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CHAPTER 3

JESSI

The universe must be okay with our plan because almost as soon as I get behind the bar, a cute guy sits down. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him. He comes in here with his office all the time. But this is the first time I really look at him as a potential…something.

“What can I get for you?” I put on my best customer service smile.

A sudden outburst of laughter behind him draws his attention. He turns around to see where it’s coming from and then scowls at the noise. When his attention finally lands on me, he answers “I need something strong.”

Over his shoulder, I see Violet and Chelsea eyeing us from their booth across the room. Vi is grinning and Chelsea raises her drink in approval. I roll my eyes.

He’s handsome, there’s no denying that, with dark hair and these piercing blue eyes. Then he smiles and my heart flutters a little bit. Geesh. I just bet his office is filled with women who have crushes on him.

“Okay, so one Temporary Amnesia cocktail. Coming right up.”

At that he laughs, a warm, rumbling sound that sends a thrill down my spine.

“Is that today’s special?”

“Oh no. I only offer that to our VIP customers.” I wink playfully, leaning forward slightly over the bar. My little black dress definitely shows off my assets to their best advantage and sure enough, his eyes drop down to take in the sight of my cleavage.

He leans forward over the bar. “Is this what it’s like to be a VIP? Because I’m feeling very important suddenly.”

Blood rushes to my cheeks at the way he’s blatantly checking me out. “Only very special customers get to taste my specialty drinks. The ones who can handle it.”

“Try me,” he says. “I’m Milo, by the way.”

“Jessica. Nice to meet you.” Since he seems into it, I find the courage to flirt a little more. “So do you all work around here or something?”

He nods. “We work at a marketing firm nearby. This place is convenient so our office does Happy Hour here about once a month.”

“Well, I wasn’t even scheduled to work today but apparently the universe thought I needed to meet you.”

His eyebrows raise slightly. “Is that right?”

“Yeah. I’ve been meaning to try out some new drinks. I just haven’t found a customer adventurous enough to try them out yet.”

“I am nothing if not adventurous,” he replies, matching my flirtatious tone. “Please bring it on.”

After a little deliberation, I decide to make him a variation of a classic Sidecar. After adding the fresh lemon juice and Cointreau, I add bourbon, before garnishing with a lemon peel. I slide the finished drink towards him, our fingers brushing slightly in the exchange.

”Here is my favorite variation of a Sidecar.”

He takes a sip and then nods approvingly. “This is a nice twist on a classic. I like it. What other surprises are you hiding?”

“Such a charmer. I bet you’re all kinds of trouble.”

He raises an eyebrow, a slow grin spreading on his face. “The best kind of trouble. Want to find out?”

The challenge in his voice makes me pause. When the girls dared me to hit on a guy, it all felt like a silly game. Just a bit of fun to take my mind off my crappy date. Suddenly, it doesn’t feel like a game anymore. I pause, not sure how to decline his offer without being rude.

How do I explain that I was just flirting to make myself feel better?

Then Mark passes by and his eyes skip right over me like I’m invisible. Why am I so resistant to the idea of being attracted to someone new? Someone who doesn’t run away when I flirt. Someone who actually smiles at me and doesn’t seem annoyed every time I’m around.

Maybe it’s time I stopped being Miss Perfect and just had a little fun for once.

But most importantly, Milo seems like a nice guy. He’s polite and charming, the kind of guy who says please and thank you. This is exactly the kind of guy that I should be fantasizing about. Someone courteous and respectful who smiles easily and probably never raises his voice. This should be my type.

Not cranky ex-SEALS who have a permanent scowl plastered on their faces.

Mark goes back to the other end of the bar, leaning over to listen to something the guy on the other side is saying. The Happy Hour rush has quieted some over the past hour and the place has settled into a comfortable kind of busy, the kind where everyone has a drink and we’re just handling a few second rounds or taking orders for appetizers to soak up some of the beer.

If I’m going to get into some trouble, now is the time.

“Actually I do want to find out. I’m due for a break. Want to come with me?”

