by Kate, Jiffy
“There’s nothing little about that,” I reply without thinking.
“Oh really?” he asks, playfulness seeping into his words. “You think my cock is...”
“Big,” I finish for him. “And beautiful.”
“Fuck,” he groans. Standing abruptly, he shoves his hands into jeans and lets his chin fall to his chest. Breathing in deeply, he expels it and levels me with his stare. “I gotta go.”
“Okay,” I say, standing and placing a soft kiss on his jaw. “Want me to come...” I linger on the word, knowing what it’s doing to him, “over to your house tonight?” My question earns me a predatory smile.
“You better.”
It’s a threat and a promise all rolled into one and it’s going to be all I think about for the next four hours.
“Cole,” Wyatt calls out my last name like he does everyone else from time to time, like he’s a coach on a football team. “Back to work.”
“Duty calls,” I tell Shaw, leaning in for a quick peck before sashaying away.
Yes, I sashayed.
I sashayed all the way across the dining room.
Chapter 36
Shaw
Avery stayed the night at my house last night, but like the last few mornings, she’s already gone, leaving my bed feeling cold. I could kill Wyatt for opening so fucking early and making my girl have to wake up before me.
I’m glad to have her here at night, but I like her in the morning even more.
Plus, I have to put my eyes on her. Since the other morning when I woke up to her getting sick in the bathroom, I’ve been worried, my mind running wild with worst case scenarios—flu, infection, food poisoning, stress...cancer.
I can’t help it. And that wasn’t even one of Liz’s symptoms. She didn’t start vomiting until she was taking chemo. It wasn’t pretty. It drained the life from her. Thankfully, the doctors were able to give her a prescription that helped her and she eventually started keeping food down again, but they couldn’t fix her, couldn’t cure her.
My phone ringing pulls me out of my depressing thoughts.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Hey, boss,” Paulie says. “Sorry to bother you this early, but I was wondering if you needed me to meet the delivery guys this morning or if you’re planning on it. We’re probably gonna need all the beer we can get.”
“No.” I sit up and run a hand down my face. “I’ll be there. Did you remember to order the champagne for the Blue Bayou party?”
“Yeah, twelve cases, four for them and eight for us.”
“Think we’re gonna be okay tonight? Is Charlie feeling better?” I ask, walking to the closet to pull out some jeans.
“He said he’s good. Doctor cleared him for work.”
“And Kevin?”
“Also good. Still limping a little,” Paulie says with a chuckle. “Fucking dumbass.”
I huff a laugh and prop the phone between my ear and shoulder as I throw on my jeans, walking to the bathroom to brush my teeth, pausing when I see the piece of paper balanced on the faucet.
Good morning.
I love you.
-A
“Boss?” Paulie asks.
“Yeah, sorry...what were you saying?” I ask absentmindedly.
“Thought maybe I lost you.”
“Nah, I’m here,” I tell him. Lost my fucking heart to a girl with purple hair and the prettiest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. But I’m definitely here. All of me. All in.
“I guess I’ll see you this afternoon,” he says, also sounding distracted.
“Yeah, we’ll be there until eight...y’all will have to take it from there, but we’ll be back to help clean up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Paulie says. “We’ll get it. The new guys need to pull their weight. I’ll compensate them nicely for working on a holiday. It’ll be all good.”
“Sounds good, man.”
“See ya later.”
The phone goes dead and I drop it to the counter, running my thumb along the small piece of paper, flipping it over and then back, her simple words doing crazy things to my chest—tightening, burning, expanding.
She won’t be at the bar until she gets off her shift from the restaurant, and I hate that she’s going to be working practically an entire day, but I hate the idea of her being alone without me even more. So, it’ll be fine. She’ll be fine.
She’ll be with me and I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.
If she seems off still, I’ll lock her in my office and force her to take a nap or something.
Before I leave the bedroom, I tuck Avery’s note into my bedside table. I’m keeping that shit. Pretty sure no one’s ever written me a note before, and even though it’s such a simple thing to do, it means a whole fucking lot.
