“I heard about that,” Abigail said. “Sounded like fun.”
“It is. You feel pampered. Between that and the excitement about the new shirts, and dancing, and the duet Bryce and Nicole sang, I sort of got carried away.”
Ingrid’s expression grew dreamy. “Nice.”
“I mean carried away as in getting horizontal. It was a first date. That’s not me.”
“Oh, Roxanne.” Abigail smiled. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. He’s a great guy.”
“Yes, he is. The proof is that he’s agreed to dial it back. We’re going to take some time to get better acquainted before moving forward sexually.”
“Whaaat?” Ingrid gazed at her in astonishment. “How would that work?”
She shrugged. “Simple. We’ll date but not have sex.”
“But you already did.” Ingrid looked confused. “We’re talking about putting the toothpaste back in the tube, closing the barn door after the horse—”
“No, we’re not. Rational human beings are capable of reversing direction.”
Abigail grinned. “Sweetie, there’s nothing rational about sex.”
“We can do this. I swear we can. We’re not going to see each other until Monday night when we go to the movies so we both have a chance to cool down.”
Ingrid muffled a snort of disbelief.
“What’s so funny?”
“Look, Rox, I’ve seen Michael Murphy. Any woman who can cool down after spending the night with him is an alien.”
“I have to agree with Ingrid.” Amusement sparkled in Abigail’s eyes. “And I suggest you choose that movie very carefully.”
“Yeah, an animated feature involving lovable critters would be good,” Ingrid said. “Even then, you’ll be sitting in the dark, probably holding hands, each of you thinking about the time you did more than hold hands.”
It was a potential problem. She’d been consumed by thoughts of him all morning and her work had suffered.
“I hate to say it.” Abigail pushed aside her empty cookie plate. “But I think you’re setting yourself up for failure.”
Ingrid nodded. “Even if Michael is the perfect gentleman on Monday night, especially if he’s the perfect gentleman, you’ll take one look at him and want to jump his bones. That’s how it is when you’ve already had a taste.”
“I can do this.” Roxanne dragged in a breath. “But you make a valid point. The plan has a fatal flaw.”
“Michael’s too sexy for his shirt.” Ingrid looked pleased with herself for coming up with that. “Am I right?”
“Yep. And being apart for two whole days will make him even more tempting when we go out Monday night.”
“Bingo.” Ingrid drank the last of her coffee.
“So I’ll head over to the Guzzling Grizzly tonight around eight and have a drink at the bar. He’ll be working so nothing can happen, and I’ll have a chance to desensitize myself.”
“Oh, boy.” Ingrid grinned. “This I gotta see. Can I go with you?”
“Sure. I guarantee you’ll be impressed with how calm and collected I’ll be.”
“Can’t wait.” She glanced at Abigail. “I’ll take notes.”
“Thanks. I’d go in a heartbeat if I weren’t spending the night at Luke’s.”
“How are the renovations coming?” Roxanne switched topics with relief. She’d much rather talk about Luke’s house and the possibility of Abigail eventually moving there.
Discussing her own situation made her nervous. What if her friends were right and she couldn’t rein in her libido? What then?
* * *
Being in total charge of the Guzzling Grizzly on a busy Saturday night was a challenge, but it gave Michael a ton of satisfaction, too. He had a lot to juggle—tending bar, taking shirt orders and supervising the new bartender, but he loved the responsibility of it all.
Tansy Emerson wasn’t as green as he’d been eighteen months ago, but her last bartending job had been at a pub near the Yale campus. She was a fair hand at mixing drinks, but she struggled with the culture of the GG.
She’d agreed to dress like a cowgirl, black hat and all, but her fuchsia hair didn’t go with the outfit. Bryce and Michael had chosen not to mention that, especially after Tansy booked an appointment at Shear Delight and requested Nicole for the touchup on her color.
Not surprisingly, Tansy excelled at fancy drinks featuring layers of colored liqueur. Although the drinks took more time to make, Michael had suggested adding some to the cocktail menu. Bryce had been okay with a trial run. They’d become more popular than either of them would have guessed.
