“I think I’m pregnant.”
I lifted my head to stare at Devin, her words having interrupted my thoughts of the Conley situation. I’d been scrubbing the same spot on the bar for who knows how long, debating what I would do and say once the place closed. We had things to discuss, and it wasn’t something I wanted to do in front of the rest of my staff. Thankfully, the place was nearly cleared out and all that was left were Melanie and Conley and the few lingering customers.
“I know,” I said, tossing aside the rag I’d been using. She didn’t even bother asking me how. If the fact that she’d been sipping water all night wasn’t clue enough, her not being a skilled liar was. I looked over at the pool tables where Wes and Roger were finishing up a game. “Does Wes know?”
She shook her head. “No. I just realized I was late earlier today…” She focused her attention on the water glass cupped with both her hands. “I’m scared. What if he isn’t ready?”
Leaning into the bar, I folded my arms on the counter in front of her and lowered my voice in case there were any eavesdroppers. “If there’s one thing I know about that man, it’s that he loves kids…probably because he acts like one himself sometimes.”
Looking up at me, she lifted an eyebrow. “Sometimes?”
“You got me there.” I chuckled, and she tittered. “In all seriousness, though,” I said through my grin, “If you’re pregnant, you will make him one of the happiest men on this earth.”
She nodded absentmindedly. “What if I’m not ready?”
“You’ll be a great mother.”
“What if I’m not? What if I fail miserably and let Wes and the baby down? What if I can’t balance being a great mother, wife, and vet?”
“Then you fail.” I shrugged.
Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened. “That’s your pep talk? You’re terrible at this.”
I chuckled, shaking my head and standing upright. “You fail…and you learn, and then you pick yourself back up and kick ass the way you always do.” I took the half-empty water glass and refilled it for her. “The good news is you don’t have to do it alone. You have a great husband and a supportive family surrounding you. Whatever you don’t feel ready for, they’ll be there to help you through. And so will I… You know that.” I gave her a pointed look. “Plus, we both know you like a challenge. If you think you’re not ready, that only means you will kill at this mothering thing.”
“Are you sure you’re not a therapist?”
“If I am, I need to raise my drink prices.”
“Good thing I’m only drinking water.”
I chuckled and went back to cleaning up what I could until the last of the customers stumbled out. Despite my mood, I found myself smiling at the thought of Wes and Devin being parents. I wasn’t blowing smoke up her ass. They’d be great ones.
“I feel like I should at least return the favor. You want to tell me what’s on your mind?”
“What makes you think I have anything on my mind?”
“Oh, please. You were rubbing at the same spot for at least thirty minutes. I’m pretty sure you wore the stain off.”
“I bet I can guess why that is,” Melanie said as she approached the bar and took the empty stool next to Devin. “If I were in Vegas, I’d place all my money on that it had something to do with our gorgeous new hire.” She bumped shoulders with Devin and they both giggled.
“I guess it’s a good thing you aren’t in Vegas,” I muttered.
“Why because you’d be down an employee, since I’d hit it big?”
“Is there something I can help you with, Melanie? Or are you just coming over here hoping to get fired?”
“Did he really just threaten to fire you?” Devin asked in feigned surprise.
“Please.” Melanie waved a dismissive hand my direction. “He threatens to fire me at least once a shift. We both know he won’t. He needs me too much.” She winked at Devin and slid off her seat. “I’m ready to close out.”
Chuckling, because she was right, I nodded toward the storage room door, indicating that she should meet me in my office. “You need anything else for the night?” I asked Devin.
“Nah.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Looks like they're done with their game. We’ll be heading out as soon as Roger gets done flirting with Conley.” She looked back at me with a shit-eating grin.
I shook my head, refusing to show her any more of a reaction—especially the one I knew she was after with her comment. “Have a good night, Devin. And if what you said earlier is true, congrats.”
“Thanks, Tim. Night.”
