by Marie York
“In the flesh.” She accepted my offer. “Are you from these parts?”
“I’m actually from New York. I just moved here a few days ago.”
Her eyebrows rose as she nodded. “And you already have a job. I’m impressed.”
“What can I say, I’m pretty impressive,” I joked.
She pointed at me and laughed. “I can already tell I’m going to like you.” She turned from me to Declan. “Dec, what are the specials tonight?”
He handed her a piece of paper, and she smiled her appreciation. “Thanks, handsome.” She ruffled his hair then came back over to me.
“So, are you from here?” I asked, curious.
“Oh, yeah. I’m a lifer. Born and raised and will probably never leave.”
“You love it that much?”
Tara laughed, and it was vibrant like her. “Oh, God no. It’s just every time I’ve tried to get the hell out of here, something prevented it from happening. It’s like a black hole, always sucking me back in,” she chided
“You’re still young,” I said, guessing she was my age if not a year or two older. “You still have time.”
“It’s a nice thought, but why think about it, you know? You can’t change the past or predict the future. But what you can do is live in the now. Ain’t that right, Dec?”
Declan stopped putting fries in the fryer and nodded. “You know it.”
“And right now, I have tips to make.” She reached into her bra and adjusted her cleavage so her it was center of attention. She then cupped each breast and gave them a good push up. “Girls, let’s make momma some money tonight.”
I was about to ask her if Jaxon ever gave her shit for her attire when the devil himself walked in.
Jaxon stopped in front of us and crossed his arms. “I’m not paying you to chitchat.”
Tara tilted her head. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.”
Jealousy twisted into a curious ball in my mind. What did Tara know about Jaxon’s bed? Any guy would be crazy not to want her, and she seemed like the type of girl who got what she wanted. Did she ever want Jaxon?
“He’s been like this all night,” Declan said from behind the grill.
“Let me guess.” Tara tapped her lips. “Gary broke something? He gave away free drinks to a cute girl?”
“No! For once, Gary didn’t do anything. I’m just...” Jaxon ran his hands through his hair then looked up almost pleading with Tara in a single glance. “Can you please just get to work?”
“Well, when you put it like that.” She swiped up her bill book and strutted something fierce out the door.
I envied her confidence.
“That goes for you too,” Jaxon said. “This isn’t going to work if I have to keep telling you what to do.”
Thinking of my earlier plan, and how I wanted to turn the tables, I took a page from Tara, and strutted over to where he stood. I leaned against him—stealing his infamous move—pressing my tits against his side and whispered against his ear. “I thought you liked to tell me what to do. Or is that only in the bedroom?”
I pulled back, and locked eyes with him for the briefest of seconds, just enough to see the desire flash through his dark irises. Then I walked away.
My only hope was that I left him rock hard and wanting, just like all those times he left me soaking wet and needy.
Chapter 23
Monday night was my first night off since I started working at Baile’s. I lounged on the couch with Dee as we watched some awful reality TV show that we got sucked into five episodes ago. It was Housewives of… something
“Do you think her husband’s cheating on her?” Dee asked as she took a sip from her wineglass.
“Why wouldn’t he be? She’s horrible, and clearly only with him for the money!” I exclaimed.
Dee rolled her eyes and gave my shoulder a playful shove. “You’re such a romantic.”
“What can I say, I’ve been tainted.”
“But you’re working with Jax now. How’s that going?” Dee lifted her perfectly sculpted eyebrow and gave me the look that said she wanted every little detail.
“It’s going.” I took a gulp from my glass. I let the wine do its job and calm me down before I said too much. I never told Dee about me and Jaxon’s last time together. It was her wedding night after all, and then she was on her honeymoon. By the time she got back, I didn’t want to cry about it anymore, so I let it go. Moved on. Until I walked into his bar.
“That’s all? I find that hard to believe. You two are like the definition of sexual chemistry. When you two were dancing at my wedding, I swear.” She held her hands up for emphasis. “I thought he was going to pick you up and do you on a table.”
