by Carter Ashby
Jayce resisted for a moment, catching Maya’s eye. He rolled his eyes and then peeled off his black tee, receiving cheers. His muscles rippled with the movement. He was indeed fit for display. Maya’s fingers itched to touch him, but she imagined that was a common reaction for all the women there.
The band started playing again, and Jayce, in his jeans and ball cap, went back to serving drinks. His tip jar filled up pretty fast. Maya took it back to his office, dumped it in the lock box, and returned it to the bar.
By ten o’clock, the party was full force. Janice got back on stage again. “Okay, so I promised secret door prizes.” She had a fish bowl of slips of paper in one arm. “So the first prize is, you get to do a body shot off Jayce.”
Screams.
Jayce’s jaw dropped. “The hell, Janice?”
Janice drew a name. “And the winner is, Karen Penske!”
A woman on the dance floor screamed, jumped up and down, and started making her way to the bar. Jayce shook his head and caught Maya’s eye. “You know about this?”
Maya shrugged. The whole thing was her ideas. She’d originally planned to offer the other guys as door prizes, but for some reason, Janice had changed the game.
Jayce laughed as he poured a shot and picked up a lime. He sat the salt shaker on the bar and made his way around the counter. Karen Penske, a cheerful woman in her early forties, bounced through the crowd. Jayce leaned back on the bar on his elbows. He tucked the shot glass into the waist of his jeans below his naval, and held the lime slice between his teeth. He winked at Karen.
She giggled and grabbed the salt shaker. She licked his abs, salted, licked again, retrieved the shot with her teeth, tossed it back, and sucked the lime out of his mouth. Then she turned around and cheered. Everyone shouted and applauded. She turned back and patted Jayce on the cheek. “Thanks, dear,” she said.
“You’re welcome, Mrs. Penske.”
She disappeared back into the crowd. Jayce went back behind the bar, grinning the whole time. Maya, sitting on the bar stool, asked, “Did you know her?”
“She taught home ec in tenth grade. Taught me how to sew buttons on my shirts.”
Maya laughed.
Addy fell onto the stool next to her. “Jayce. More.” She was reduced to single syllables.
He reached across the bar and took her chin in his hand, turned her face side-to-side, and peered into her eyes. “What are you doing?” she asked, her lips mashed together.
“I’m looking into your future. I see a lot of white porcelain and cold tile.”
“Pwease? I weawwy want a cotton candy fing.”
He let go of her face. “Your funeral, kid.” He mixed her a drink. “What about you, Maya. Haven’t seen you drink all evening.”
“I’m enjoying watching everyone have fun. I had a couple of those vodka slushies.”
“Well, here,” he said, handing her a glass with a clear, pale pink liquid. “I call this The Object of My Desire.”
She blushed, but didn’t drop eye contact as she took the drink. He winked and then handed Addy her cotton candy martini.
“Okay, this next winner,” Janice said from the microphone, again. “Gets to have a body shot done off her…by Jayce.”
Heads turned toward him. “Line up,” he said. “I’ll do body shots off all y’all.”
Cheers.
“The winner is…Addison Hart!”
Addy screamed a the top of her lungs. Jayce double-high-fived her over the bar and then she crawled up, laid back, and lifted her shirt. “I think someone needs to video document this,” Jayce said as he tucked the lime wedge into her mouth. Zoey whipped out her cell phone.
Addy sucked in her belly. He made a show of deciding where to lick first and decided on her clavicle. He licked, salted, licked. She giggled and squirmed. Then he poured tequila in the hollow of her belly and sucked it out. Lastly, he sucked the lime wedge while she hung onto it with her teeth.
She sat up and screamed victoriously. Jayce high-fived her again, and helped her down.
“The winner of a kiss from Jayce,” Janice said, fifteen minutes later, “Marcy Keenan!”
Jayce kissed Marcy, a nurse who’d graduated a few grades ahead of him.