When I finally make it to the bar, I go through my usual rituals of wiping down the already clean counters and put on a pot of coffee. Taking the clipboard we keep next to the register, I start going over the inventory, making sure everything is stocked while I wait for the delivery.
“Good morning,” Sarah calls from the back door.
“Hey,” I say, glancing up at her and then quickly back to the shelves, turning the labels to face out like I like them. A bit OCD? Sure. But it’s my fucking bar and I can do what I want.
“Are you dusting the bottles again?” she teases, walking over to the bar and placing a box of my favorite donuts on top.
“Shut up,” I tell her, sounding thirteen instead of thirty-eight...thirty-nine in another month, just a month before Avery turns twenty-four. It’s so strange that the first day she walked into my bar, her fifteen year and one month age gap felt like the Grand Canyon. But now, all these months later, it feels like a small, rambling creek. It’s there. But it’s more of a characteristic of our relationship than a deciding factor.
“How’s Avery?”
That’s Sarah’s new first question. It’s actually starting to feel like she maybe cares more about her than me, and I’m totally okay with that.
“Good...she still seems tired, but swears she’s fine,” I sigh.
“You know you can’t overreact every time she sneezes, right?” The teasing tone in Sarah’s voice is gone and in its place is my older, wiser sister who only wants the best for me. “She’s not Liz.”
“I know,” I tell her with a hardness I don’t intend but can’t help.
“I’m sure it’s just the traveling and working overtime to make up for her time off. Give her a break and let her be human.”
“Uh huh,” I answer aloofly, letting her know this conversation is over.
The back door opening ends the conversation. “Hey, Shaw,” Mark, our delivery guy, calls out. “I’ve got your booze.”
Setting the clipboard down, I walk to the end of the bar and around to Sarah, placing a kiss on her head and grabbing a donut. She sighs, giving me a small smile. “I just want this to work,” she confesses.
“I know.”
The rest of the afternoon flies by. Customers start flooding into the bar way before usual, well usual for an average day. New Year’s Eve is a different ball game. People make drinking a sport, but I’m not complaining. Days like this are what give us the boost we need to make it through winter.
Avery shows up around six-thirty and immediately grabs an apron and makes herself comfortable behind the bar, shooting me a smile and a wink. I walk over to her before she can get distracted with customers and place a searing kiss on her lips, loving the way her body molds to mine. “You don’t have to work,” I tell her, my lips lingering near her ear, causing her to shiver. “Maybe you should take a nap in my office...I could join you.”
It’s a cheap shot, but I’m not above bribing her.
“You’re an evil, evil man,” she says with a teasing smile. “But have you seen this place?” Her eyes light up as she ties her apron strings tight around her slim waist. I can tell she’s excited to be back and the truth is we could use her help. She’s an awesome bart
ender.
“Hey, kid,” Paulie greets, leaning over to give her a side hug. “You showed up just in time.”
“Put me to work,” she says, beaming at him. “I stopped by CeCe’s and got a double shot of espresso. I’m ready to go.”
I laugh, shaking my head and loving the view as she turns to walk to the opposite end of the bar, jumping head first into the surge of customers. Normally, I’d hang in the background, watching the crowd and the bar, only inserting myself where I’m needed, but not tonight. Tonight, I’m tossing bottles right next to Paulie, Charlie, and Avery, while Kevin, Devon, and Sarah keep the place in order and fresh glasses stocked up. It definitely feels like old times and the whole vibe has me wearing a smile.
Lately, I’ve found myself smiling more. I used to smile all the time. The old Shaw was full of fun and games. My brothers and I always joked around with each other. I’ve missed that version of myself, but the last five years felt like he had slipped too far away.
Until her.
Avery.
She’s tired. I can see it in her eyes, but her own smile is something I wouldn’t trade for a million bucks. And even though I want to tell her to stop and rest...I can’t deny her this.
Besides, it’s fucking New Year’s Eve.
