Page 22 of Choosing a Forever
I don’t take his grumpiness personally. I learned pretty quickly he’s this way with everyone.
I grab their copper mugs and take them back to the kitchen, putting them in the dirty dish bin before heading behind the bar.
Joanna slides in next to me with a wicked smile on her face and a mischievous glimmer in her eye. A smile that says there’s some hot gossip brewing, and I’m going to get an earful.
“You'll never guess who’s here,” she whispers.
I scan the bar for the new arrival, and as soon as I see who she’s talking about, my entire body goes rigid.
Golden hair and a matching mustache, piercing blue eyes. He looks so out of place here in his white button down and suit pants. He looks like he just came from church and left his suit jacket and tie in the car.What the hell is he doing here?
She chuckles at my reaction. “And you’llneverguess who Peter Priesthood asked to see.”
I swallow down the urge to duck into the back room and pretend I’m not here. That won’t work because I’m a shitty liar, and Talmage already knows I’m working tonight.
If I did that, Joanna wouldn’t let me live it down, and I’d have to explain why just the sight of him makes me want to run for the hills.
“He’s just a friend.” I know it’s the wrong thing to say as soon as I say it because Joanna’s grin only grows.
“Afriend,huh? The same friend who had you smiling at your phone?”
“No,” I lie, which turns my face and chest red.Damn my pale skin.
“Right. Itotallybelieve you. I’ll man the bar; you go put yourfriendout of his misery and talk to him. He looked like an eager puppy who was about to pee on the floor when he asked to speak to you, and I’m not cleaning it up.”
“Okay,” I grumble, wishing I could take a shot of something to calm my nervesanderase the mental image Joanna just put in my head.
The walk from behind the bar to the table where Talmage sits scrolling on his phone feels like it takes ages.
Why is hehere?On a Sunday? In a bar? Asking forme?
Nothing makes sense.
I clear my throat when I approach, and he immediately sets his phone down and jumps up from his chair with a beaming smile, wrapping me in a tight bear hug.
“Hey, Mack! I’m so happy to see you.”
I tentatively wrap my arms around his narrow waist and try my hardestnotto greedily inhale his scent. He smells like leather and cinnamon, and it makes me a little dizzy.
“You, too,” I mumble against his broad chest.
I reluctantly step back. It was hard to pull away from him at Valley Baker, and it’s hard to pull away now. “What are you doing here?”
Talmage’s smile never falters as he shrugs. “I wanted to see you. I figured if I can’t hang out with you outside of work, I could try to hang out with youatwork. And I have something I want to talk to you about.”
But WHY?I want to scream.WHY ARE YOU SO ADAMANT ABOUT HANGING OUT? WHAT DO YOU WANT? Hasn’t my heart suffered enough?!
“Right. But… you don’t go to bars.”
Talmage tilts his head to the side. “Why would you think that?”
“Well, you’re Mormon? And it’s Sunday? And you’re…you.Tal, you look like you just stepped out of church.” I motion to his ensemble.
Talmage dramatically clutches his chest. “You wound me, milady. But you’re not wrong. I did just step out of church, and I’ve never been to a bar until now. As for the Mormon thing...” He waves his hand in the air in a “so-so” motion, and my confusion only grows.
“Okaaaay. Wh-what does that mean?”
He waves his hand dismissively, and I snatch it out of the air. I ignore the way my stomach swoops when our hands touch and the way his eyes track to our hands. Does he feel the spark between us, too? “No, no. We’re not breezing past that. What do you mean?”