The last prize was a dirty dance with Jayce. By that time, he was in full, party-mode, and did some top-notch dirty dancing with a college girl who didn’t want to let him go when it was over. By the time he made it back to the bar, where Kellen had taken over temporarily, someone had put a pink, feather boa on him and some sparkly sunglasses.
The whole situation had been funny at first, but that college girl was way too hot for Maya’s comfort. In fact, Maya sort of felt like punching her. It took her a while to recognize the feeling as jealousy. She was jealous over Jayce. That didn’t make any sense.
Janice was mingling in the crowd. Maya wove her way to Janice’s side. “Can I have a moment?”
“Sure,” Janice said, and led the way to the hallway where they could have a little bit of quiet.
“Why’d you keep auctioning him off?” Maya asked without prelude.
Janice shrugged. “Poor guy’s heartbroken. I wanted to give him some fun this evening. Did you see him with that boa? I got so many pictures, he’s just gonna die laughing when he sees them sober.”
Janice was about a guileless as a person could get, but Maya still felt suspicious. “You know he likes me, right?” Maya asked.
“I know he loves you.” The vapid, perky smile was gone from Janice’s lips, replaced by something wiser.
“Did you do all that to make me jealous? To prove some point?”
“Are you jealous?”
“No!” Maya lied. “Of course not. I just know that that wasn’t the plan and if you were trying to help him make me jealous or something—”
“Jayce doesn’t stoop that low, honey. He doesn’t have to. He can have any woman in this room, and maybe that was something you needed to learn tonight.”
“So you did do this on purpose?”
“I did it for him, like I said, because he needed a little fun. Honestly, Maya, I wasn’t thinking about you at all.” With that, Janice turned on her heel and rejoined the party, resuming her perky demeanor as though she hadn’t just put Maya in her place with a firm hand.
Maya blew out a breath and returned to the bar. Close to midnight, Zoey came over. She’d been chatting with a couple of ladies she worked with. She sat next to Maya at the bar, not drunk at all. But then, Zoey didn’t usually drink past the buzzed stage. “Having fun?”
Maya shoved her uncomfortable conversation with Janice to the back of her thoughts. “I love this,” she said. “I did this. I mean…well, Jayce and Janice did it, but it was my idea.”
Jayce was at the other end of the bar flirting with some young women. Maya couldn’t take her eyes from him. He wasn’t drunk, but the little bit of liquor he’d had had definitely loosened him up. He looked both hilarious and sexy with the feathers and sparkles.
“He seems to be having a good time,” Zoey said.
Maya nodded, her head swimming with drink and Jayce.
“Kellen says he doesn’t drink very often…not in public.”
“Well, it’s no wonder. Look at him. He’d go home with anyone at this point. It’s probably not safe for him to drink.”
“He’s like an ice berg. You see about ten percent of his charm, the rest stays hidden until he gets drunk.”
“Did you see him this morning? Bringing Sophie chocolates?”
“I saw. You’re smitten, aren’t you?”
“Smitten? No way. Just impressed.”
“It’s okay to love him, Maya.”
Maya nearly sobered up, right then and there. She looked at her best friend and wondered how it was Zoey knew right where to go. “Do you really think so?” she asked.
Zoey nodded and smiled. “You’re smart. You’ll be careful. But it’s okay to love him.”
Maya chewed her bottom lip and let her eyes wander
back to Jayce, who had Addy behind the bar with him, showing her how to mix a Long Island iced tea. “If I do decide to take him, I’m going to have to make sure he never drinks again.” His arms were around Addy, directing her hands.
“Jayce!” Zoey shouted. “Hands off my best friend!”
“You want some of this, Zoey, get that sweet ass back here. There’s enough of Jayce to go around.”
“Oh, my God,” Maya moaned.
Last call was at one-thirty. It took an hour for everyone to clear out, and in that time, Jayce danced with any woman who would have him. At the end, Maya found him collapsed in the corner of one of the sofas, his arms draped over the back, his legs splayed in front of him, with a blond on his lap sucking on his tongue.