I lifted a hand, waving bye to Wes and Roger in the distance, before slipping through the swinging door to meet with Melanie. She was the closing server, and after this, it would be time to face Conley. Not quite ready for that conversation, I took my time cashing her out.
Melanie sat across from me, unusually quiet. That was only outwardly, though. It was obvious a million thoughts were running through that pretty little head of hers. When we were done, she stood wordlessly and walked toward the door. Glad she’d decided not to grill me about Conley, I let out a sigh of relief as I leaned back in my chair, the leather squeaking beneath my weight.
Just as she crossed the threshold she spun and leaned into the doorframe with a mischievous grin on her face. “She’s good, you know. The customers loved her, and for once, I wasn’t picking up someone else’s slack all night.”
I sat forward, resting my forearms on the edge of the desk. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Just thought you should know in case you were thinking about giving her a hard time.”
“What makes you think I would?”
Crossing her arms, she shrugged, one corner of her lips tipping up slightly. “Let’s just say I could tell she was getting under that impermeable skin of yours… Go easy on her.”
After a few beats, I finally said, “Drive safe, Mel.”
Lifting her hand to her temple, she gave me a mocking salute. “Night, boss.” With a big, knowing smile on her face, she disappeared from my view.
7
Conley
“Good job tonight, Conley.” Melanie smiled, extending her arm toward me with a handful of cash as she sidled up to the bar beside me. The place had finally cleared out.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Your share of the tips we made.”
I stared at the money, shaking my head. “I was training. You did most of the work. Keep it.”
“Please, girl.” She rolled her eyes. “By the end of the night you were like a seasoned pro. Take it. It’s yours. You earned it. And I’m pretty sure you doubled our earnings after your little wardrobe change.” Humor twisted her lips as she dropped the money on the counter beside me.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Besides, I would’ve paid to watch that little show you put on. The look on Tim’s face was priceless. Totally worth splitting my tips for.” We both laughed as she took a step back. “See ya around?”
“If I’m not fired after tonight.” I gave her a self-deprecating smile. Now that the bar was closed, and I’d cooled off, I wasn’t feeling so great about the way I’d acted. It’s like Tim brought out the rebellious adolescent in me. Not that I was planning to let him off the hook completely, either.
“Something tells me you might get off with a warning. Night, Conley.” She wagged her fingers in a wave as she walked away.
“Night.” I waved back and pocketed the money.
She was the last to leave, other than Tim and me. It was useless to delay the inevitable. I slid off my seat to head for his office when he strode through the swinging door that led to the storage room. His gaze met mine as he grabbed a bottle of tequila and two shot glasses. I slowly lowered back onto my stool, watching him as he silently poured the drinks. He slid me a shot before passing me the salt shaker and a lime.
“Is this a peace offering?” I asked, nodding at the glass.
“Depends. Are
you apologizing?”
I crossed my arms and glared. “For what exactly? Helping myself to the size-small shirt I originally asked for? The one you told me you were out of?”
“Are you sure you grabbed a small and not a kids’ shirt?”
“Wow,” I uttered with an exasperated snort while shaking my head and looking away from him. I needed to get a grip on my mounting frustration. “Is that what you’re mad about? Really?”
“Why did you change?”
My eyes snapped back to his scowling face that now matched my own. “Will you stop answering my questions with questions?”
He shrugged. “I will if you do.”
“Fine,” I huffed and uncrossed my arms to rest them on the bar, deciding to lay it all out there. I was too tired to play this game with him. “I changed because you lied to me. Not just about the size, but also about having a dress code in the first place. Why would you lie to me about that?”
He ran a hand through his hair, directing his gaze downward. “I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
He looked back up at me, confused by my response. “From exactly what obviously happened anyway tonight,” he snapped. “Who was it? I’ll ban his ass from the bar and have Roger throw the bastard in jail.”
