Page 101 of Everything In Between
Mickey gives me a speculative stare, one eye narrowing slightly. “She looks a little fancy for our small town, don’t ya think?”
I peer down at my clothes, not feeling fancy at all. I’ve been traveling all day. My leggings have a smear of whip cream on thefront of them, my shirt is all rumpled, and underneath my hat, my hair looks like I haven’t washed it in a week.
“I think she looks perfect,” Hayes says back. “Mind if I let Peri hang out in your office?”
Mickey waves his hand toward the couches by the window. “You can put her over there, she’s fine. It’s not busy today, anyway.”
“Thanks, Mickey.” Hayes shoots me another fond wink. The appreciation in his gaze sends a shiver of desire down my spine. If we weren’t here in public, I’d kiss him silly.
But I have plenty of time do that.
“This is a great place you have,” I say when Hayes walks away, looking around the bar again.
Televisions are mounted everywhere my eyes fall, different sports events playing on the screens. There’s the main bar which Mickey is standing behind and then another separate bar against the far back wall. A few sitting areas are established in front of the bigger televisions, L-shaped couches positioned for perfect viewing. Away from the bars and the seating areas there are a handful of high-top tables—plenty of areas to station while watching favorite sports teams dominate on the screens.
“You a big sports fan?” Mickey asks me. He must have grabbed Hayes a drink while I was perusing the bar. He slides the pint glass to Hayes, making sure not to spill any of the foam over the side. “Whatcha drinking, darlin’?”
“I’ll do a vodka tonic, please,” I respond, then segue back to his first question. Giving Hayes a sideways smirk, I say, “I am now.”
Mickey chuckles as he prepares my drink and slides it to me. “She’s a keeper.”
“Don’t I know it.” Hayes sets his glass down from taking a sip. “Jersey is a singer.”
I raise an eyebrow at him, but he gives me a shrug in response. I glance around the bar again. There’re only one or two other patrons here in the whole bar. And given the demographic, I doubt they’veneverheard my name.
“Really?” Mickey says, raising a brow with interest. “Preston and I have talked about maybe starting up a live music night. We might need to get you up on the stage.”
“You’d have quite the crowd if you got her in front of a microphone,” Hayes says, fighting off the amusement in his voice. “She’s part of the big leagues.”
Mickey tilts his head and observes me again. “You know I thought you were familiar. What’d you say your name was again?”
“Jersey Matthews.”
“Well, I’ll be.” He turns away from me and puts his hand up to his mouth, cupping around his lips. “Hey, Preston! Come out here for a sec!”
A taller, lankier man pushes his way through a set of heavy black curtains hiding what I assume to be the kitchen from view. He walks over to us with his head tilted curiously, but his expression lightens when he sees Hayes standing there.
“What’s up, man?” His voice is deeper than I expect it to be. He goes for a fist bump, which Hayes eagerly returns. “Long time, no see.”
“No kidding. How’ve you been, Pres?”
“Nothing exciting happening over here. You know how it is.” Preston shrugs his shoulders jovially. His eyes fall on me and he blinks a few times in surprise. “You’re Jersey Matthews.”
I laugh. “In the flesh.”
Preston holds a hand out for me to shake and I return the gesture. “My daughter loves you. She’s going to lose her mind when she finds out you were here in our bar.”
My heart warms and my lips curve into a smile. “What’s her name?”
“Chloe,” Preston responds, a proud expression on his face. “She’s fourteen.”
“I’d be happy to sign something for her or take a picture with you.”
“We’ll be here for a few days,” Hayes chimes in, watching me closely as he speaks to Preston. “Maybe you could bring her by to meet Jersey.”
I nod at Preston in agreement. “Yes, I would love to meet her.”
“Really?” Preston asks, hopefully. “She would be over the moon.”
