The bartender sighed then spoke. “No, Jimmy it’s not. The last time you tried that shit Preston had to bail you out. Before your dad got wind and killed you.”
“Shiii-iit!” was his response. “I was younger. Now I’m grown. Why can’t y’all just forget that?”
The bartender looked at me. “He was twenty-five when it happened. Jimmy is a hell raiser, same as his brother. What can I get you?”
“Maker’s Mark,” I replied, and though I didn’t want to, I let myself glance back at the table. I didn’t see the guy called Jimmy. I saw Bliss staring right at me. She jerked her gaze away when I caught her, but the smile that touched my lips, was as genuine as the whiskey I sipped.
Bliss York was curious.
Fucking hell.
Bliss York
“YOU SHOULD PROBABLY stop looking at your boss’s fiancé as if you want to eat him.” Saffron spoke then leaned into me, giggling and pinching my arm.
The guys shouldn’t let her drink. For starters, she was underage. Following that she was a terrible drunk. Annoying to say the least. Her twin Holland wasn’t with her tonight. Probably home studying or reading. They were identical in looks and height, but complete opposites in the way they lived.
“I’m not looking at him,” I lied.
She cackled loudly and snorted. Did I mention she was an annoying drunk? Her dad owned the place. He was in my parents’ circle of friends. Her dad was famous in a small town. Krit Corbin once played on that stage. But when he married Blythe he saved his money and bought the place outright. From then on he stayed off the road. The road wasn’t for married people. At least that was what dad had said.
If he walked in the door and saw Saffron drunk, there would be hell to pay. She stayed in trouble. So, the guys all watched her and kept her from doing anything additionally stupid. More so than she’d already done. I knew she wouldn’t make it five short steps in Nate’s direction before Eli blocked her. Micah would then carry her out on his shoulder like he was toting a sack of feed.
“I’m sorry Bliss, you’re ogling his ass. Is that a more accurate description?”
I had been looking at him. Acting like I wasn’t, was pointless. Besides, Saffron was obliviously drunk and wouldn’t remember this. I didn’t think she’d remember this. Saffron, PLEASE don’t remember this.
“Eli, let’s dance,” I said. I wasn’t having this conversation with ‘Saffron the drunk’ anymore. Though she wouldn’t give it a break. “Yeah! Eli go dance with her! Then she’ll stop staring at Mr. Sexy As Hell guy over there at the bar!” I winced as she yelled her words just as the music died down.
“Someone needs to cut her off.” I didn’t mumble. She didn’t care.
“Already have,” Micah assured me. “Dakota has been serving her straight club soda for the past hour and a half. Larissa isn’t working tonight but Dakota knows the rules when it comes to Saffron.”
Saffron frowned. “That’s not fair. I know you’re discussing me.”
“Life’s a bitch sweetheart,” Micah replied, which made Jimmy burst into laughter. Someone needed to serve him club soda. I didn’t care if he’d turn thirty on his birthday. It was past time Jimmy found a woman and settled into a pattern. Calmed down, stop living in bars. His older brother Brent had straightened up after marrying Chloe. Jimmy had no interest in that. Didn’t seem to be heading in that direction.
Eli was looking back at the bar toward Nate as he walked over to me. His forehead was drawn with concern. He still hadn’t met the adult Nate. He hadn’t seen him since that summer. It had been long enough for Nate to forget so I figured Eli had to.
I hoped Eli had forgotten. I knew the others hadn’t seen Nate but from a distance that summer. Micah was the only one other than Eli and Larissa that got a good look at the sixteen-year-old boy he had been. He was a man now and although I recognized him I felt fairly sure they wouldn’t.
“Who is that?” Eli asked.
He would remember. I knew him well enough to know Eli hadn’t forgotten.
“The fiancé of my boss.”
“Why does he look familiar?”
And there it was. Eli’s excellent memory.
“Because it’s Nate Finlay,” I admitted. I then waited for Eli’s response.
He paused and studied me a moment. When his eyes widened, they were big. “The guy from that summer,” he whispered, before looking back at Nate. “He’s Octavia’s fiancé?”
“Yes.” Now he was going to ask me why I didn’t tell him this at the store. I counted to ten in my head and I knew what was coming next.
“Why didn’t you tell me who he was?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t remember. I didn’t want him to hear me. You know I need that job.”
Again he looked back at Nate. “He remembers.”
I started to argue the point when Eli slipped his hand through mine. “Let’s go dance,” he said.
I wanted to ask him how he knew Nate remembered. To go beyond what he’d already said but I needed to let it go. Besides, I was doing my best to pretend that Nate wasn’t Nate. Not the Nate that I knew, just some other guy who happened to be known by that name, and was marrying the woman I worked for. That was all I knew how to do.
We danced two songs before Micah cut in and then I danced a few times with him. Eli came back and interrupted us. We needed to get Saffron home.