Maya hurried over. “All right, that’s enough.” She pulled the girl off of him. His eyes were closed behind the sunglasses, but his lips kept moving. The girl reached for him, but Maya turned her and pushed her toward the door where her group of friends was waiting for her. After they left, she turned around to find Addy collapsed on the couch next to Jayce, her head resting on his chest.
Maya figured as long as they weren’t making out, it didn’t really matter.
Janice, Maya, Zoey, Kellen, and the waitresses collapsed onto the sofas around the two drunks..
“That was so much fun,” Janice said. “We have to do this again next year.”
“You guys did a great job,” Kellen said. “I hate this shirt, but this was a fun night.”
“How much do you think we raised?” one of the girls asked.
“A lot,” Maya said. “I had to empty Jayce’s tip jar three times.”
“Way to shake the old money-maker,” Janice shouted at Jayce.
He was conscious enough to smile.
After a few minutes of resting and basking in their success, Maya, Janice, Zoey, and Kellen went to work taking down decorations and cleaning up. The other girls went home. Jayce stumbled to the jukebox and played Brad Paisley’s We Danced, hugged the jukebox, and started crying.
Maya stood back and watched. She turned to Kellen who shrugged sympathetically. “Finish up and I’ll get him upstairs,” Kellen said.
Maya looked at Addy, sprawled out on the couch. “If you can help me get him upstairs, I’ll stay the night and take care of him. You guys can take Addy home.”
Kellen gave her a long look. “You sure about that?”
She smiled and let out a laugh. “You know…I think he’s mine whether I want him or not.” She didn’t mention that maybe she did want Jayce after all.
Kellen kissed her on the forehead and then went to leverage drunk Jayce away from the jukebox. It took both him and Maya to get Jayce upstairs. Zoey ran ahead and opened doors for them. Jayce had quit crying and was now loudly singing a Prince song in a falsetto voice.
“God, I’m gonna give him so much shit,” Zoey said. She was standing at the top of the stairs with her phone up, recording Jayce’s performance.
They managed to get him to his bed. Maya left Kellen to get him out of his boots while she went to check on her father. He was sleeping in the guest room.
“I put a trash can by his bed,” Kellen said. “And a glass of water. He hasn’t been this drunk since college, so…it could get pretty rough.”
“I’m happy to take care of him. As long as this doesn’t become a habit. But I think he was just caught up in the night.”
“And numbing his broken heart.”
Maya sighed. “People sure like reminding me of that tonight.”
She said goodnight to Kellen and Zoey, who promised to lock up the bar for her. Then she went to check on Jayce. He was out cold. Still in his jeans, though. She could help with that. She managed to get them shimmied off of him, leaving him in his boxer-briefs. She covered him with a light blanket.
She dug around in his dresser for a t-shirt she could use as a nightgown. Then she grabbed a pillow and blanket and slept on his couch.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jayce was dragged into consciousness by a throbbing, searing pain in his head. He squinted to see where he was. In his apartment. In his bed. Thank God for good friends. His curtains were drawn, but there was still enough early morning light to make him pull a pillow over his head.
He lay there debating whether the rewards of a glass of water and a handful of aspirin would be worth the very high probability of vomiting as soon as he sat up.
But then he heard footsteps. He uncovered one eye to see Maya coming in with the aspirin. She sat it next to the glass of water that was already on his nightstand. She had on one of his t-shirts that came to the tops of her thighs. He wondered fleetingly if she had any underwear on.
“How do you feel?” she asked with a smirk.
“I feel awesome,” he said, his voice coming out scratchy. “How ‘bout you, babe?”
She giggled. “You ready to go work out at the gym? Punch that punching bag? Maybe spar a little?”
“Oh, yeah. Sounds fun. Only thing is I think if I move, I’m gonna die.”
She kissed him on the forehead and helped him swallow some aspirin and an entire glass of water. “I didn’t see you drink that much,” she said. “What happened?”
“I shot a lot of tequila. A lot. Of tequila.” He fell back in the bed and closed his eyes.
