Until then, I spend the next couple of days getting caught up on client packages, housework, sanitizing the hell out of my table and going out and finding a cloth to put over it… just because. And at one point, I get a little lonely for my bestie and so decide to give her a call to see how the tour is going. She fills me in on after-parties, photo shoots, and unfortunately the band’s agent who’s been acting a little shady. Apparently, he’s recently been getting a little too comfortable around her. She’s brushing it off, but my hackles are raised for her. Men with power, good looks and money have a tendency towards entitlement.
I can hear the shrug in her voice. I love my dear bestie, but she can be a little naïve sometimes. It’s in her nature; she’s always reluctant to be concerned about certain things, and hands the benefit of the doubt out a little too much. After promising me that she’ll keep her guard up and not tolerate that bullshit, she turns the conversation over to me… and what I’ve been up to lately.
“I’m sorry, could you speak up a bit? Because it sounded like you just said Tyler,” Mayzie retorts at my confession on the other end of the line.
“I did say Tyler!” I huff, indignantly. “We went to The Cedar. It’s recently been renovated and the girls all wanted to check it out. I didn’t think he’d still be working there.”
“Oh, yeah. He’s actually the manager now. He practically runs the place. He and the owner just put that place through a full overhaul.”
“Oh? You don’t say?” I ask sarcastically. I give her the downsized version of the events of the night, keeping it to the basics, i.e., Tyler and I ended up having a bang-a-thon.
“Aww. I’m happy for you.”
“Don’t be. It was a one-time thing.”
“I’m still happy for you. I’m glad you got some good sex. I mean it was good, right?”
“It was alright.”
I’m lying.
“You’re lying.”
“Fine, it was epically mind blowing and I’m going to be feeling it for months to come…”
Go ahead. Laugh.
When Sunday rolls around, I show up at The Cedar’s front door before opening hours and don’t even have to knock before a kind looking man who looks to be in his mid-fifties opens the door with a smile, welcoming me in.
The place is empty and completely quiet when I walk in, making it hard to believe it’s the same bar I was in last week. It has the same rustic look it always did, with its high ceiling and exposed beams and piping. It just looks like it moved up a class.
I set my tripod and camera bag down in a booth and rummage for a notepad.
“So,” I begin, turning to Cliff, ready to jot down some notes. “I’m planning on getting everything of course, but is there anything in particular you wanted me to focus on?”
“Well,” he looks down as he leans a hand on one of the chairs, the other on his hip. “One of the big draws of this place is the fact that Jack used to work here and that Turn it Up got their start playing here, so if you wouldn’t mind…” he gestures to the various black and white photos mounted on the walls of the band playing in front of a packed crowd in this very bar.
“Of course,” I smile. I don’t need to write that down. “What else?”
“All the glassware is completely new,” he sweeps his arm towards all the pint glasses, mugs, and wine glasses stocked behind the bar. “The bar has been completely refinished, and the seats all have new upholstery. I’d really appreciate if we could feature all of that on the website,” he finishes with a warm smile.
“Got it,” I assure him as I finish writing it all down. “Don’t worry. I’m going to make it all really vivid and I will bring out the best of it all. You have my word.”
“Oh, I’m not worried dear. I saw your work on your site. You’re going to do great. I’m going to leave you to it,” he says, patting the top of the chair before ambling over to one of the empty tables where I see a laptop and folders laid out, I presume where he’s working on the business end of some things.
I unfold the tripod, not ready to use it yet but so that it’s ready when I want to, before pulling out a thin velvet cloth and laying it on one of the tables to set my different lenses on. After peeking through the view finder and deciding on the one I want, I get to work, starting at the entrance. I get a few snaps of what it looks like to walk in, and then turn my attention to the fine finish of the tables, booths, and finally the fine liquor selection.
I’m enjoying the clunking echo my boots make against the solid hardwood floor as I leisurely walk around, giving myself my own private, quiet tour, taking photos of what I think would look good on the website. I’m about forty shots in when a familiar deep voice breaks through my quiet bubble, along with quick, heavy footsteps.
“Cliff, that new IPA we wanted is on backorder, so we have to decide on one of the other three…” Tyler rounds the corner, coming from somewhere in the back. He’s in a red button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and perfectly fitted black slacks. Ohhh, sweet lord, that’s not fair. Have you ever seen what a pair of dress slacks can do for a guy’s ass? He’s carrying a couple of folders and a clipboard under his arm, twirling a pen between his fingers of the other hand. His words trail off and his movements slowly come to a halt when his eyes meet mine.
“Gorgeous.” Just the one word comes out of his mouth like a statement as he stares, not even hiding it.
Working on Sundays are not my favorite, but a few of the employees got their time cards into me late which is screwing up payroll, one of our taps is vacant because an IPA we were counting on is on backorder and the brewer failed to inform us so, we need a plan B. I’m hustling through it so that I can get in and get out.
After getting payroll squared away, I find the two dishwashers and bar-back that got their cards into me late and let them know to take some responsibility next time or it may be a snooze-and-lose situation. Now I just need Cliff to decide on a different microbrew to feature on tap so I can put the order in. Lately, he’s been leaving the office space to me and opting to do his work out in the bar while we’re closed, preferring the large open room with windows. I’ll just find him, get his decision and a signature and make it home in time for football. Oh, and ask when he plans on bringing Annie in to take photos.
