“This is true, but that doesn’t change how flustered he was when he saw you. He was intimidated. Your type doesn’t include guys who can’t even look you in the eyes. Stop talking now, I think they’re both headed over here.”
Hannah and I turned towards the two guys as they approached us. Logan looked at me, cleared his throat, then looked at Hannah. I blushed slightly. “Ladies, this is my friend Dylan. He’s in town for the summer from New York, and he’ll be helping us with our website and doing advertising.”
Hannah held out her hand to Dylan, who took it gently. “Can’t you do all that stuff from New York? Why come here to deal with a website and advertising?”
Dylan smiled. “Logan offered me a free hotel room at a beach for two months. How could I say no to that? Plus the lease on my apartment was up, so it was perfect timing.”
Hannah still held onto Dylan’s hand, smiling up into his face. “Perfect timing indeed,” she said, watching his face closely. He nodded nervously, then withdrew his hand.
I resisted my automatic eye-rolling urge, then stepped forward to shake Dylan’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Dylan. I’m sure we’ll be hanging out quite a bit this summer,” I said warmly. He nodded and smiled.
Logan clapped Dylan on the shoulder. “We’re going to head out now. Jamie, you can close everything up, it’s pretty much closing time now. Make sure Hannah pays for her drinks,” he said, looking pointedly at Hannah’s beer bottle and half-finished whiskey.
I nodded. “Okay. See you tomorrow night.”
With that, the guys walked out. Hannah let out a big exhale. “Well, this summer is going to be fun,” she said with a wicked smile and a wink, flipping her red hair behind her shoulder.
I couldn’t help but agree.
CHAPTER FOUR
The next day, I forced myself to write more. I picked out a story idea from my brainstorming session, and I wrote an outline for it. I closed my eyes and tried to put myself in the heads of my characters. I tried to figure out who they were, and what their motivations were. A full picture of these characters’ lives was forming. It was as if I barely had anything to do with it- these characters were real people who were waiting for me to be the one to bring them to life. Chapter by chapter, I outlined a full story, and two thousand words later, I was on top of the world. I closed my laptop, satisfaction flooding me. I would start the first chapter tomorrow when I had the day off.
Until then, it was another beautiful day, and hanging out at the beach all day was in the cards. Well, at least until my shift that night and the dreaded bar clean at the end of that shift. I put all thought of work out of my head and I called for Luke.
I leashed him up and we headed out, him running next to my bike as always. We stopped at a crosswalk and I leaned my head back, closing my eyes. My face absorbed the sun, drinking it in, and I smiled. There’s nothing quite as comforting as the warm sun embracing your face and a smiling, happy dog panting next to you.
I biked past an ice cream shop. The rich, sweet smell of vanilla and cinnamon wafted toward me, calling my name. Who was I to resist? I circled back to park my bike in front of the shop. One of Luke’s favorite treats is vanilla ice cream, and I could bike off the calories from a large ice cream cone. Or at least that’s what I told myself. I tied Luke up to a lamppost in the shade, and told him to behave. His goofy smile suggested to me that he would not, in fact, behave. I sighed. I would just have to be quick enough in getting our cones that he couldn’t get into any mischief. I walked into the shop, looking down to pull my wallet out of my bag, and smacked into a rather broad chest.
“Oof,” I grunted elegantly. I looked up into the face of the man I had just assaulted, and saw the intense blue eyes of Logan Mays, which were currently crinkled at the corners in amusement. Oh good. Of course.
“You know, Miss Jensen, I’m gonna guess that you’re stalking me, considering that this is the second time in just a few days we’ve run into each other outside of work,” Logan said with a smirk.
“I’m not stalking you, I swear.” I looked around. “This is pure coincidence. If I were stalking you, I definitely wouldn’t start at an ice cream shop, I would go somewhere more obvious. I didn’t have you pegged as an ice cream guy.”
Logan quirked an eyebrow. “You already have me pegged, huh? What exactly do you have me pegged as?”
I pretended to think. “Hmm. Maybe chia seeds and carob or wheat grass with kale. You know, disgustingly healthy stuff, I guess.”