She left and came back with a toasted bagel. He sat up and she propped pillows behind him. There was a brief wave of nausea, but it passed. He ate and started to feel a little better.
The best part of the morning came when she climbed under the covers, snuggled up next to him, and they watched morning talk shows together. The whole scene was so domestic. He closed his eyes and imagined the kids playing in the next room…that was all that was needed to complete the picture.
Her hand was resting on his belly. He stared down at it as he stroked her shoulder with his thumb.
“Huh?” she said.
“What?” he asked.
“You said my name.”
“Oh.” He hadn’t realized he’d said her name out loud. It always echoed through his mind. “Sorry…I’m not sure why—”
Her hand made it’s way south and he immediately stopped talking. Her fingers wrapped around his erection and he stopped breathing.
“I find this amazing,” she whispered into his ear, “considering the amount you drank last night.”
She was stroking him, and as much as he wanted her to keep going, knowing how empty and alone he was going to feel afterward was enough to make him pull her hand away. “I can’t,” he said. He turned to look at her, not sure what was happening in her expression. She didn’t look hurt or upset.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“You drew the lines, Maya. I know you feel sorry for me, but I need you to stay behind those lines.”
Still, she didn’t seem hurt. There was a small furrow in her brow, but Jayce couldn’t interpret her expression at all. “You’re right,” she said, sitting up. “This wasn’t kind of me.”
His hands itched to touch her. At the moment, he wanted to trace her sweet, down-turned lips with his tongue. But he didn’t. “It was just…misguided kindness.”
Maya gave him a tight smile. “Um, okay, then, if you’re doing better, I’ll go.”
“I’m taking Tom out for breakfast,” he said. “You wanna come?” He didn’t expect her to say yes, but she did.
They dressed, went to Belle’s, and took a booth, Tom and Jayce on one side, Maya on the other. When Lacey came to take their orders, Jayce smiled up at her. “Saw the help wanted sign in the window,” he said.
She patted her round belly. “That’s because of me. I’m not planning on coming back, so Belle needs a new full-time waitress.”
Jayce frowned in thought. Once Lacey poured their coffee and wrote down their orders, she left, and Jayce looked at Maya. “Daytime work. What do you think?”
More of that strange expression. “You firing me, Jayce?”
He didn’t feel like digni
fying that question with a response. She knew him, knew he’d never fire her, never push her away. So he arched a brow and waited.
She sighed and lowered her voice. “I applied here before. Belle thinks I’m white trash, okay? She just sneered down her nose at me through the interview.”
Jayce knew Belle and, unfortunately, knew that she was capable of being a snob sometimes. “Would you like this job? I mean, you can still work for me, but a job like this, you’d get to see more of your kids.”
“Well, yeah, that would be ideal, but—“
“Hey, Lacey,” he called. Lacey was two tables over. She looked up at him. “Is Belle in?”
“Yeah, she’s back in the office.”
“Next time you go back, send her out, will ya?”
“Sure.”
Jayce leaned back and sipped his coffee.
“You’re gonna get me a job?” Maya asked.
He smiled.
Belle, a large woman in her late fifties, made her way through the room. She stopped at a table to shake someone’s hand. Her boisterous laugh carried over the noise in the room. At last she pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table. “Hey, Jayce,” she said. “I hear you threw some party last night.”
“Maya did,” he said, nodding toward Maya.
Belle looked Maya up and down, clearly ready to dismiss her. “What can I do for you, honey?” Belle said to Jayce.
“You can take that ‘now hiring’ sign down. Got you a new waitress right here.”
“You think so, huh? I’m looking for full-time. And I like to think there’s some potential for long-term.”
“What are the hours?”
“Seven to three.”
Jayce looked at Maya, his eyebrows raised. She was beaming at him, her eyes filled with tears. “Um, that would actually work out really well,” she said, schooling her emotions and turning to Belle. “Because I work nights for Jayce, so—“
“Yeah, and if you need to cut back to part time, that’s fine, too,” he said. “This would be a way better job for you. You could be home with your kids in the evenings.”
