Page 5 of Bountiful
That’s when she locked eyes with me for the first time in an hour. As if to say,Do you believe thisbullshit?
Grabbing his credit card off the bar, she gave him a tight smile. “If you’re cold you can turn up that electric blanket,Jimmy.”
He snorted. “Your problem is that you’re too uptight. Maybe if you loosened up a little, Griff Shipley wouldn’a splitonyou.”
“Is that so?” She slapped a receipt and a pen down in front of him, and that was that. The fool went home alone not two minuteslater.
She let out a sigh of relief when the door closed on him. “Last call,” she said to me as she wiped down the bar. “Can I get youanythingelse?”
“Not unless you’ll let me buy you a drink. Seems like you might need to unwind after that last bit ofbullshit.”
She gave me a wry smile. “You’re sweet to ask. But I can’t accept. Companypolicy.”
“Uh-huh.” I took out my wallet and put a fifty on the bar. “First of all, I’m notsweet.”
Her eyes widened a little when I said that. Now I had herattention.
“And secondly, company policymy ass. It’s you who calls the shots in this place. Nobody else but you. I can see why you need a handy excuse, though. If you couldn’t pull the ‘company policy’ out of your pocket sometimes, the men would be buying the sexy bartender drinks left and right all night long, I bet. You’d never get a moment’speace.”
A smile stole across her features. “Yeah, sure. I have to keep a stick back here behind the bar just to beat back allthemen.”
“You don’t need that stick, gorgeous, because you give ’em the evil eye and they run off, knowing they’re not man enough for you. But every guy who drinks in this bar has the secret, fervent wish that fortune would smile down on him just long enough for him to earn an hour of your undividedattention.”
Zara rolled her dark eyes, but a telltale blush splashed her cheekbones. “You know how to lay it onthick.”
“No need.” I shook my head. “Just telling you how it is. Now I think you should do a shot with me, and we’ll toast yourunapproachability.”
She laughed, and her eyes lit up for the first time tonight. “You are smooth, mister. I’m almosttempted.”
“Almost?Damn.”
She smiled. “There aren’t any taxis out here in the woods, and I’ve been pouring your beers all night. If you do a shot with me, it won’t be safe to drive away from here. And it’squittingtime.”
“Well. Now that you mention it…” I reached across the bar and laid a hand very gently over her smooth one. Our gazes collided as I stroked my thumb across the back of her hand. “Driving after doing shots with you wouldn’t be such a great plan. I’d have to stick around for a couple hours until itwearsoff.”
Zara waited a beat before retrieving her hand from beneath mine. “Isee.”
“Do you?” I put both elbows on the bar and leaned forward. She was trying to play it cool, but my not-so-subtle message was getting through. I saw the blush beginning to creep across those fine cheekbones. She and I had chemistry, damn it. We’d been eye-fucking each other all night. “Look. I think you had a stressful evening. And I’m really good at stress relief. Like, prolevel.”
She braced both hands on the bar and smiled at me. “Are you always thisforward?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “Some women can’t handle the truth. But I’ve watched you run this place. You’re in charge of everything that happens inside these walls, and I’ll bet that gets old. I’m thinking you might like to hand over the reins once in a while. Let someone else take charge. Tonight that someone is gonnabeme.”
Time slowed down as our gazes locked again. Eddie Vedder sang “Black” over the sound system while she and I held a well-matchedstare-down.
Iwonit.
She turned away and grabbed the rag on the bar, wiping invisible spills off the gleaming wood. “Awfully sure ofyourself.”
“It works for me,” I rumbled. “Complaints are few and farbetween.”
The college kids in the corner picked that minute to push back their chairs. They waved to Zara and trailed outthedoor.
Leaving me as the very last customer in theplace.
Turning her back on me, Zara left the bar to see to their table. She pocketed a tip and grabbed four beer bottles with one sweep of her hand. Then she wiped thetabledown.
Iwaited.