* * *

As I stare down at some pretty impressive, ahem, equipment, I have to wonder how something as simple as flirting with a cute guy has turned into yet another dating disaster.

“This is not happening again.” Milo grumbles.

Having a hot, sexy quickie is supposed to be easy. But honestly when I suggested this, I didn’t really have a clear idea of what to do. My breaks are usually going outside for a few minutes when the weather is nice or hanging in one of the booths when the girls are here. I definitely wasn’t taking him over to meet Vi and Chelsea. They’d scare him away for sure.

Then I’d seen someone coming from the long hallway that leads to the bathrooms. I’ve walked in on plenty of people having a little bit of quickie fun in these bathrooms before but I’ve never done it. But then I figured wasn’t that the point? For me to stop being my usual self, the one who is always scared to step out of her comfort zone. A quickie in a bar bathroom is about as far from my usual evening as it can get.

It’s too bad that getting him here was the only part of this that has been easy. The rest has been hard. So hard.

And not the kind of hard I was expecting.

My grip tightens around one of the biggest cocks I’ve ever had a grip on. Milo is definitely more than just a pretty face. When he’d first pulled his pants down I thought that finally things were looking up. Until I realized that nothing was up, if you catch my meaning.

Milo huffs out a sigh of frustration. “Fucking hell.”

When I tugged at the front of his shirt, a few of the buttons at the top came undone exposing just the right amount of chest hair. This guy really is ridiculously hot.

“It’s okay. It happens to the best of us sometimes.” I’m not really sure what else to say. My self-confidence takes a further nosedive. Maybe this is why I’m getting ghosted so often. Maybe this is why Mark runs away from me.

Apparently all the little black dresses in the world can’t help if you have no sex appeal.

“You’re so fucking hot, I figured I’d take my shot before you left. I heard your coworkers mention you’d be leaving soon.”

The door to the bathroom flies open and we both freeze in place. A gorgeous woman with a long black braid stands in the doorway. She blinks in shock at the sight of Milo leaning against the counter and me in front of him still holding his… baseball bat.

Which is suddenly hard as steel in my hand.

“Look, it’s working!” Maybe I’m not a complete turnoff, he just needed a little time to get into it. Isn’t that a thing? Like how some engines need a little more time to warm up?

Or something.

I wiggle with delight before remembering where I am. Also that we’re not alone. Mortified I look over at the doorway.

Oh god, what if that’s his girlfriend?

Is he a cheater?

But the other woman doesn’t seem upset. She glances over at me briefly before looking back at Milo. “Seems I’m interrupting. Wouldn’t want to do that.”

She backs out and the door closes behind her. I glance back at Milo who is currently studying something on the ceiling. The cock that was just hard is slowly deflating in my hand. Just going down…down…down.

Kind of like my self-esteem.

I’m contemplating if I should say anything. Milo is so quiet. The lady who just came in didn’t seem pissed but he clearly knows her.

This is…awkward.

Luckily I’m saved from whatever weird thing was about to pop out of my mouth when the door suddenly opens again. The same woman pokes her head back in.

“Miss? I’m sorry to interrupt again. What’s your name?”

“Jessica.”

“I thought so. Your boss is looking for you, but I can stall him another few minutes or so. I’m sure it won’t take much longer than that.” Her gaze slides over to Milo before she backs out again.

My brain is still stuck on “your boss is looking for you.”

Mark is looking for me? Right now? I have a sudden urge to close myself in one of the stalls and hide. Not that it would matter. He doesn’t care if I’m with another guy. It’s not like he wants me.

Nobody wants me.

Not even the guy who seemed like he was into it at the bar. As soon as we were alone together, he couldn’t even get it up.

Mortified I look up at Milo. “Um, so I guess we should finish up?”

Even as I say the words, it’s pretty obvious that we’re already finished.

I’m finished.

Hooking up is clearly not for me.

– – – –

xoxo,

minx

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Chapter 2

MARK

I wipe the sweat from my brow as I pull yet another pale ale before putting it on a tray. The bar is packed tonight, and with that comes the constant chaos of voices, the clink of glassware and the drone of the TV in the corner. I can barely hear myself think but that’s exactly the way I like it.