Michael could mix up a tray full of margaritas and serve two drafts while Tansy made one Monkey’s Lunch, a tri-colored shooter featuring Kahlua, banana liqueur and Baileys. But customers gathered around the bar to watch her do it, so in some respects it was performance art.
It also shifted a bigger load of regular drink orders over to him, but he had enough experience to handle it. And sometimes, like now, orders for the fancy drinks slowed down and Tansy pitched in on the GG’s bread and butter—beer, wine and well drinks.
“A cowboy was rocking out on the yes, ma’am and the no, ma’am routine a while ago.” She poured two glasses of merlot and set them on a tray.
“It’s how they’re used to addressing women.”
“It weirds me out. Makes me feel about a hundred and two.” She glanced at him. “I’ve even heard you do it, and you’re from Chicago, for heaven’s sake.”
He laughed. “I picked up the habit because I like the way it sounds. Nice and polite.”
“Should I be saying it to customers?” She set two foaming mugs of beer next to the wine and Ellen took the tray.
“Up to you. I think women save it for their elders, though.”
“That makes more sense to me. I’ll try it and see how it goes over.”
“Okay.”
Five minutes later, a middle-aged guy came to the bar and asked for a Monkey’s Lunch.
“Yes, sir,” Tansy said. “Coming right up, sir.”
“Thank you, young lady.”
Tansy grinned at Michael. “This might work out.” She started making the drink and people going by paused to watch. Soon she’d gathered a small crowd.
Michael threw himself into the breach, quickly filling the orders that Ellen and Jenny handed him. He worked without stopping until a familiar voice brought him to a screeching halt.
“Hi, Michael.”
He gazed into brown eyes he hadn’t expected to see until Monday night. Adrenaline shot through him and he almost dropped the bottle of Jack Daniel’s. “Hi, Roxanne.” He started to ask what she was doing here but caught himself in time. “What can I get you?”
“A draft is fine.” She slid onto a stool, looking sexy and hot in a tight red T-shirt under her denim jacket. She turned to her friend. “Ingrid, what do you want? I’m buying.”
“A draft for me, too, Michael.” Ingrid’s blond hair curled over her shoulders instead of being captured in a bun like it was when she worked at the bakery. She sat on the stool next to Roxanne. “It’s good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too, Ingrid.” He couldn’t figure it out. This morning Roxanne had sounded as if she wanted a cooling-off period. Yet here she was, sitting at his bar, inches away.
Damn, she looked pretty. She’d put on that red lipstick again and he caught a whiff of her perfume, the one called Daring.
“Michael?”
He turned.
Tansy stood beside him.
“What?”
“I asked if you wanted some help, but I guess you didn’t hear me. I finished the Monkey’s Lunch.”
Ingrid gave her a puzzled glance. “What’s that?”
“A layered drink in a shot glass. Kahlua, banana liqueur and Baileys. It’s delicious. Want one?”
“I do! Cancel the draft, please. I want what she’s talking about. That sounds amazing.”
“Coming up!” Tansy smiled. “Guess
I’m not available to help, after all, Michael.”
“No worries.” He glanced at Roxanne. “Do you want that, too?”
“No, thanks.” Her gaze held his and she was breathing kind of fast. “Just a draft, please.”
“I’ll get it for you.” His breathing wasn’t all that normal, either.
“Michael?” Jenny came up to the bar. “Do you have that JD and water?”
He looked at the bottle in his hand. “Yes. Five seconds.” He splashed some over ice and left spots on the counter. Wiping the surface quickly with a bar towel, he added water and overflowed the damn thing. Started over. Finally made the drink and put it on Jenny’s tray.
She gave him a funny look. “I’ll need that gin and tonic and a rum and Coke when I come back.”
“Sure thing.” He flashed her a smile. Get a grip, Murphy. Roxanne’s draft beer. He grabbed a glass mug from the pyramid behind the bar and managed to put a decent head on it.
