Page 20 of It Happened in Vegas

“I learned out of necessity, and from a video on YouTube. You work long hours in a place like this and foot care becomes as important as oral hygiene.”

“Do you treat everyone who works for you this way?” I eyed him through slits.

“No. Only the pretty woman sitting in front of me right now.” His blue eyes a shade darker, we entered dangerous territory here. A smile flickered across his face. “Thank you. For jumping in tonight, by the way. You really made a difference.”

My heart fluttered, thinking back over the night, the way he dipped me during the dance, his protective vibe for me, and now this. After a few more minutes where I was putty in his hands, I pulled my feet away and sat upright. “Don’t thank me. Just promise never to make me wait tables again.”

“You volunteered, if I recall. But it’s a deal.” He chuckled. His fingers worked the tense muscles and bones of each foot, however many they were. Every single one of them acted like an aphrodisiac. I wanted his hands to work further up my thighs.

Hell, he could put his hands anywhere on me and I’d die happy.

Only his hands slowed. “I probably shouldn’t take this any further.” He met my gaze, eyes dark, daring me to say otherwise.

When I held back, he cleared his throat, jolting me away from those thoughts. “Listen, Jessa and I are going to watch some friends of ours set off fireworks in a field right outside of town in a few minutes. Come with us?”

I wanted to say yes, but I needed boundaries. And my track record with romance was not the best. I shook my head. “Thanks. But I think I’ll head home and rest.”

He nodded, but there was something unreadable in his eyes.

I slipped out the door barefooted, carrying my boots and keys in hand, smiling tightly. All I could think about on the way home was what might’ve happened if I’d gone with him.

I told myself I needed boundaries.

But as I lay in bed thinking about his hands, his laugh, the sultry way he looked at me…

I realized I didn’t want space.

I wanted him.

8

DENY, DENY

KEATON

Christmas in Julyin Holly Creek was the town’s cute gimmick to draw in more tourists. The annual ritual dated as far back as when Vivian and I grew up here.

As a kid, it was a fun-filled part of summers off from school. As an adult with a business to manage? Still fun, but spiked with nonstop motion for a few weeks straight, just going, going, people and faces a blur, and followed by my ultimate collapse into exhaustion when it was all over.

Many of the business owners agreed this had been one of the best July months on record. Some said they believed I had something to do with it, that my semi-celebrity status, refueled by the commercials playing on TV about the upcoming nuptials of former Brewed with Love cast members, brought more curious people into town.

All I knew was I posed often for photos and signed a ton of autographs, my cheeks aching from too much forced smiling. When I would empty my pockets each night, I pulled out strips of paper with a name and a phone number on it. Some women would insert them, hoping to get lucky. Last year, I collected them and counted how many I had received. It was a real ego boost. This year, I couldn’t care less and tossed them all away.

The mayor even approached me about being an ambassador for Holly Creek. He didn’t say this directly, but in the undertone of the conversation, he seemed to suggest that I mention the town more often in my public appearances, and show off photos of the town online.

First women and now the mayor tried to use my small amount of fame to their advantage. Would I ever escape it? It all came with the territory, and so I had accepted that being reality TV famous came with a price. But there’s a time to be that guy, and then there’s a time to just be me.

Holly Creek was so busy throughout the month, I blinked twice, and it was over. In terms of business, I couldn’t be happier, though. I spent the entire month busier than ever, even sleeping there a few nights, elbows deep in doling out my suds, until the final day of July.

I was done with peopling and ready for August to return to normal. As was tradition in town, August first had become an official day of rest. Stores remained closed. Everyone relaxed with family and friends to recover before getting back to work.

For me, that meant spending the morning relaxing and lingering in bed, and later I’d spend the afternoon at Richard and Vivian’s as they volunteered to host a party.

I yawned and noticed the time, having slept in a little late. I couldn’t help it. Thoughts consumed me about Sophie, thanks to her daily appearance in my life this summer.

From her coffee-fueled mornings in my office, to her laugh echoing while brainstorming funny new brew names with me, to the way she sometimes wore glasses and pushed them up her nose, it took all my restraintnotto take her and bend her over my desk.

She brightened my mornings in the office like Hops’ personal sunshine, but she also starred in my nightly fantasies,too. The more I was around her, the more she poisoned me with her pheromones. Every night I’d drift off to sleep, craving her.

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