“Did not.”
“For real. I was about to go get the fire extinguisher when you just up and left him. What was that about anyway?”
I remembered being pressed against him. How much I loved feeling his muscles beneath that tuxedo. That amazing manly scent of his, teasing my senses. The way his hand hovered just above my ass, making me want him so bad that I felt ready to combust.
But I also remembered how I had practically thrown myself at him twice before that very moment, and how he rejected me. I couldn’t stand there and pretend anymore. I had to get away from him. Not just because I wanted him so desperately, but because I didn’t think my heart could take another rejection. Too bad I didn’t see the biggest one of all coming. If I did. I never would’ve knocked on his hotel room door that night.
“It was nothing.” Dee did not look convinced with my response, so I blurted out the only thing I could think of. “I had to pee, so I took off.”
“Really? My expectations were so much higher than that. But just so you know, I’m still holding out hope for you two.”
I loved my best friend, I did, but I really wished she’d let the Lyla and Jaxon Show go. Because no matter what I did, Jaxon didn’t want to star in it with me; he only wanted a guest appearance when it suited his needs.
I went to shoot down her hope when Cole walked into the living room. “Hi girls, what’s going on?”
He undid his tie and sat down on the recliner. “Hi baby.” Dee leaned over the couch to give him a kiss. “We’re just watching some TV. Want to join us?”
Cole looked at the TV, and, as soon as he saw what we were watching, he shook his head. “Definitely not. You girls have fun. I’m going to go take a shower.”
He gave Dee another lingering kiss, and I had a feeling he was insinuating something more. She didn’t seem to notice, though.
“You know what I want right now?” Dee said, and Cole and I waited for her to answer. “Brownies! Lyla, let’s go make some brownies.”
“Okay, shower it is,” Cole said, and disappeared down the hall.
“Dee.” I nudged her with my elbow. “I think Cole wanted you to join him.”
“Oh, whatever.” She swatted her hand toward the hallway. “I’m hanging out with my girl. I’ll take care of him tonight. Now, come on. I need a chocolate fix.”
I followed her into the kitchen and plopped down on the stool. It was boxed brownies that required three ingredients. I didn’t think she needed my help.
“Now, I know you know, that I’m not done talking about you and Jaxon.”
I sighed loudly. “Dee, give it up.”
“I’m sorry. But, if you dated Jax, we could double date. And we always wanted to date brothers, and Jax and Cole might as well be, so it just seems too perfect not to push.”
“Unfortunately.” I took a sip of my wine to gain the strength to say the words out loud. “Jaxon doesn’t want me.”
“Not true,” Dee argued.
I rolled my eyes at her insistence. The girl was relentless. “Very true.”
“Then why did he call Cole on our honeymoon asking if we heard from you?” Dee asked, leaving me speechless, and with even more of my own questions.
***
All night, I thought about wh
at Dee had asked me, and I came to the conclusion that Jaxon was just trying to save face. He wanted to make sure I didn’t go blabbing to Dee about what kind of asshole he was for sleeping with me, and then taking off without as much as a goodbye.
What Jaxon and I had was purely sex, and I had to stop letting every little look and gesture make me think differently. I’d only set myself up for more disappointment, and honestly, with the way my life had been going lately, I didn’t think I could handle any more let downs.
My cell rang as I parked in the back of Baile. I glanced at the number and swiped to ignore it. My phone bill was due, and I couldn’t afford to pay it. Not yet, at least. Maybe next week. I knew Dee and Cole would lend me the money, but I wouldn’t ask them. I felt like a big enough failure already and didn’t need them to know I was missing payments too.
The smile I had on my face vanished and the weight of my failures took away any spark of happiness that I’d felt.
I forced my head high despite the heaviness of it all and walked into Baile. Gary was in his usual spot behind the bar and I gave him a wave as I headed to the back to get myself situated before my shift.
