilda won’t go out with you.”
His cheeks turn crimson. “How’d you hear about that? Can no one around this place keep a damn secret?”
“You told Bryn, man… Everybody heard about that.”
&nb
sp; He mutters something under his breath that I don’t catch, and I chuckle at his pissed-off expression.
“Don’t blame it all on Matilda,” I tell him. “I bet Katie won’t go out with you either.”
“Thanks for the pep talk, boss.” He huffs as he picks up the now-full tray.
I sneak a peek at Katie again and find that she’s watching me with a smile playing on her lips.
I mouth the word ‘hi’ to her and she mouths it back.
I make a gesture like I’m having a drink and point at her. ‘Thirsty?” I mouth across the room.
She nods her head eagerly.
I grab a bottle of vodka from the top shelf and toss it in the air before catching it again and pouring a shot of the clear liquid into a tall glass in front of me. I toss the bottle again, making it spin in the air over my head, and catch it behind my back.
I throw a few of my best tricks until her perfectly-made drink sits in front of me.
“Show off,” I hear one of the guys mutter.
I glance up to see if Katie caught my little performance, and given the way she’s staring with her jaw lax, I’d say she saw it alright.
“I’ll be back in five,” I tell them as I round the front of the bar, snagging the glass as I go.
“You didn’t tell me you were part magician.” She gapes at me as I hand her the drink.
“I’m full of surprises. You’ve got no idea.”
She takes a sip and moans softly. “Maybe I should come here more often.”
“If you want to see more of me, you only have to ask, dimples.”
She rolls her eyes at my lameness. “Your jokes are terrible, but this cocktail is delicious.”
I take the compliment and ignore the insult.
“You coping okay over here?”
I can already see that she’s been coping just fine.
She’s a natural. She’s good with the customers, she can problem-solve and she’s hot as hell — which isn’t actually a requirement of the job, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
“I’m fine.” She beams up at me.
“You know that it’s customary to stay after shift for a drink, right?”
“I have work in the morning.”
“It won’t be too late. We’ll be closed by midnight tonight.”
She chews on her bottom lip for a moment as she deliberates. “You’re a terrible influence, you know that, right?”
“I think you might have mentioned that once or twice.” I feign innocence. “Bryn wants to meet you, and I owe you after tonight… Please?”
“Fine,” she says with a resigned sigh. “But if I’m hung over tomorrow, I’m blaming you.”
CHAPTER TEN
Katie
My phone chimes again from inside the drawer of my desk, and I finally give in and pull it out to check it.
I don’t know who it is, or what they want, but they’re persistent, I’ll give them that.
If it’s Tillie wanting to know which shade of off-white I prefer for her wedding colour scheme, I just might kill her.
I’m not in the mood for annoying humans today, I’m tired — thanks to staying up late with Jackson and his staff, and quite frankly I’m a little hung over — also thanks to Jackson and his stupid bottles of delicious red wine.
Much like our first dinner a few weeks back, it’s become clear that Jackson is very impartial to a bottle of red.
We’ve been spending a fair bit of time together, mostly under the guise of planning Tillie’s wedding, but honestly, his part is pretty minimal at this point. I just like hanging out with him. It’s fun and easy, even if he does seem to lead me astray more often than not.
“Annoying bad influence,” I mutter under my breath as I look at the screen of my cell phone.
I hold back a string of curse words as I see that I have twelve new, unread messages. All from the gorgeous, pain-in-the-ass himself, Jackson Matthews.
To: Katie
From: Jackson
Meet me for a drink tonight? No red wine this time, I promise.
To: Katie
From: Jackson
Dimples, you there?
To: Katie
From: Jackson
If I don’t get a reply in ten minutes, I’m going to assume it’s a yes.
To: Katie
From: Jackson
Katie?
To: Katie
From: Jackson
Has there been an alien invasion and they’ve taken your body to be a host?
To: Katie
From: Jackson
Katie?
To: Katie
From: Jackson
I’m going to call you instead.