A laugh burst through my lips. I couldn’t help it, no matter how angry I was. The look on his face—like he was ready to murder any soul who dared hurt me—and the fact that he was so clueless about everything had uncontrollable laughter boiling up and spilling over.
“I don’t find anything about this funny,” he said, not bothering to hide his growing agitation.
“Oh, but it is,” I said through more laughter, delirium after a long night of working only adding fuel.
He crossed his arms and waited. “You care to share how some asshole hurting you is funny?”
Taking a deep breath to get the fits of laughter under control, I finally answered. “Because that asshole is you. I was mad at you for lying to me.”
For the first time in what felt like forever, he smiled at me, his head shaking as his deep chuckle lit up the room. He rubbed both his hands up and down over his face and blew out a deep exhale. “Damn. I’m sorry, Con. For all of it.”
Something deep inside me fluttered with his apology. The way he said my name took me back to the way things used to be. Easy. Things had always been so easy between us. “Thank you… I’m sorry too…for the way I acted. I promise it won’t happen again. Truce?”
“Truce.” Picking up his shot glass, he lifted it in my direction. I clinked mine against his, then swallowed the clear liquid, chasing it with some salt and lime.
I felt his eyes watching me the whole time and with them felt the flickering of heat between my legs. After placing my glass back on the counter, he refilled it. “You good for one more?”
I nodded, and we clinked our glasses again before taking down the second shot. He stacked both glasses and picked them up with the bottle of tequila before walking toward the bar sink. Staring at his back as he cleaned up and put away the tequila, I cleared my throat. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Pretty sure we already played Twenty Questions. But hey, why stop now?” He grinned over his shoulder.
“Oh, he’s got jokes, ladies and gentlemen…” I teased and rolled my eyes.
He chuckled, turning back to the sink where he was washing the shot glasses. “Shoot, Con. What’s on your mind?”
I traced the tip of my finger over some carved initials in the bar top, knowing I was likely about to disrupt the easiness we were finally enjoying again. But there was something I had to know, something that I’d wanted to know for years now. “Why’d you leave? It’s never made sense to me. You could’ve had it all.”
He shut off the water and dried his hands, taking his time to answer. “I do have it all, just take a look around you.” He turned to face me. Tossing the towel to the side, he spread his arms wide. “This, Ms. Logan, is all mine,” he said, smiling a little, his voice full of humor.
“Ha-ha. I’m being serious.” I narrowed my eyes, pinning him with them. Despite his effort, he wasn’t hiding the truth from me. “We both know this was never your dream.”
He looked away, staring off in the distance, deep in thought. “Let’s just say I couldn’t have what I wanted.”
“And what was that?”
Massaging at the back of his neck, he shook his head and forced a breath. “Nothing. Just forget it. I don’t have time to relive the past. I need to finish closing here.”
I jumped off my seat and raced around the bar, catching his wrist when he started to leave. “No. I won’t forget it. Not this time.” He glanced down to where I was touching him. I quickly released him and searched his eyes for answers. “What did you want? The spotlight? If you wanted the lead, you should’ve fought for it. Everyone knew you deserved it over him, but you just let him have it.”
“It’s what was best.”
Taking a step back, I shook my head in confusion. “For who? For Bobby? Because it sure as hell wasn’t what was best for the band. Is he why you left?”
“You know why. My pops broke his leg and needed help. He was going to lose the bar if I didn’t come back.”
“And when he got better, you could’ve come back to the band. You deserved to be there. It was your dream. You helped make it happen. Otherwise, Augustine might have never gotten the break they did.”
His jaw tightened. “Let it go, Con,” he said definitively, turning away and walking into the storage room.
Ignoring his warning, I followed him in there, shoving through the door. “You just left! And said nothing!” I yelled at his back, surprising myself at the angry words firing out of my mouth. “Why? Why did you just disappear like that without a word to me? You were my best friend.” My voice cracked on the last word. I swallowed the dry lump in my throat, fighting back the threatening tears. The hurt I felt was as strong as if it had happened yesterday and not ten years ago. I hadn’t realized how much it still pained me. I hadn’t ever admitted to myself how much he’d meant to me.