On a mission, I head from the back hallway toward the main bar area and without meaning to, my feet slow to a stop when I see someone I wasn’t expecting to see. After I told Cliff all about Annie and her photography business and pitched the idea, he was all for it and put looking her up on his to-do list. I had no idea he’s actually corresponded with her and set up a time… which is apparently now.
I also had no idea that seeing her again would literally stop me in my tracks. But it has. I come strutting in to find her in faded skinny jeans, a white button-down shirt that comes down to hang loose around her hips, and her caramel and honey waterfall of hair hanging down around her shoulders, except for the front strands that she has pinned out of her face. There’s a wide strap around her neck attached to the camera that is cradled in her hands that she’s holding up in front of her face. My chest feels tight and I fight the urge to rub my hand across it, to ease it. I swear it feels like she lowers her camera and looks at me in slow motion with those dazzling bourbon eyes of hers.
Gorgeous.
It’s when her eyebrows go up slightly and she tries to cover her surprise with a friendly smile that I realize that I said that out loud.
“Hey,” she greets me, before turning back to her camera, as if we’re acquaintances that run into each other at the grocery store every now and then, and not two people that shared a pretty phenomenal night of headboard slamming sex only a week ago. And what the hell am I griping about?
“What’s that? We need to choose from one of the other three gorgeous?” Cliff chides me from over in his seat, being a smart ass.
“Very funny. You didn’t tell me you’d set up for Annie to come in today.”
“Guess what? I�
�m having Annie come in to shoot the place today.” He’s on a roll as he smirks and looks back to his laptop and holds his hands out for the options I have for him to look at. He flips through them quickly before telling me go ahead with the order for the Harvest Moon Amber. He signs the order and hands it back to me, and I can’t for the life of me turn to head back to the office. Annie has turned back around, her eyes scanning the back of the bar. There’s a slight blush to her cheeks, and I stare like an idiot wondering what brought that on, and hoping to God it’s because I’m near. I don’t know why after so many years of not wanting to be anyone’s significant other, I want so badly to be the person that has made her light up.
She walks up to the bar and looks down both lengths of it, her brow furrowed like she’s trying to figure something out. And all of a sudden, I’m not in such a hurry to get home anymore.
I wander over to stand beside her.
“How can I help?” I offer, leaning against the bar facing her. She looks up at me with eyebrows raised.
“Is that The Cedar’s logo etched on the pint glasses?” she asks, pointing towards the display of glasses behind the bar. They’re stacked on clear glass shelving with a dim back lighting. I’m touched that she noticed that little detail. It’s just a clear etching on the glass, but I wanted to add a small personal touch when we ordered new glasses for the reno, and there was room in the budget for me to spring for it.
“Yeah, it is,” I nod, smiling.
“That’s awesome. Can I get one down?”
“Yeah, let me get it.” I walk to the far-left end of the bar and lift the flap so I can get behind it, stopping on the opposite side of where she’s standing. I grab one of the glasses and hand it to her. She holds it up close and examines the white and clear etching of our logo.
“That’s incredible,” she says in appreciation. “Your idea?” She looks up at me with bright, interested eyes, and for the first time in my life I’m feeling somewhat timid and modest. I simply smile gently at her and give her a small nod.
She glances over at the windows at the front of the house where the late morning sunlight is streaming in. “Can we kill the lights? And close all the blinds except for the ones in that window?” she points to the second window from the far-left end of the front of the bar. “I’ve got an idea,” she explains when she sees the confused look on my face.
“Alright,” I shrug, going with it as I walk over to the main panel that controls the lights in the room. We only had the set on behind the bar, but I shut them down like she asked and then walk to the front of the bar and help her close all the blinds except for the window she indicated.
Excitedly, she takes the glass over to set it down at the end of the bar, so that it’s basically diagonal with the smooth wood-grained wall. She glances back and forth between the window and the glass while she adjusts its position.
I watch with wonder and intrigue as she focuses on setting it just right to accomplish whatever it is she has in mind. She’s in her zone for sure, and I’m fascinated. Everything about her in this moment has me captivated; the way the sun shining through the window is picking up the different shades of blonde in her hair, the way she crouches down so that her eyes are level with the pint glass; how her left hand looks delicate yet strong as it cradles the lens of her camera; the scrunch of her nose when she brings the camera up to her face, the way her shoulder shifts with each click of the shutter. Every intricate, beautiful detail about her… my mind is pulling it in.
I don’t know what it is about Annie that makes me lose sense of my surroundings and get lost in thought as I stare at her, but like last week when I first saw her, I catch myself doing it again and forcibly snap myself out of it.
“What is it you’re doing?” I ask with interest as I take a few steps closer to her. She stops snapping and looks up at me, her expression one of mild excitement with a hint of mischief.
“Look,” she says, tilting her head in the direction of the wall. I step a little closer to where she’s standing so that I can see what she’s seeing. I’ll be damned. There on the wall, behind the glass, is the silhouette of the logo, cast by the light shining through it.