Notification: One missed call from Jackson Matthews
To: Katie
From: Jackson
You’re going to kill me when you see all these texts…
To: Katie
From: Jackson
“But I won’t stop, and I can’t stop…” How’s that Miley song go, dimples?
Notification: Two missed calls from Jackson Matthews
I groan and let my head rest against the desk. I don’t want to be even slightly amused by this ridiculousness, but I am — just a little tiny bit. I haven’t even managed to read them all yet, but I’ve seen enough to last me a long time.
I hit dial on his number before he has the chance to send me yet another annoying message.
“Dimples!” he answers brightly, “I was just about to send out a search party.”
“You’re a total nutcase, you realise that, right? You sent me like a dozen texts, Jackson, and you got the words to that Miley song wrong too. You seriously need to get a hobby for your days off.”
“I hear what you’re saying, and I’ll take your suggestions on board.”
“We’ve only been friends for a few weeks and you’re already driving me insane, who did you annoy before I came along?” I ask him as I lean back in my chair, a grin already on my face.
“I think you just bring out the quirky side of me.”
I huff out a breath. “Quirky? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
He chuckles deep and long, and I curse myself for smiling even wider at the sound.
He’s just too likeable. He might be a crazy, ex-obsessed guy who drinks a little too much — but I like him. I’m comfortable around him and that’s not a typical thing for me.
“What do you even want, dreamboat? There were so many messages I can’t even recall where it started.”
“Don’t play hard to get with me, dimples, we’re going out for drinks.”
I snort laugh. “We are not. I have plans tonight.”
“So, cancel them.”
I can hear the smile in his voice — the smug little shit.
“And why would I want to do that?”
“Because you got a better offer,” he replies, his tone cocky.
I smirk and twirl my chair around so I’m looking out the window. “I did? Funny, I can’t say I recall getting a better offer.”
“You ignore me all morning, and now you just drive the knife in even deeper.” He groans in mock outrage.
“I was working!”
I shake my head, a stupid grin on my face. He might be a pain, but I enjoy this banter we have going.
“I’m not coming out with you, dreamboat, you drink too much.”
“Oh c’mon, my shout?”
“Tempting,” I muse, “But it’s not happening. You’re on your own.”
“Spoil sport.”
“Seriously, go check Google for AA meetings in your area,” I tease.
“You’re mean.”
“No, I’m honest.”
He laughs, and I can’t stop myself from laughing along with him. “I’ll have to get Bryn to come keep me company.”
“I’m definitely not coming then. I’m not sure who would drive me crazy faster, you or your sidekick.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Just
the one time would be great.”
“I make no promises.” He chuckles before the line goes dead.
I smile at my phone for a long time before I realise what I’m doing.
Jackson Matthews is a distraction that I don’t have time for right now. A sexy, funny, sweet, distraction, but still a distraction nonetheless.
***
“Tillie, Jesus, you cannot have every surface covered in flowers.”
“Reece says I can have whatever I want,” she replies smugly.
“Well Reece isn’t the boss here, I am. Christ, you’re lucky that man adores you, because you are twenty kinds of crazy with these wedding plans.”
She pops another carrot in her mouth and chomps down on it.
“And seriously, eat some real food would you, the last thing we need is for you to go on some stupid wedding diet and have to have your dress altered at the last minute.”
She smirks at me. “I’m going to have Reece pay you more, you look overworked and underpaid, sweetie. And besides, I haven’t even got a dress yet.”
I take a deep breath in through my nose and blow it out through my mouth, as I try to reign in my temper.
Tillie might be my best friend, but she is quite possibly the most high maintenance bride I’ve ever had to deal with.
She wants it all. Everything. And she needs it on short notice. And then she changes her mind at the drop of a hat and decides she wants something completely different.
She’s got a loaded husband-to-be who wants to give her every last thing that she wants and tells her that she deserves it all — which is not helping the situation in the slightest.
Mr. February: A One Night Stand Romance (Calendar Boys Book 2) Page 5