Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“Um,” Brady starts, looking at me and then looking at Charlie. “Okay,” he says, not sure about what is going on. He doesn’t have a chance to say anything because someone raises their hand in the air to get his attention.
“It’s okay,” I reassure him, and he pushes off, but not before he gives Charlie a look of warning.
“Can I get a glass of water?” he asks me and I nod, turning to go get him a glass before filling it with water. “I’ll be back.” He pushes away and walks back to his friends. I let go of the breath I was holding, needing to move my feet.
I walk around the bar, heading to a couple of tables and asking them if everything is okay. I take a second to look at the almost full bar, and I can’t help but feel a bit proud of it. Brady hands me the tray before walking to the back of the bar and going to the women. I make my way around the bar and try to act normal when I head to Charlie’s table. He sits there with his back against the booth and his one ankle on his other knee. “Can I get you guys anything?”
“Just the bill,” Emmett says, smiling at me.
“I’ll take care of it,” Charlie quickly offers, “you can get it next time.”
“Thank you.” He gets up, and I walk over to the bar area, grabbing a pad and heading back over to him with his bill in my hand.
“Here you go.” I hand him the bill, and he takes it. Our fingers graze each other, and the back of my neck tingles. “You can go and pay Brady.” I quickly turn around and head to the rest of the tables. They slowly trickle out, and when I look back, I see the group of four women are a little bit gone with the wind as they laugh at Brady saying something. I spot Charlie sitting on a stool at the far end of the bar.
I look at my watch, noting it’s just past midnight, and the women are the only ones left. “Okay, last call,” I announce, walking behind the bar, and the girls all groan.
“Where does one get a taxi?” The blonde leans into the bar, and I have to close my eyes.
“Where are you staying?” I ask, and she shrugs before reaching into her purse and taking out a card with a B&B address.
“Here.”
Brady grabs the card before I do. “I can get them home.” He looks at me.
“I’m sure you can,” I say. “Why don’t you close the tab and get them out of here so I can close up?” I walk toward Charlie. “It’s last call.”
“I’m good,” he replies, picking up his glass of water and bringing it to his mouth. I grab the rag and walk around the bar to see Brady trying to wrangle the girls, who are all wearing stiletto heels as they wobble.
“Have fun.” I hold up my hand as he props one of them up while holding the door open.
I wipe down the table, the whole time my body knows that he’s right around me. “You going to sit there all night?” I ask him as I walk to the next table. “I’m tired, and I want to close up.”
“What can I do to help?” He walks toward the back of the bar, putting his glass in the bin.
“I don’t need help,” I tell him as I wipe down the tables.
“I’m staying until you’re done,” he declares, “so you might as well just tell me what needs to be done.”
Our eyes lock on each other as I try to figure out what his game is. Like what the fuck is going on right now. This back-and-forth is giving me whiplash and I for one do not want to be in this game with him. His eyes penetrating into mine and I know that he’s not going to give in. “Fine.” I toss him the rag. “Clean down the tables.”
“Got it.” He walks past me and his smell fills my nose. All I can do is picture me on top of him, sitting on him on the swing, with my face buried in his neck. I walk around to the bar as I place the glasses in the dishwasher. “Tonight was good, right?” he asks from across the bar.
“It was,” I confirm, “busier than we’ve been in a while.” I make sure the bar is clean.
“Lots of new faces in town.” He tries to prolong the conversation.
“Yeah,” I agree. “I went to the bed-and-breakfasts on the outskirts of town, offering their clients a two-for-one discount on their first round of drinks.” His eyebrows shoot up. “I didn’t think it would be this successful, to be honest.”
“That’s a great idea,” he admits, walking over to the sink and rinsing off his rag before hanging it over the sink. “Are you done?”