When I was twenty-three, I was probably wasted by this time of night.
The fact that working a bar with her friends is what makes Avery happy is one of the things I love about her. I’d love her even if she was a little wild, but I’m not sure we’d mesh as well as we do. She’s the calm in my storm, sunshine on a cloudy day...the missing piece of my puzzle...my complicated, jagged, messy puzzle. Somehow, she makes me make sense.
A couple hours later, Avery and I are jumping in the Jeep to head over to Blue Bayou. “You sure you’re up for this?” I ask, trying to gauge how she’s feeling. “Don’t feel like you have to work. I can handle the drinks.”
“No,” she says with smile that’s genuine but a little forced. Her hand comes up to hide a yawn and she laughs. “I swear, I’m good...I think my coffee is wearing off, but CeCe is supposed to be here and I want to see her.” We stare at each other in the dim light of the cab of the Jeep for a few moments before I lean across and cup her cheek in my hand. Leaning my forehead against hers, I rub my nose along her soft skin before kissing her.
“Besides,” she says, her words coming out a little dazed from the kiss, “I really love working beside you.” Her tongue swipes at her bottom lip and she drops her gaze to my mouth. “You’re even sexier when you’re in bartender mode. It’s ridiculous really...should be against the law,” she mumbles.
A growl rumbles in my chest as I pull her to me and devour her mouth, just for a moment...just enough to let her know what I plan on doing to her later, as we ring in the new year properly.
Chapter 37
Avery
After Shaw introduces me to Carys, the owner of the hotel who is shockingly young, and her very attractive boyfriend, Maverick, we settle in behind the bar that’s set up. Shaw’s in the zone as he organizes the liquor bottles and takes mental inventory, like he’s at Come Again, and it makes me smile. I love how anal he is about his business.
I wasn’t lying when I said it’s sexy. If I’m being honest, it’s hot as fuck. And pretty much makes me want to jump him, especially when he does this fancy bottle flips that I’ve never quite mastered.
“Teach me how to do that,” I tell him, catching him off guard.
“What?” he asks, eyes hooded when he looks down at me and I wonder if he’s still thinking about our mini make out session in his Jeep before we came here.
That was also hot and made me want to fuck.
“The bottle flip...teach me some flair,” I tell him, waggling my eyes.
“Oh, Avery,” he says, leaning in until his lips are ghosting my ear, “I’ve got so much flair to teach you...it’ll take years.”
I swallow, eyes drifting closed. “Like, forever?” I ask on a whisper.
“That’s what I’m counting on.”
“What’s a girl gotta do to get some service around here?” CeCe’s voice breaks the trance between us and Shaw stands abruptly, clearing his throat.
“CeCe,” he says with a curt nod and his signature stare.
“Shaw,” she says with a knowing smile. “Avery.”
When she says my name there’s more seductive undertone that makes me blush. Yeah, she busted me getting all worked up. So what? It’s not like she hasn’t encouraged this every day since I met her.
I believe it was CeCe who instructed me to tap that.
“What can I get for you?” I ask, loving being on this side of things and serving CeCe for once.
“A whiskey sour,” she says, giving me twisted smile. “With two cherries.”
“Whiskey sour, two cherries. Coming right up.” Pulling a glass from the stack, I go about making her drink while Shaw tends to a few other people who’ve walked up to the makeshift bar. “So, what’s your plan for the evening?”
CeCe snort laughs. “You’re looking at it,” she says, arms wide. That’s when I notice the stunning black dress she’s wearing, making my black shirt and black jeans with matching apron feel like a homeless person’s attire.
“Shit, CeCe. You look smokin’ hot.”
“This old thing?” she asks with a sultry smile and flip of her hand. “Well, I never get to go out, so I figured why the hell not, ya know?”
“Hey,” I tell her, handing her the drink...and a bonus cherry, “flaunt it if you got it.”
