closes.”
“You’ve already done so much—”
“No expectations, Will. Just you and me, sharing a meal.”
She slowly turned around. “I’m not usually hungry at two in the morning.”
“Then I’ll save my culinary delights for breakfast.” Blake brushed his mouth over hers. “Stay with me tonight.”
“But I…” Really really want to scream yes.
“I got the feeling watching you earlier that you were feeling a little displaced.”
“Really?”
“Mmm-hmmm. You looked that way last night too, right before you started dropping cherry bombs.”
How had he picked up on her melancholy so quickly? Was it true about bartender’s intuition? Or was he just that tuned in to her?
“I hate to think of you sitting home alone, stewing about your place in the world and in Broward, Nebraska. And me sitting here alone, worrying about you stewing. Wouldn’t it be better for us to be alone together?”
“Then we wouldn’t be alone.”
“Exactly. And there’s always this in the plus column.” Blake kissed her. Not hot and hard. Not sweet and warm. His mouth simply…overtook hers. The kiss knocked her sideways, even as he pressed her against the wall to keep her upright.
When he broke free from her mouth, Willow gasped for breath.
He whispered, “You undo me. You have from the second you I saw you.”
“Umm. Yeah. Wow. The feeling is mutual.”
“Good.” His teeth scraped her neck.
“Isn’t this against the rules?”
“What I wanna do to you right here in the breakroom could probably get us arrested for indecency.”
“No. I mean between a boss and an employee—”
“Neither of us is officially an employee. The ‘no fraternizing’ rule doesn’t apply.” Blake retreated. “But I won’t push you to be with me if you’d rather say no.”
Willow grabbed his shirt. “I don’t want to say no. You’re so sweet and hot and sexy and nice, but the truth is I don’t have a lot of experience with this type of thing.”
“What type of thing?”
“Lust.”
He grinned.
And just because she’d been dying to, she rose to her tiptoes and dipped her tongue into the deep grooves bracketing his mouth. First the left side, then the right. A sound resembling a growl rumbled from his chest.
She liked the effect she had on him, even when the situation scared her spitless. Willow twined her arms around his neck. “But I feel I oughta give you fair warning. I’m not the wild woman you met last night. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”
“In what? Your table manners? We’re just sharing a meal, remember?”
“Okay. Just sharing a meal sounds great.” Once she’d said the words out loud, it seemed less a big deal than she’d made it out to be. She tended to overanalyze everything, preparing for every contingency—real or imagined. Just this once, she wanted to go with the flow.
The bar emptied at one and Blake decided to close early. Mandy and Willow were laughing and trash talking while cleaning up front, which made closing duties fly by. After he walked Mandy out to her car and locked the back door, he saw Willow sitting at the bar counting her tips.
She was so damn cute. Concentration wrinkling her forehead. Her full lips pursed. Her legs swinging back and forth beneath her chair.
He’d worried having her “help” in the bar would actually create more work for him, but Willow had held her own. In fact, even skeptical Mandy mentioned being grateful for Willow’s help.
Blake clicked off the neon bar signs and poured himself a fresh Coke. “Want something to drink?”
“Sure, I’ll have what you’re having.”
“One Coca-cola coming right up.”
She stopped arranging the dollar bills so they all faced the same way. “I figured you’d have a beer to relax now that you’re off the clock.”
“Nope. Here’s a secret. I avoid alcohol. Working in a bar it’d be too easy to become a drunk. To be honest, I really don’t drink much.”
“Me neither.”
He
“You’ve already done so much—”
“No expectations, Will. Just you and me, sharing a meal.”
She slowly turned around. “I’m not usually hungry at two in the morning.”
“Then I’ll save my culinary delights for breakfast.” Blake brushed his mouth over hers. “Stay with me tonight.”
“But I…” Really really want to scream yes.
“I got the feeling watching you earlier that you were feeling a little displaced.”
“Really?”
“Mmm-hmmm. You looked that way last night too, right before you started dropping cherry bombs.”
How had he picked up on her melancholy so quickly? Was it true about bartender’s intuition? Or was he just that tuned in to her?
“I hate to think of you sitting home alone, stewing about your place in the world and in Broward, Nebraska. And me sitting here alone, worrying about you stewing. Wouldn’t it be better for us to be alone together?”
“Then we wouldn’t be alone.”
“Exactly. And there’s always this in the plus column.” Blake kissed her. Not hot and hard. Not sweet and warm. His mouth simply…overtook hers. The kiss knocked her sideways, even as he pressed her against the wall to keep her upright.
When he broke free from her mouth, Willow gasped for breath.
He whispered, “You undo me. You have from the second you I saw you.”
“Umm. Yeah. Wow. The feeling is mutual.”
“Good.” His teeth scraped her neck.
“Isn’t this against the rules?”
“What I wanna do to you right here in the breakroom could probably get us arrested for indecency.”
“No. I mean between a boss and an employee—”
“Neither of us is officially an employee. The ‘no fraternizing’ rule doesn’t apply.” Blake retreated. “But I won’t push you to be with me if you’d rather say no.”
Willow grabbed his shirt. “I don’t want to say no. You’re so sweet and hot and sexy and nice, but the truth is I don’t have a lot of experience with this type of thing.”
“What type of thing?”
“Lust.”
He grinned.
And just because she’d been dying to, she rose to her tiptoes and dipped her tongue into the deep grooves bracketing his mouth. First the left side, then the right. A sound resembling a growl rumbled from his chest.
She liked the effect she had on him, even when the situation scared her spitless. Willow twined her arms around his neck. “But I feel I oughta give you fair warning. I’m not the wild woman you met last night. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”
“In what? Your table manners? We’re just sharing a meal, remember?”
“Okay. Just sharing a meal sounds great.” Once she’d said the words out loud, it seemed less a big deal than she’d made it out to be. She tended to overanalyze everything, preparing for every contingency—real or imagined. Just this once, she wanted to go with the flow.
The bar emptied at one and Blake decided to close early. Mandy and Willow were laughing and trash talking while cleaning up front, which made closing duties fly by. After he walked Mandy out to her car and locked the back door, he saw Willow sitting at the bar counting her tips.
She was so damn cute. Concentration wrinkling her forehead. Her full lips pursed. Her legs swinging back and forth beneath her chair.
He’d worried having her “help” in the bar would actually create more work for him, but Willow had held her own. In fact, even skeptical Mandy mentioned being grateful for Willow’s help.
Blake clicked off the neon bar signs and poured himself a fresh Coke. “Want something to drink?”
“Sure, I’ll have what you’re having.”
“One Coca-cola coming right up.”
She stopped arranging the dollar bills so they all faced the same way. “I figured you’d have a beer to relax now that you’re off the clock.”
“Nope. Here’s a secret. I avoid alcohol. Working in a bar it’d be too easy to become a drunk. To be honest, I really don’t drink much.”
“Me neither.”
He
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