Logan pulled a face. “Those are disgusting-sounding combinations. And who on this planet isn’t an ice cream person?”
“Crazy people?” I suggested, and he nodded in agreement. “Well, I was just going to grab me and my dog some ice cream. Would you like to join us?” He looked a little wary and I laughed. “I’m not asking you to marry me, I’m asking if you want to eat ice cream with my dog.”
Logan relented, nodding his head wordlessly. He motioned towards the counter, where a bored-looking teenager was waiting for us to hurry up and order already.
We ordered, paid for our cones, and walked outside into the bright sun. Logan held the door open for me rather impressively while holding two ice cream cones in one hand and the door in the other. I thanked him and untied Luke, who was struggling like mad to escape his leash and pounce on Logan and Rocket. Rocket was tied up on the other side of the building, which was why I hadn’t noticed the rather large Great Dane outside the ice cream shop when I walked in. We settled on a bench facing the water, the two dogs drooling between us.
“So,” Logan said.
“So,” I replied, taking a lick of my ice cream.
“How does this stalking thing work? Do you search my name online and hope my social media pops up and tells you where I am?” Logan teased, eyeing me while I licked my cone.
“Oh, I wouldn’t stalk anybody who constantly tagged where they were on social media. Not nearly enough of a challenge.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “Fair enough. Is it mere coincidence then that I’ve seen you on 64th street and also on 23rd?”
“That’s what I’d like you to think,” I said mysteriously, narrowing my eyes and shaking my head at him. “A true stalker never reveals her methods.”
Logan shook his head and chuckled more. “I don’t mind a bit of light stalking here and there,” he said softly, looking at me from the corner of my eye. My stomach fluttered and I looked away, smiling to myself. Could he possibly be flirting back? This was a dangerous game we were playing here, one that could affect my job. Logan seemed to be the consummate professional, though I don’t think he’s actually nearly as big of a stickler as he was trying to make himself out to be.
I cleared my throat and let Luke finish the rest of the wafer cone. Rocket had finished his Logan’s cone in three large chomps and was sitting on the ground in front of us with a long string of slobber hanging from his mouth. He whined loudly in jealousy, making us laugh.
“You wanna go walk off that ice cream now?” Logan asked, getting up and extending a hand to me. I nodded and grabbed his hand, shuddering slightly at the contact. His hand was rough and calloused, possibly from years of bartending. I reluctantly released his hold once I got to my feet and ran a hand through my hair. Nervously grabbing Luke’s leash, I gestured down the boardwalk to Logan, who followed behind me, keeping a tight grip on Rocket’s leash.
Looking down at the giant dog, I asked, “So how old is Rocket anyway?”
“He’s six months.”
I looked at Rocket in disbelief. “This small horse is only six months old?”
Logan nodded. “Yeah. He’s probably gonna be about a hundred and fifty pounds and as tall as me when he’s fully grown.”
“That’s insane. I cannot imagine this dog getting any bigger.” Looking down at Luke, I said, “Luke is two and is a mutt, so I’m pretty sure this is about as big as he’s going to get.”
“Ah, don’t worry. He’s a cute one. Good medium size,” Logan assured
me.
I nodded but didn’t say anything. I wracked my brain trying to think of anything witty or interesting to contribute to the conversation, but nothing was coming to me. Instead, we walked together in silence, absorbing the sights and sounds of the boardwalk.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Luke said, “So do you live around here?”
I nodded. “Yeah, an apartment off 29th street. Luke and I are pretty happy there.”
“Roommates?”
I shook my head. “No. I enjoy having my own space and roommates can be kind of invasive. Hannah is over so often that she may as well live with me though.”
“Oh. No boyfriend?” Logan asked casually. I thought I heard a little more than just polite inquiry there.
“No boyfriend, not since… Well, just no boyfriend.” I didn’t want to get into the ugly details of my last relationship, which had left me a little battered, both emotionally and physically. It had taken a lot for me to leave Derek, and I didn’t like to talk about him.