He spun on me, startling me and forcing me back a step. “I didn’t want to be your friend, Conley!” He threw his hands up in the air, then fisted the ends of his hair. “Dammit!” He turned his back to me again, taking a few heated steps away, then spun back around, dropping his arms, his wild gaze pinning me in place. I felt his stare everywhere. It blazed, roaming over me, heating every part of me as if there were flames licking at my skin. “The reason I never went back was because I couldn’t watch you be with him anymore. And I knew if I went back, I’d never be able to leave you again. I needed to leave. I needed to get the hell over you and move on with my life. I couldn’t do that seeing you every damn day. It killed me to leave, but it was killing me more to watch you with him.”
The silence hung between us as we stared at each other, my mind reeling, so many things clicking into place. I finally allowed myself to acknowledge what I’d been feeling the moment I saw him for the first time in a decade, what we’d both been ignoring and fighting since we were fifteen years old.
It was him.
It had always been him.
Somewhere along the way, I’d convinced myself he never wanted me and that I was happy and in love with Bobby. But it had all been a lie. So many lies…so many years wasted.
“Did it work?” I asked, taking a tentative step forward.
“Don’t,” he warned, his muscles straining against his shirt as he clenched and unclenched his fists. He had no idea how hot he was when he was broody like this, when he was fighting for control, fighting against his feelings.
“Did you get over me?” I took another step closer to him. Then another. I reached for him, pressing my palm against his firm stomach. Feeling the heat and hardness, I ran my hand up his chest, resting it over his heart.
“Conley,” he warned again, wrapping a hand around my wrist, stopping me from going any farther. But this t
ime, his warning was less of a powerful demand and more of a desperate plea. I searched his face for any sign he didn’t want this. That he didn’t want me. I placed my other hand on him. Curling my fingers into his shirt, I pulled myself closer.
His throat swelled and dipped with a forced swallow. His gaze bounced between my eyes and lips as his hand released my wrist and traveled hesitantly over my neck, threading through my hair until it cupped the back of my head. Backing me against the wall, his body pressed into me. He dipped his head, tracing the tip of his nose up the side of my neck. My skin tingled from the sensation and warmth of his breath as he whispered against my skin, “I’ve wanted to kiss you since the ninth grade.”
Closing my eyes, I inhaled his scent. “Then what are you waiting for?” I asked through the breath caught in my throat. I wanted him to kiss me until I couldn’t breathe at all.
He captured my lips with his mouth. I moaned as he kissed me, shaping my body to his and wrapping my arms around his neck. I could feel his need for me. Through his gentle touch. Through his demanding kiss. Through his hard length that pressed against my stomach. I clenched my inner thighs together to tame the insistent pulse of my body begging for him as he rubbed against me.
Before I could get lost in the feeling of his arms, everything was gone—his taste, his lips, his body. He’d pulled away, bracing himself with one hand on the wall, the other gently cupping my jaw as if to keep me at bay. My heavy breathing left my mouth slightly parted. The rough pad of his thumb rubbed over my bottom lip as if he were committing the feel to memory.
“What?” I asked, scanning his face for answers. “What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”
His brows pinched together, a tortured expression on his face as he pushed off the wall, taking a step back. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry. You should go.” His eyes were on me as he spoke, but they were void of all the emotion that had been there before. He was no longer looking at me, but past me. As if I wasn’t standing in front of him, giving him every signal that I wanted this. Wanted him. He didn’t give me a chance to say another word. He turned away, walking out of the room and into his office. The door slammed closed behind him, causing me to jump. Folding my arms protectively around me, I stared at the door, shocked and confused. What the hell had just happened?
Tempting Tim: A Small Town Friends to Lovers Romance (Billingsley Book 4) Page 7