“That’s amazing,” I quietly exclaim with a disbelieving smile. “But… it’s backwards,” I say, not trying to knock her work, but wanting to understand what she’s doing.
“I know. I had to turn it to face the opposite side so that the light would only have to shine through the one side of the glass, otherwise it would have distorted the logo. But it’s an easy fix. Once I get these shots on my laptop, all I have to do is flip the image.”
“No kidding?”
“Yeah. The shot I take is not necessarily the final product. There are lots of ways I can play with it, effects I can add… In fact, if you give me an idea of a mood or a theme of the website, I can tailor the shots with that in mind.” She’s showing me her upbeat, professional side now, which is great, but I prefer that cocktail of passion, excitement and focus I was seeing a minute ago.
“Um,” I shake my head and blow out a breath as I look for the right words. “I guess we’re going for intimate, but laid back?”
“Okay,” she nods as both her smile and eyebrows tilt up. “I can definitely work with that.” She picks the glass up and hands it back to me. She goes back to snapping more pictures, completely in her element. She’s so in the zone right now it’s like I’m not even here, which gives me a strange feeling deep in my gut that I’m not sure I like. Despite being completely enamored with watching her in her element, I reluctantly leave her be to keep doing her thing and walk towards the back of the room. Cliff is packing up his laptop and once it’s slung in a bag over his shoulder, he holds his hand out for the glass.
“I’ll take that back to the dishwasher on my way out. See you tomorrow Tyler.”
“See ya.”
Once Cliff is out of sight, I look back to Annie who’s walking back over to the table that holds her equipment, apparently finished with the shoot as she starts packing her things away. It’d be extremely impolite to leave her here alone to see herself out, so I decide to walk over and chat while she puts everything away.
“Got everything you need?”
“Yeah,” she smiles up at me briefly before looking back down, carefully putting her lenses away. “Unless you think I missed something?”
“No, I trust you got everything important. I can’t wait to see the photos.”
“I’ll be emailing the final album to Cliff when it’s done. Should only be a few days.”
“Great, great. Okay…” I continue to watch her and I’m feeling this unexplainable urge to get up close to her again and feel the warmth coming off of her. After last week, I’m craving the smell of her and the feel of her soft skin. “So, what are you doing the rest of the day?” I ask, slowly stepping closer to her.
“Getting to work on these shots,” she responds, the happy lilt clear in her voice. “Maybe watch the game while I do it.”
She watches football. Woman after my heart. Wait, no. I close the distance and step behind her, my chest just inches from being flush with her back.
“That’s what I was going to do. Want company?” I ask the back of her hair. She twists her upper body around to regard me with a smirk and a lifted eyebrow.
“Mm-hmm, because we’d totally pay attention to the game if we watched it together. Please. We’d have no idea of the score.”
“Oh, we’d know the score,” I tease, stepping closer. She tries to suppress a laugh, but it escapes in a burst from between her lips before she fully lets it out. And just like before, I have to laugh too. It’s impossible not to laugh with her.
As she settles, I bring one hand up to gently grip her shoulder and let the other come down to take hers. I dare to take in a breath and sure enough I’m greeted by the smell of coconut from her hair, combined with something else coming off the rest of her. Sandalwood, maybe? Who cares; she smells like an exotic island. “I was…” I tread careful
ly, she’s already gone still in response to my contact. “…wondering if there was any chance you’d reconsider that whole one-time thing,” I murmur into the side of her head.
God, what the fuck am I doing? I don’t do this. When I’m functioning normally, I make it a point to not get attached and do everything I can to see that the woman doesn’t either. And here, this woman did me what I’d normally consider a great service by cleanly cutting the ties herself last week. Why the hell am I trying to complicate that? I should be thankful and go on my merry way. But here I am, sabotaging myself as if I want her to cling to me.
She lets out a sigh, but drops her head back on my shoulder.
“Ty…” she feebly admonishes and I’m absolutely dumbfounded at how I react to that one syllable. My heart warms and squeezes in my chest and my cock steels in my pants. I fight the urge to press the latter against her lower back to show her. What is she doing to me? She leaves her head back on my shoulder for a beat or two before jerking it back up and spinning almost wistfully out of my hold to face me. I try not to let the heave of her chest distract me from the message in her eyes when she pulls in a breath. “We had a great night, but maybe that’s all it was supposed to be. One great night. If we spent time together like that again… and again… that could really mess me up.”
I blow out a resigned breath, feeling so much more deflate out of me than just my lungs as I process her words.
It could really mess me up too.
7
That was close I think to myself, as I let the front door of The Cedar close behind me. He wanted to hook up again. And holy shit do I ever want to, too. Our night together was nothing short of… I actually don’t have a word for it. It was everything. Every touch, kiss, laugh, thrust, orgasm… I connected with Tyler over and over that night, and I’d love to think he felt that too. I really got a hint of a feeling; like just maybe he did feel it by the way he touched me inside just now. It wasn’t completely superficial and primal. There was a tenderness to it, a sensuality… like he wanted me and it was more than just physical.
Picture Us (Turn it Up Book 3) Page 5
