Page 55 of Summer Affair
“But do I turn you on?”
Jillian set the glasses and bottle on the counter and slid her fingers through his belt loops and tugged. That time he moved, right into her personal space. When his gaze was good and heated, she whispered, “Go rest your knee, or I’ll call your mom.”
His face paled.” Did you just cockblock me with my mom?”
“If it will make you rest your knee, then yes.”
“How about I sit on a stool and keep you company?” he offered.
“Deal, but if it starts to swell, it’s to the office you go.”
“I think we should seal it with a kiss.” His hands went for her hips and she stepped back.
“And have half the jealous ladies at this bar work overtime to make my life miserable? Pass. But you can keep me company.”
When he finally was seated, she took in the situation. Even with an extra trained bartender, there was no way she could manage the crowd. “Okay, new plan.” Jillian surveyed the crowd and saw two girls, servers if the matching black pants and white button-down shirts were any indications.
Jillian approached them. “You two have any serving experience?”
“Yeah, we work at Cellar. We just got off.”
“You looking to make some extra bucks?” she asked, and the girls glanced at each other, then shrugged noncommittally. “You looking to serve drinks for Clay Easton, football legend?”
“Yeah,” they both said.
“Twenty bucks an hour, and you keep all tips.” She turned to one. “I need you to figure out who ordered the cosmos.” Then to the other, “There are trays beneath the bar along with aprons.” Then she walked around the bar and asked Clay, “Help me up.”
“Where?” he asked. She pointed to the top of the bar.
He gripped her waist and lifted her until she was sitting on the bar. “You seem to have a thing for countertops, Cupcake.”
With a soft kiss to his cheek, Jillian spun around and stood on the bar top. Fingers between her teeth, she whistled loud enough to get the attention of most of the patrons. Silence fell over a crowd who were probably hoping she was about to say that the entire Easton clan was here for an autograph signing. “Listen up. I want you to meet your new servers—”
She looked at the blonde, who said, “Edita and Megan.”
“Edita and Megan. It’s their first night so be nice,” she hollered. “I’m your guest bartender, Jillian. My rules: if it doesn’t come from a tap or a bottle, it’s not on the menu.” There were a few groans and grumbles, and Jillian eyeballed the biggest complainers, a group of co-eds in the back of the room. “If you’re not sure what to order, ask Clay. If you have a problem, you can leave. If you want to pay up or start a tab, I’m your girl.”
The room immediately erupted into hoots and shouts of approval, and Jillian sat back down and there was Clay, waiting to help her off the counter. “I thought you weremygirl.”
“I like the sound of that.” She loved the sound of that. After Dirk she never wanted to be anyone’s “mine” again, but when Clay said it, it sounded more like an endearment than a label.
“Here, let me help. It’s a high bar top.”
“Are you saying I’m short?” she teased.
“I’m saying I want to get my hands on you.” As promised, his big, masculine hands spanned her waist and he lifted her, then let her slide,oh so slowly, down his body until her feet reached the floor. Instead of letting go, he held her snugly against him.
Her body lit like a bonfire, their every touch stroking this spark between them. Neither let go, neither of them moved, and Jillian decided she knew what she wanted. At least the immediate what.
“I like where your mind’s going,” he said. “But it seems that I have been upgraded to the sommelier of beer.”
“I could always let you run the bar.”
“Hell no.” He tilted his head and, with his lips brushing her ear, he said, “I know when I’m out of my league, Cupcake.”
Ten minutes later, Clay was hobbling back to his dad’s office like some old man. Hell, these days he felt like an old man. His knee should have been nearly healed by now and he should have been able to go back to training with his team. Actually, that was bullshit. While he might be a little sore from being on it all night, he’d come up with a lot of reasons to procrastinate going back to Seattle.
His physical therapist hadn’t quite cleared him for practice, but she did say he could get the same treatment in Seattle from the team’s physical therapist and train with his teammates, which was an important part of the game. Unity. He kept telling himself he hadn’t been cleared for full action for another few weeks, plus, he had that date with Jillian coming up and his commitment to Sammy and the Bullfrogs. He wasn’t about to let them down.