Declan sat in a corner reading. His eyes were intent on the page and I didn’t want to disturb him, but I also didn’t want to be rude and ignore him. “Hey Declan,” I said.
He placed a bookmark in between the pages and closed it. “What’s going on?”
“You don’t have to stop reading on my account.”
“I just finished the chapter, so it was perfect timing.”
“In that case, anything good on the specials menu tonight?”
“Have an awesome shepherd’s pie. My Grandma’s recipe.”
I smiled. “Then you better save me one.”
Tara barged into the kitchen, two hours earlier than her shift started, with tears in her big brown eyes.
“Dec?” she called out, and he peered around me.
“Right here, T.”
She looked sad, desperate, and like she was about to explode. Her eyes widened when she spotted me. She sniffed and quickly averted her attention to the pots on the other side of the kitchen.
She wiped at her eyes, then turned back with a forced smile. “Oh hi, Lyla. I forgot you are on this shift.”
“You okay?” I asked, eyeing the black makeup smeared under her eyes.
She shook her head, her blonde waves falling in her face. She didn’t bother pushing them back. “I’m good. Great, actually.” She tied the strings of her apron and grabbed her pad before heading out to the main area.
I hitched my thumb over my shoulder at the door swinging shut behind her.
I didn’t say anything when Declan responded, “She’ll be okay.”
“Her shift’s not for another two hours.”
“She comes in when she’s having a bad day. Jax just lets her work.”
“Does this happen often?” I asked, not concerned about sharing my tables, but genuinely worried about her.
The light that always shone so bright in his friendly gaze dimmed, as he looked down to the book in his hands. “It happens enough.”
“Do you know why?” I didn’t mean to butt my nose into her business, but I was genuinely concerned.
Declan blew out a breath and ran a hand through his auburn beard. “She has bad taste in men.” His blue eyes darkened with sadness, and I realized then that he was her fall back guy. The guy she went to every time her heart got broken by some asshole. The guy that, if she just opened her eyes, she’d finally recognize why he was the fall back guy. It was so obvious now as if someone shone a light into this corner of the kitchen. Declan had it bad for Tara, and she had no idea.
After seeing the raw hurt in his eyes, I didn’t want to keep poking around for answers. “Where’s Jaxon?” I asked.
Light broke through the darkness on Declan’s face, and the sadness that had consumed him only seconds ago faded. “I saw him head into his office.”
“He has an office?” How did I not know about this? Then again, it’s not like I asked, or he willingly told me. We had been dancing around each other for days. Flirtatious comments here and there, but every time we seemed to get swept up into a moment, he bolted.
Declan pointed to the ceiling. “Upstairs, next to the door to his apartment.”
“Jaxon lives upstairs!” I said a little too loud, but completely taken by surprise. I knew he had to live somewhere, but I never expected his bed to be so close to me every night. Then suddenly it made sense of why he stayed at the hotel when the restaurant floors were being redone.
“Yup, lucky bastard,” Declan said. “Climbs up a few steps at night and can go right to bed.”
It would also make it easy for him to bring girls home. He didn’t have to talk them into going very far, not like he’d have to do much convincing. Most girls would go with him willingly. I did.
I shook the torturous thoughts from my mind. “I better get to work,” I said to Declan. “Don’t forget to save me one of those shepherd’s pies.”
“You got it.”
I walked out to the main area, and Tara’s eyes were already clear. She leaned over a table, her skirt dangerously close to revealing all to the bar, and flirted with a group of guys.
There were a couple tables who were still sitting without menus, so I grabbed a few, and made my way to them. The bar was two people deep and Gary ran back and forth like a tornado about to destroy something in its path. He didn’t have the natural ease behind the bar like Jaxon did, though I doubted many people did.
I finished up with my tables and headed behind the bar to help.
“Thank you so much,” Gary said, as I started filling glasses and taking money.