Logan nodded, looking...relieved, maybe? I smirked knowingly and continued walking. “How about you? Any girlfriends waiting for you at home?”
“No, no girlfriend to speak of. Dylan is staying with me for the summer though, so I guess you could consider him a roommate.”
“That’s awesome that you have a friend who you are comfortable enough to live with. I just really like my privacy, I guess.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that.” Logan looked at me and smiled. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. We stood there grinning goofily at each other, neither of us quite sure why we were smiling. The longer Logan smiled, the wider I did. The moment was broken by a shouted “Hey!”
I looked around and saw Dylan waving enthusiastically and jogging towards us. I took a step back from Logan, trying to look nonchalant.
“Hey, what’s up, guys?” Dylan asked as he approached us. He shook my hand and clapped Logan on the back. “What are you guys doing here together?”
Logan looked over at me. “I was getting an ice cream with Rocket and ran into Jamie and her dog, Luke.” I nodded. The magic of the moment before had slipped away, and had been replaced with awkwardness.
“Well, it has been nice running into you, Logan,” I said, wanting to escape any further questioning from Dylan. “But I really should head back home to get ready for work tonight. My new boss is kind of a stickler about punctuality.”
Logan nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard he’s kind of stuffy. But all around, a good guy to work for.” I smiled at this and glanced over at Dylan, who was glancing between the two of us curiously.
I waved goodbye at the two of them, smiled, and turned to go get my bike from the ice cream shop. Luke’s leash got tangled with Rocket’s, catching my leg in the process. I fell face-first onto the concrete boardwalk, hitting my knees pretty hard.
“Ugh,” I groaned, the wind knocked out of my lungs. My dress flew up, exposing my boy-short underwear, and I quickly tugged it back down. I laid still with my eyes squeezed shut, mentally assessing the damage. There didn’t seem to be any harm to anything but my pride and my skinned knees.
I looked up behind my shoulder, and Logan was standing over me, unsuccessfully trying to hold in laughter as he held out a hand to help me up. I swatted his hand away, pushed up on my hands and pulled myself up with dignity. I wiped the sand from my dress, untangled Luke’s leash, and walked away without a word, ignoring the chuckles coming from behind me. I walked with my head held high, hoping my mounting horror wasn’t evident in every step I took.
I unlocked my bicycle when I got back to the ice cream shop, and I attached Luke’s collar to the bike extension. I pedaled away slowly, wincing at my burning knees. I tried not to think of what I was going to say to Logan tonight at the bar clean, or how I would live down that epic fall. You know that feeling when you think of something embarrassing you’ve done and you physically cringe at the thought, trying very hard to erase the memory from your brain? That’s pretty much the story of my life.
I kicked off my shoes when we got home and plopped down on the couch. My plans to hang at the beach had been derailed, but this was a golden opportunity to take a nap before going to work that night. I set my alarm for forty-five minutes before my five o’clock shift, closed my eyes, and let the sweet relief of sleep wash over me. If I dreamed during my nap, I didn’t remember. By the time my alarm went off, I was fully rested, but had a bit of sleep inertia.
I hopped in the shower to wake myself up. I took a quick rinse, pinning my hair up so I didn’t have to deal with wet hair. I tried not to think about how long of a shift it was likely to be, being that the bar clean didn’t even start until half past ten, a half hour after we close on Mondays.
I got out of the shower, thinking only happy thoughts, and I threw on jean shorts and a tank top. After letting Luke outside to do his business, I biked off to work.
CHAPTER FIVE
The actual bartending part of my shift that night was pretty boring. A couple of people filtered in throughout the night, but they left pretty quickly once they realized that not much was going on in our bar. I was getting a little frustrated with how slow our nights were getting. We probably could’ve gotten a lot more business if we’d done weeknight specials like a lot of other bars do, but Joe had been unwilling to set anything up. We didn’t even have televisions for people to watch when there’s no one else to talk to. I made a mental note to suggest a weeknight special and some televisions to Logan and see what he thought of that.