Then he slopped it when he set it down on a coaster. “Sorry.” He picked it up, trashed the soaked coaster, wiped the bar and set down a fresh coaster.
“It’s okay.”
Bracing both hands on the bar to steady himself, he focused on her. “Surprised to see you here.” Understatement. “How come?”
She swallowed. “I was afraid if we went two days without contact, we’d…overreact.”
“Oh.” Instead he was overreacting now. Mere hours ago her mouth had…dear God, he couldn’t think about that!
“I was hoping that coming here tonight would desensitize—”
“Got that G and T and rum and Coke?” Jenny appeared with her empty tray.
“Excuse me a minute, Roxanne.” He turned away and quickly mixed the drinks while Jenny waited.
This was hell. And if he wanted to grab her and kiss the living daylights out of her when he was flooded with drink orders on a busy Saturday night at the GG, what chance did he have of managing a celibate movie date when he had no distractions?
None. But what choice did he have? She’d laid out a plan, even if she’d deviated from it tonight. He’d do his best to see it through.
When he turned back, she’d left her stool, left her beer, and put money on the bar along with one word written on a napkin. Sorry. Ingrid was gone, too, but she’d taken time to quickly drink her Monkey’s Lunch shooter.
Tansy gazed at him. “What was that all about?”
He blew out a breath. “Mixed signals.”
She nodded. “Thought so.”
Chapter Seven
Rox, you’re toast.” Ingrid buckled her seatbelt.
“I admit that didn’t go as planned.” Roxanne started her truck and drove out of the GG’s parking lot.
“No kidding. You were ready to climb over the bar and tackle him.”
“It’s partly that black logo shirt. I wish he’d worn something else. He must have washed it first thing this morning so he could wear it again tonight. I didn’t expect that.”
“The shirt is powerful medicine. I’m not even hot for the guy and I felt a twist in my knickers when I saw him wearing it. He fills it out real nice.”
“Yeah.” Roxanne sighed.
“Brakes, girl, brakes. Light’s red.”
“Oh. Thanks.” She jammed her foot down on the pedal. The intersection was deserted but running red lights wasn’t her thing any more than having sex on a first date.
“So Plan A was a bust. Got a Plan B?”
“I do. My work.” The light changed and she stepped on the gas. “I’ll throw myself totally into the current project. I didn’t get much done today because I was thinking about Michael. That put me behind. Tomorrow I’ll be motivated like you wouldn’t believe. I might even knock out some of it tonight.”
“I suppose that could do the trick. You’d know better than me.”
“It’s the answer. When I’m invested, I can lose myself in a project.”
“I know that’s true. Sometimes you forget to eat.”
“Exactly! It’s logical that I’ll be able to ignore other physical urges.”
“Maybe you can, at that. You’re probably more disciplined than I am.” She pulled out her phone. “I sneaked a picture of Michael when he wasn’t looking. I want to show Abigail what you’re up against. Or not up against, if you win this battle with yourself.”
“He does look good in that shirt. If I hadn’t created the logo, that shirt wouldn’t exist. I sort of did this to myself.”
“And contributed to a great marketing scheme for the GG. You can’t regret that.”
“No, of course not. I’m glad the shirts exist. I’m glad he looks so damned good in one because that will be great for business. If it creates a personal challenge for me, so be it.” She pulled into her parking spot behind the bakery.
“I can text you the picture I took if you want to have one.”
“Thanks, but I already have some from yesterday. We took a bunch for potential use on the website.” She’d forgotten about the pictures until now. She didn’t need to be looking at them. One more temptation to resist. She should send the good ones to Michael and delete them all from her phone.
She turned off the motor and flopped back against the headrest. “Thanks for leaving with me.”
“It was the right thing to do. But I’m glad I got to taste that drink. It was yummy.”
“It looked good.” She sighed. “You know what? If I hadn’t invited him upstairs last night, you and I could have had a great time at the bar and he wouldn’t have been flustered. The mood would have been fun and flirty.”
“At the risk of irritating you with another cliché, you’re crying over spilled milk.”