“You’re a workaholic,” she says, frowning as she accepts the glass and then takes a sip of the amber liquid, popping one of the cherries in her mouth. “But seriously, any time you want to come and work my counter, I’ll let you. I miss you.”
“I promise I’ll start coming back over soon. My schedule should even out after the holidays. Maybe I can even help you out this coming Sunday or Monday?”
“Sure,” she says, her response coming slow as her eyes leave me and drift to something...or should I say someone. A taller guy with perfectly coiffed blond hair just walked into the courtyard, garnering the attention of most people, including my friend who can’t seem to peel her eyes off him.
“Who’s that?” I ask, glancing at the guy who has a smile for every person he passes. I watch for a second as he works the space like a celebrity, charming the panties off most of the women and getting fist bumps or man hugs from the men.
“CeCe?” Looking back at her, I notice she’s kind of frozen in time, but her eyes are now glued to the ground and her sequined black shoes. When she finally cuts her eyes back up at me, she acts like she wants to disappear.
“Hey,” I whisper, stepping around the bar and into her space. “You okay?”
Her normal olive complexion is pale and her eyes are wide, like she’s seen a ghost. “Fine,” she hisses, looking nervously over her shoulder and then back to her glass that’s still mostly full.
The guy, with his expensive suit and crisp white shirt, makes his way closer and I feel CeCe tense at my side.
“How’s it going, CeCe?”
His voice is deep and smooth, perfect around the edges. There’s definitely an Ivy League education behind all that CEO persona and something familiar in the way he says CeCe’s name. He knows her...like knows her. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do.
Call it friend’s intuition.
Side-eying her as I slowly make my way back around the bar, she stiffens and gives me a wide stare, before finally turning her tentative gaze to the man at her side. “Shep,” she says with a clipped nod, finally taking another sip of her drink.
I want to tell her bottoms up and pour her a double, because she obviously needs to loosen up...or maybe some liquid courage.
His eyes rack up and down her body and I hear his heavy exhale.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” he says in a cool way that only people with swagger can manage. “Whiskey, neat,” he says to Shaw
as he steps in beside me. When the glass of amber liquid is placed in front of him with a napkin, he dips his head in appreciation at Shaw and then smiles at me while dropping his voice to a low, silky utterance. “See you around, CeCe.”
When he walks away, I get a whiff of something expensive—cologne that makes me think of the French Riviera, which I’ve never been to, so I have no real life experience on what that smells like, but if I had to guess, it smells like Shep.
Okay, I obviously need some help.
“Who was that?” I whisper once he’s far enough away he can’t hear and Shaw is at the other end of the bar, pouring a few beers.
“Shepard Rhys-Jones,” CeCe says with a huff that’s half lust, half hate.
“Spill,” I order, taking a towel and wiping down the bar in front of me so I look busy.
“That’s a story for another day,” she says with a sigh. “I just don’t have the mental stamina to relive it right now.”
Her dramatics make me laugh. “Are you kidding me? This from the girl who wanted every sordid detail of my sexual encounters...” I hiss. “You basically were selling me off to the highest bidder so you could get a juicy story...and you think I’m going to let this slide?” I ask incredulously. “No, no, ma’am. I’m going to at least need the basics.”
With another huff, CeCe glances over her shoulder and then back at me, downing what’s left of her drink. “Fine. We...” she pauses, waving a hand in the air like I’m supposed to interpret, and I already think I know, but I’m going to need hear her say it.
“What?”
“Had sex,” she says, obviously annoyed she’s being forced to admit it.
“Was it horrible?” I ask, a bit confused because the man I just saw looks like he can deliver...in every way.
“God, no.” She shakes her head in disgust that I would even think that. “Not at all...” As her words drift off and her eyes linger over her shoulder, her tone softens. “Quite the opposite. It was the best lay of my life.”
“So, why not talk to him?” I ask with a hint of frustration. This isn’t CeCe. She’s normally sure of herself and confident. And I hate knowing she’s always alone. And that guy seems really nice...and really rich, not that that matters, but I want the best for her.