I walked over to where Logan was sitting in a corner, stacking racks filled with pint glasses. “What are you doing with those?” I asked, looking without any actual interest at the slightly cloudy glasses.
“We’re going to polish all of those today after I soak them in a special chemical solution,” Logan said, looking up at me. I pulled a face and he shrugged. “Hey, we’re all pitching in here. That’s what a bar clean is for. Plus, dirty glasses scare off potential repeat customers.”
“Oh, come on, these aren’t dirty, they’ve just got character!” I proclaimed, plucking one out of the rack and examining it. It was actually kind of grimy. “Okay, you’re right, these probably need a little shine.”
“Speaking of everyone pitching in, where is everyone?” Logan asked. “I told them all to be here at ten and it’s a quarter to eleven. Nobody’s shown up yet.”
“Who did you tell to be here?” I asked. Even if it were an all-staff mandate, I already knew what was going to happen- nobody was going to come in. Nobody ever took cleaning seriously.
“Well, Hannah has an excuse, but there’s still Joe, Linda, and Victoria. Dylan also said he’d come,” Logan said, furrowing his brow. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked for messages. “Nothing. This is really unprofessional.”
“I hate to say it, but I really didn’t think Joe and Linda were going to show up. This is their last week here, and if I were them, I probably wouldn’t attend a bar clean either. And Victoria only works Saturdays, so maybe she never got the memo,” I suggested.
“I sent out texts to everyone,” Logan said. “Well, looks like it’s just going to be me and you, and everyone else will just have to be dealt with when they come in next.” He let out a disappointed sigh and frowned. I, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling nearly as disappointed as Logan looked. In fact, the idea of cleaning for hours was rather appealing when it involved being around Logan alone.
“I’ll flip the open sign off in the window and lock the front door,” I said, heading to the front. “How about we throw on some music to liven this place up a bit?” Logan nodded, still frowning. He pulled off his button-down, revealing a white v-neck tee. Little bits of chest hair poked out from the lower cut of the V, and his tattoo was prominently on display on his left arm.
I walked over to the stereo, hiding the blush creeping over me, and plugged my phone into the auxiliary cord jack. I tuned into my favorite alternative rock station on my streaming music app
. “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse started playing, and the groovy beat pumped me up. I walked over to the glass racks and started pulling the glasses out one by one and dumping them into the large bucket of cleaning solution, my hips swaying to the music.
“This is my favorite band,” Logan said, coming up behind me. That frown was gone, and was now replaced with a soft smile, which I returned.
“Mine too. Well, it’s a toss up between Muse and the Killers,” I said.
“The Killers, good choice,” Logan said, bopping his head lightly to the beat. He looked a little goofy and somehow this made him more attractive.
I carefully snapped off my gloves after I dropped the last glass into the vat. “What’s next on the cleaning agenda, boss?”
Logan looked pointedly under the triple sink, where our brown and moldy drain cover was standing out glaringly. “I’d like to attack whatever is living in there and see what color that drain actually is. Can you pull everything out of the coolers and wipe them out with this cleaner and some rags?” He held out some orange cleaning solution in a bottle, which I accepted gratefully. If he wanted to do the more disgusting things and leave the easy stuff to me, more power to him.
I sat with my legs crossed in front of the biggest cooler, getting into as comfortable a position as possible. Peering into the coolers, I realized this was going to be a lot tougher than I’d initially thought. There were little bits of debris everywhere- a bottle cap here, a dried up lemon there, mysterious sticky piles everywhere. I threw my hair up into a ponytail to get it off my shoulder and gloved up, then started pulling everything out. I worked on a particularly stubborn sticky spot while wondering if anything could be living in these coolers.
“So have you ever seen Muse live?” Logan asked, interrupting my musings.
“Yes,” I gushed. “They put on such an amazing show. How about you?”
“Oh, yeah, every chance I get. I’ve seen them here and in England,” Logan said.
“Wow, you’ve been to England?” I asked, impressed. The furthest I’d ever traveled was to Montreal, but I had big plans of traveling the world.
Summer Bender Page 4