She groaned. “I know. My dad would tell me the same thing. I just hate that I’ve messed up what could have been special.”
“What if you didn’t mess it up? Why assume that?”
She turned her head to look at Ingrid. “Don’t you see? Now we’re obsessed with each other. We can’t build a solid relationship when all we can think about is getting naked. I jumped the gun and now we’re both paying for it.”
“Maybe losing yourself in your work will be the answer. As for Michael, if he’s like most men, he won’t obsess for long. Guys usually don’t brood about things the way we do.”
“I sincerely hope you’re right. Otherwise what could have been a great relationship is doomed.”
* * *
Michael regretted the impulse that had made him schedule a Sunday morning riding lesson with Kendra. Usually he chose weekday mornings, but he’d made the appointment yesterday after leaving Roxanne. Physical exercise was usually a great distraction. Then she’d shown up at the bar.
He might have been plagued with erotic dreams of her anyway, given the circumstances. But her sudden appearance at the GG guaranteed she’d prance around in his subconscious the whole damned night. He woke up cranky and frustrated. Not a good mindset for a riding lesson.
Too late to cancel it, so he grabbed some coffee and drove out to Wild Creek Ranch. The overcast sky suited his mood. What had she been up to, waltzing into the bar like that? Did she believe that BS about desensitizing herself?
If that had been the plan, it hadn’t worked for her or she wouldn’t have lit out of there so fast. Or left the one-word apology on a napkin. It sure hadn’t worked for him. He’d been worse off than before.
When he pulled up near the barn, Luke and Abigail were saddling up for a ride. Kendra was there, too, loving on Delilah, Luke’s border collie.
Normally seeing them all gathered here would be a happy occasion, a chance to say hello, pet the adorable doggie and exchange news. But Abigail was good friends with Roxanne. No telling how much she knew about the turn of events.
No help for it. He climbed down from his truck and dredged up a smile. “Hey, guys! Great day for a ride, huh?”
“Sure is.” Luke came over, hand outstretched, Delilah prancing by his side. “Kendra said you were coming over for a lesson. Glad we wer
e still here.”
Michael shook his hand. “Me, too.” It wasn’t a lie. He liked them both. But the deal with Roxanne added an awkward note that hadn’t been there before.
“Congrats on those shirts, buddy. Excellent business decision.”
“Thanks. Seems to be working out great.” He crouched down to pet Delilah. “Hey, pup! Haven’t seen you in a while.” He fingered the red heart-shaped dog tag with her name on it. “Nice jewelry you’ve got, there, girl.”
“Abby bought it for her.” The warmth in Luke’s voice left no doubt that he was head-over-heels for his lady love.
Abigail was all smiles as she walked over with Kendra, but then, that was her nature. “Hey, Michael! Those logo shirts are brilliant.”
He stood. “Thank you. Once Roxanne created that cute bear image, the shirts were a logical next step.”
“I love that bear. She’s a talented woman.”
He nodded. “Very.” Maddening, but incredibly talented.
“All the Whine and Cheese ladies are dying to have a shirt,” Kendra said. “I told them I’d handle the ordering. I was going to ask Bryce but then decided not to. He was really busy getting ready for Jackson Hole.”
“I’ll take care of it. Just text me the sizes. I padded the order I sent out yesterday, anticipating more sales, so I might be able to give them to you next week.”
“Thanks! They’ll be excited.”
Luke glanced at Michael. “Knowing you, you’ll put up an order link on the GG site.”
“That’s the plan. Then we can direct customers there. I should have the page set up sometime Monday. Would you have time to look it over, see if it’s eye-catching?”
“I was about to offer.”
“Great. Listen, have a good ride. See you soon.”
“You bet.” Luke gave him a wave and took Abigail’s hand as they started back toward the horses with Delilah trotting along beside them.
“Nice to see you, Michael!” Abigail called over her shoulder. “I wish you the best on this project.”
“Thanks!” He turned to Kendra. “Ready to saddle up?”
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