Nell, one of my waitresses, appears at my elbow. “I need three cokes, one iced tea with lemon and a mojito.”

“Always with the fucking mojitos,” I mutter.

She grins. “I know there’s nothing you love more on a busy night than muddling mint leaves.”

A guy sits at the bar, one of our regulars, so I start pulling the fancy IPA he likes. As much as I may complain about the bachelorette parties, the occasional fights and the appletinis, I love this job. People don’t understand what it’s like when you leave the military and are suddenly thrown back in a world that doesn’t feel like it has a place for you anymore. But here, I have a place. The people who come here, most of them are just as lost as I was three years ago.

We have our own little community here.

And this is as close to family as I’ve had in ages.

Nell comes back from the kitchen carrying a tray laden with burgers and fries. The cook, Albert, has been here since Frankie opened the place and the only thing that he makes that tastes decent are burgers and fries. He’s also cranky as hell and calls out sick every time the Nationals lose a game but I know I’ll never fire him.

Family, it turns out, is a pain in the ass.

“Ty looks a little overwhelmed. Do you need me to help out behind the bar?” Nell double checks what’s on the tray with her ticket before glancing over at me.

“I’ve got it. He has to get used to the rush sometime.”

As she bustles off to handle her tables, I walk to the other end of the bar where Tyler is pulling a Guinness. Each one takes a few minutes to build properly so it’s no wonder he’s a little behind. I recognize the guys at his end of the bar. They usually come in every Friday, fresh from some business deal with their fancy suits and even fancier haircuts. They always order Guinness, probably because they read somewhere that it’s what “real men” drink, even though I doubt any of them could tell the difference if we switched it out with something else.

While he’s getting their pints, I take an order for two white wines and a pinot noir from a group of older ladies clustered at the very end of the bar. They look a little terrified to be in here so I figure they’re either lost or trying something new for Girl’s Night. As I pour their wine I joke around with them until they look slightly less scared.

Once I have them settled, I move next to the cash register where Ty’s closing out the tab for the business mogul crew.

“How’re things going, kid?”

His shoulders slump slightly. “Um, things have been really busy but I’m getting faster. I appreciate this job. I won’t let you down.”

I clap a hand on his shoulder, making him jump. “You’re doing fine. It’s Happy Hour, it’s supposed to be insane. That means business is good and we can all keep our jobs.”

He looks so relieved that I want to chuckle. How long has it been since I’ve cared enough about anything to get that worked up? Whatever part of the brain covers giving a fuck, mine is clearly broken.

“How long have you owned this place?” he asks.

“Almost three years now. If I haven’t run the place into the ground yet, then I think we’re safe.” I quickly turn the conversation to the ball game on TV, happy when he moves on without any other questions.

This bar has been my salvation ever since I got out of the military but thinking about how I came to own it isn’t my favorite thing to do. When I first stepped back on American soil, I truly wasn’t sure what I was going to do. All I knew was that I was lucky to be alive, even if there was no one left on this earth to care that I was.

Well, that wasn’t true. Frankie cared. That was why he’d originally hired me to manage the bar. Because he had known that without it, I had no purpose. Also, because nobody else would put up with his mean ass.

The cranky bastard was the only person who cared if the dirty kid asking for change at the end of his street actually had a meal that day. He hadn’t been the type to ask questions, which I appreciated, but he’d been the only person in my life to actually give me what I needed. He paid me under the table to clean up the bar before I was legally old enough to work and made sure I stayed in school long enough to get my diploma.

He was a gruff old bastard but to a kid that didn’t have a father, he’d been exactly what I needed. The kind of man who told it to you straight but only what was necessary to help you.

Frankie believed in honesty, so I believed in honesty.

He’d been a Navy SEAL and so I became a Navy SEAL.

After an unexpected illness, he needed better health insurance so he’d started working at this fancy hotel downtown and I bought in as a partner on the bar. But he loves this place and it’s merry band of misfits. So I will do whatever it takes to keep it profitable.

