Page 47 of Single Girl in the City
His eyes tracked down her body and his voice went gruff. “Where?”
With him resting against the desk and her next to him, the space seemed to shrink even further. He didn’t move away, which she found interesting—and a bit arousing.
His gaze dropped to her chest.
She laughed. “Not there.”
She turned until her back was to him, then tugged her blouse down her shoulder a little, exposing the strip of skin at the base of her neck. “Maybe here.” She looked over her shoulder to find his eyes lasered in. She pushed the top further down. “Or here.”
Now his gaze was locked on her lips. “Keep going.”
“Are you sure?” she breathed, unable to look away.
“No.” Even as he said it, his finger traced where hers had touched, then swept her hair to the side. Her heart hitched as his lips brushed gently over her skin. When she thought he was going to kiss lower, he dropped his forehead to her shoulder. “We can’t. I can’t.”
It took her a minute to hear what he was saying. “But we are.”
“And I shouldn’t have.”
“So then why did you?”
He stroked a finger along her cheekbone. “I find you irresistible.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then lingered at her sensitive spot.
She shivered. “Then what’s the problem?”
“For starters, you’re my employee.”
“Correction. I’m an independent contractor.”
A very small smile curved his mouth. “I still sign your paycheck.”
Dang it, he had her there. “We can work around that. How about you don’t pay me? It can be one of those pro-bono projects.”
His smile vanished and he stood. “And there’s the heart of the problem, Angel. I don’t want to be one of your projects.”
“Then what do you want to be?” she asked, and so much blood rushed to her ears she thought she might pass out.
“I don’t know.” He lied. She could tell by the heated look in his eyes that he knew exactly what he wanted from her. And it aligned perfectly with where her mind was at just then. “I guess we’re more complicated that I originally thought.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” she said to his sleek, muscled back as he walked out of the room.
Chapter Sixteen
Happy Things:
Giving a standing ovation with one’s tallest finger
The following week, Abi was pulling double duty.
Owen had been right, Mondays were crazy. The line was more than around the block and the place was so packed the servers could barely push through the crush. Abi was helping out where she was needed and right then she was needed behind the bar.
With Bryce and Jake enjoying their last night off, Nora was flying solo, handling anything shaken and stirred. So Abi hopped in and took over tap and bottle service. Thankfully she’d lost the wrist brace, but the doctor had given her strict instructions to take it easy. She didn’t think holding pitchers of beer would pass as light work, but they were drowning in orders.
“Thanks for believing in me,” Nora said. The bartender wore black kick-ass boots, black jeans, a black tank top that readsuck it,and the kind of tough-as-knuckles ’tude that could intimidate the leader of a biker gang. She had choppy black hair with blue streaks and was beautiful with an edge. “I thought for sure Owen was going to hire someone with more experience.”
“You were the most qualified. You might not have had the title of manager, but you’ve proven that you can run this bar,” Abi said. “Plus, us girls have to stick together.”
“Well, I hope you stick with me through all the paperwork end of things. The learning curve is steep.”