My curiosity took hold and I needed to know why he was hiding upstairs. “Why isn’t Jaxon helping tonight?”
Gary held his hands out. “No idea.”
Between waiting my tables, I continued to help Gary behind the bar as much as I could. Once Tara stopped flirting with the table of guys, she ran trays like a madwoman. The tears in her eyes were nothing more than a fading memory now, and if I hadn’t seen them myself, I never would have expected that only a few hours earlier she was consumed in sorrow.
The night was a whirlwind of back and forths to the kitchen, pulling tabs and popping bottles open. If I hadn’t had waitressing down before, I definitely had it figured out by the end of the night.
Tara collapsed onto one of the barstools, and rested her arm and head on the bar. “Gary.” She held, her hand up. “A shot.”
“The usual?” He picked up a bottle of Fireball.
“Yes, please.”
Gary walked over with a stack of shot glasses. “You in?” Gary nodded his head at me.
“Of course she’s in. Get over here, skinny bitch. Dec, get your cute ass out here,” she yelled.
I laughed and sat down beside her. Gary placed a shot glass in front of me and filled it up. Declan came out of the back, a glimmer of sweat on his forehead, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his white shirt covered in food splatters. He wiped his face with a rag, and Tara held up the shot glass.
“You read my mind,” Declan said, as he leaned against the bar, taking a glass from Gary.
We all held our shot glasses up. “Welcome to the craziness, Lyla,” Tara said. With a clink of our glasses, I felt like my initiation into their group was finalized. We downed the shot, and my body trembled at the burn sliding down my throat.
“Holy crap, that’s hot.” I waved a hand at my mouth.
Tara drummed her hands on the bar. “It’s a good burn.”
I laughed. “If you say so.” I exchanged my shot glass for a glass of water.
Declan leaned into Tara, wrapping his arm around her. “You okay?”
She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled. “I am now.” He kissed her forehead, and ran a hand down her arm, pulling her closer.
They weren’t a couple, but there was a mutual respect and adoration between the
two that I admired.
I looked down at my short skirt and low cut shirt I purposely wore to torture Jaxon, and for what? He still wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“Did Jaxon come down at all?” I asked Gary.
“Haven’t seen him. Which is strange. He usually doesn’t trust me down here alone.”
“Well, he should. You kicked ass tonight.”
Gary’s entire face lit up. “Thank you!” He had an extra bounce in his step as he put the bottle of Fireball away.
I slid from my stool. “I’m going to see if Jaxon is in his office before I leave.”
“Let him know I left him a plate,” Declan called over his shoulder.
Tara waved. “See you later, Lyla.”
I waved back, said goodbye to everyone, then made my way to up the refinished wood steps. The door at the top was ajar, and I lightly knocked as I pushed it open. Jaxon looked up, a pair of metal-rimmed glasses framed his eyes, and made him look like a hot accountant ready to take me on his desk.
A bottle of Jack and a rock glass sat to his side, and it hadn’t looked as if he sipped it since he poured it.
“Lyla.” He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. They were bloodshot and tired. He must’ve been up here all night, staring at the stack of papers on his desk.
I rested my back against the door, popping my hip slightly so my skirt would rise up my thigh. “Sorry to barge in, but we’re getting ready to head out. Declan wanted you to know he left you a plate on the side.”
“What time is it?” Jaxon turned his watch toward him. “Oh, fuck! I didn’t realize how late it was.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gary must be losing his mind.”
“He’s okay. I helped him.” Jaxon’s hands fell to the desk and his hot gaze landed on me, causing me to momentarily lose my train of thought. “In between my tables, I jumped in and did what I could.”
“Thank you.”
I smiled at the heartfelt appreciation then moved closer to his desk. “What have you been doing up here?”
He leaned back in his chair, and put his hands behind his head, causing his t-shirt to pull tight against his muscles. My tongue swiped across my bottom lip at the sight and I quickly sucked it back into my mouth.
