Tangling Hearts

29. Annie

Chapter Twenty-Nine

ANNIE

L ights: dimmed.

“ Y ou know what, Manny?”

He pulls off a long piece of plastic wrap. “What?”

“I’m going to make this place great. You wait and see.”

He grins. “I know.”

“Now you can’t use that whole thing. Are you trying to bankrupt me?”

He laughs and we tear pieces off it, covering the pour spouts of the sweet alcohols to protect them from fruit flies. As we work, I’m trying so hard not to feel disappointed. Why did I leave Italy anyway? You know what? I don’t need this. Brendan Clark can kiss my ass.

“Annie. Someone’s at the window. You want me to tell him to go away?”

I spin to look. Peering through the glass, leaning with his hand over his eyes to shield away the reflection, Brendan smiles, giving me the same little wave as when he left. I walk past Manny to get out from the behind the bar. “I can’t believe it.” Then louder, “Um, Manny, you can take off for the night. Thank you.”

“You sure?” he asks, surprised.

A smile grows in me so strong it fills my whole body. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life.” Wiping my hands on my jeans, I pull on the chain hanging from my belt. For the last time tonight the key goes into the lock, but this time lightning quick. “Hey.”

Looking troubled, Brendan steps forward and leans on the doorframe. “Hey.”

Manny scoots by, holding his jacket. “See you tomorrow, Boss.”

With my eyes on Brendan I mutter, “Thanks Manny. Um… You want to come in or would you rather stand there frowning?”

The cloud dissipates around him in an instant as he chuckles and shakes his head. “I just didn’t think you were going to be here. I’m sorry I’m late.” He leans over to hold open the door, to take the weight off me. “After you, Freckles.”

“Freckles? I like it. Come on in.” I walk in, motioning for him to join me. I’m so happy, it’s nuts. I’m not even thinking to hide it. Who can think at a time like this? The door closes behind him, holding the world at bay. We’re alone. And there’s no Corinne waiting in bed on the other side of a door. It’s just us this time.

“He called you Boss. You’re the manager?”

I spin around, walking backwards to answer, “I’m the owner. This is my bar.”

He takes it in with a new appreciation. “Really? Wow. Impressive.”

“Thanks… but I need to get more people in here before anyone gets impressed.” I turn away, but he jogs up and reaches out for my arm. Spinning me back around in the middle of the room, he pulls me toward him so close that I can see black flecks swimming in blue. So that’s why his eyes always seem so dark and tortured.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” I whisper back.

He moves in closer, holding just short of us touching. I wait, the hammering in my chest hopefully not audible. I close my eyes and tilt my head just a little, excitement roaring through me. I can’t breathe. He’s about to kiss me. I can feel it but I can’t believe it. His arms tighten around me. Our lips touch. He presses his onto mine for the very first time, holding there as a shiver floats all the way down to my feet. Stopping there, he pulls away. My eyelashes struggle upward. He smells like heaven, if heaven were made up solely of men.

“What do we need to do to clean this place up?”

“Um… well…” I back away to get my head on straight, tucking my hair behind my ear and looking to the floor for my sanity. “Manny already did the bathrooms so you’re lucky. But I need to wipe everything down. Put the chairs up on the tables so the cleaning crew can do the floors in the morning. I guess that’s pretty much it.”

He smiles. “I can do that.”

My lips are still zinging. “Great. I’ll get you a towel.”

He stops just short of walking behind the bar.

I smile and put one hand on my hip. “You can come back here. You’re an employee now, you know.”

He laughs. “Great, what do I make?”

“Me happy.” I toss a damp towel at his face.

He grins and catches it. “I guess that’s all the payment I’ll need.”

“Oh, you’re so smooth. You know that? But well played. Now get wiping.”

He laughs, looking more and more comfortable. Strolling over to the booths, he begins there, bending over. “Like this?”

I’m already staring at his ass. “Just like that. What kind of music do you like?” I skip over to the iPod, happier than I’ve been since my loan got approved.

Brendan straightens, deep in thought as he tosses the towel from hand to hand. “Got any classic rock?”

“Do I have classic rock?!” I push a couple buttons and Janis Joplin begins the slow crooning of her masterpiece, Piece of My Heart. My hips sway and I close my eyes, dancing in place, caught up in it. I love to dance. I spin around and as soon as I realize what I’m doing, I crack my eyes to see if he’s looking at me like I’m nuts. But he’s dancing, too. Humming along as he works his way from booth to booth. He looks happy. It’s something to see. Boogying my way to the register, I pick up the twenties and start counting; twenty, forty, sixty, eighty…

He calls out over the music, walking to gather dirty napkins off a table in the center of the room. “How was tonight? Get busy after I left?”

One hundred, One hundred twenty… “Nah. We stayed slow all night. The busiest was when you were here. And stupid me – I loaded up the register hoping we’d need the change, but alas!”

He brings the trash to a trashcan behind the bar. I look over, watch him toss it in. He winks at me and goes back to wipe. I can’t get over this. I lost my count. Okay. Twenty, forty, sixty, eighty…

“What are you doing to get the word out?”

“Umm… that’s a great question.” That’s all I want to say. Not a fun topic. Where was I? Twenty, forty, sixty…

“So how about a great answer?”

Eighty… I glance to him and see that he’s serious. He really wants to know. “You’re not just making conversation are you?”