I take a moment to survey the crowd, contentment washing over me. Everyone has what they need for the moment so all is well.

Then I turn around.

“Hey boss.”

“Jessi. What are you doing here?”

Immediately I stand straighter, making sure that not a single part of me might accidentally brush against her as she walks by. She’s not scheduled to work tonight. If she had been, I would have found someone else to cover the bar so I could hide out in my office.

She smiles prettily, probably because she can see what I’m thinking written all over my face.

“Ty has to leave early, remember?”

Sweat pops out on my brow. I remember the kid asking to take off early but his shift was supposed to be covered by Margot, one of the other legacy employees. She’d worked with Frankie for years and has a head full of bleached blond hair and a chainsmoker’s laugh. She’s a bit of a battle ax which is exactly what you need during the Happy Hour rush. Even the meanest of drunks won’t fuck with Margot when she’s behind the bar.

“I thought Marg was covering?” The desperation in my voice is obvious even to my own ears.

I can work with Margot, no problem. She’s a dream employee. I’ve certainly never had any inappropriate thoughts about how she looks while shaking a martini. The sound of her voice doesn’t make me instantly hard and I’m not plagued with visions of what she might look like face down in my bed.

She’s also old enough to be my grandmother.

I need Margot to be on shift.

“She’s babysitting. She asked me to cover for her. Looks like it’ll be just the two of us tonight.”

My stomach drops until it feels like it’s hanging out somewhere around my knees.  The two of us? Alone?

Not a good idea.

I grab a rag and start wiping down the bar. As I move, I can feel Jessi hovering somewhere near my elbow. I sneak a glance over at her.

What the fuck is she wearing?

My blood boils as I recognize what she calls her “second date” dress, a strappy black number that clings like a second skin. I overheard her explaining it to Margot once. Apparently first dates didn’t warrant the full effort of getting that dressed up. Her dark hair is bundled up into one of those messy high buns women seem to love and her dark eyes flash with humor when she catches me looking.

Fuck.

The last thing I want to do is encourage her. Getting involved with an employee is a recipe for drama. Getting involved with anyone, really. I’m not exactly boyfriend material.

“You don’t have to stay. I can handle it.”

“By yourself? That’s crazy. Besides, it’s not like I have anywhere I need to be.”

When I don’t respond to that leading statement, she pouts a little but eventually goes into the back to talk to Bert. As soon as she’s gone, my shoulders sag with relief. Good bartenders who can make quality drinks consistently while also being good with the customers are hard to find. Jessi has been working here for almost a year now and she knows her stuff. She’s a great employee and I can’t afford to lose her.

As the night wears on, the crowd begins to thin out. I take a moment to step back and survey the scene. The bar is still buzzing with activity, but it’s not as hectic as it was earlier. Jessi appears at my elbow again and I grit my teeth.

Does she have to stand so close?

“Okay. Ty said he doesn’t have to leave yet. Although I think he just doesn’t want to lose out on tips from the huge party that just came in,” she whispers playfully.

I glance over to see that Ty is frantically making drinks for a crowd at the other end of the bar. Most of the people are wearing business casual attire but I recognize some of the guys with them.

“They’re from an office nearby. They tip well.”

She smiles. “Good for Ty. But I guess that means I’ll stick to this end of the bar with you.”

I take a deep breath. “I’ll be in the office handling… things. I need to take care of some stuff.”

The burn of her stare follows me as I escape into the back. Once I’m alone in the safety of my office, I drop down into my chair and let out a groan. This flirting thing with Jessi has gotten way out of control. She’s clearly just playing around but she has no idea what a bad idea it is to play with a man like me. I’ve done everything I can to put her off but it’s only a matter of time before my willpower cracks and I give her exactly what she’s asking for.

Which is why I need to stay away from her.

Maybe I’ll just stay in my office for the rest of the night. Because she may be unaware but I remember exactly what happened the last time I lost control.

– – – –

xoxo,

minx

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