Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
CORD
It was Wednesday night, and while The Tap Room wasn’t packed, it was far from empty. That evening’s crowd was sedate, people coming in to blow off steam after a long day’s work to help them get over the hump of the week—with the exception of Dusty, but that was to be expected.
Creedence Clearwater Revival was playing on the jukebox, there were small groups congregating around the pool tables and dartboard, and half the tables were full.
The hum of conversation filled the air, but it wasn’t loud and wild like it could be on a Friday night or the weekends.
Still, even with the relaxed atmosphere, Rory was in her element, slinging drinks and chatting with customers, taking time to give each and every person who stopped her to talk her complete and undivided attention.
And Christ, she looked amazing as she did it.
She was wearing a racerback tank tonight in a pretty teal color with “Tap That” in white lettering across the front.
Her jeans hugged her ass and long legs to perfection.
Her right wrists were covered in silver and copper bangles and her left had a stylish leather cuff.
Big copper hoops dangled from her ears and tangled with the shiny black hair that hung halfway down her back in wild, sexy waves.
A pair of cowboy boots encased her feet, and as usual, a thin, brightly colored scarf was strung through the loops of her jeans, in place of a belt, and knotted at her hip, the long fringed ends hanging down to midthigh.
It was a style all her own, and she rocked the hell out of it. Part cowgirl, part rocker, part hippy, and all Rory.
Fuck me, she was gorgeous.
As if feeling my eyes on her, she turned from the conversation she was currently having with Joe Silvester.
Our gazes locked, and she offered me a little smile before looking back to Joe, saying something as she stood tall.
She lifted her index finger in that way that said give me one minute, and he nodded. Then she started in my direction.
“You need a refill?”
I glanced down to my nearly empty pint. Usually I stuck with Guinness if I was feeling in the mood for beer, or whiskey on the rocks if I was in a foul mood.
But The Tap Room was known for their specialty brews.
They had a different one for every season, and each of them was the shit, so I’d gone with their summer ale tonight.
“Yeah, dollface. Appreciate it.”
She cleared my glass, got a new one, and pulled my draft with quick efficiency. She set it in front of me, then placed her forearms on the bar right across from me just like she’d been doing with Joe a minute ago and asked, “Anything else?”
“I’m good, Ror.”
It had been a week and a half since Rory and I had rekindled our friendship, and while the first few days had been a bit cautious, we’d managed to fall into a comfortable routine faster than I could have hoped.
I came into the Tap Room after work every night. The moment Rory saw me, she’d smile, move to pour me a beer, and have it waiting at the bar by the time I made it through the crowd.
“What about you guys?” she asked, turning to the stools beside mine where Linc and Hayes were sitting. “Need anything?”
“I’m good for now, darlin’,” Linc answered.
“Nah, sweetheart,” Hayes said. “Need to be headin’ home to my woman.” He stood from his stool, pulled the wallet from his back pocket, and dropped a couple bills on the counter. “Keep the change.”
Rory grabbed the cash and gave him a bright smile. “Tell Tempie I said hey.”
“Will do.”
Linc and I bid Hayes a farewell, and Rory moved back down the bar to handle a few drink orders. The moment she was out of earshot, Lincoln started in. “So what’s this shit I hear about you two bein’ just friends?”
Lifting my beer to my lips, I took a pull and kept my eyes forward, watching Rory in the periphery before setting the glass back on the bar top. “Gotta start somewhere, man. Tried divin’ right in, but that didn’t get me anywhere.”
“She’s leery,” he surmised correctly.
“Rightfully so,” I defended. “What I did, choices I made. Need to earn her trust back first.”
Not one to speak or act without thinking on it first, Lincoln mulled that over for a bit. “That’s a good woman right there,” he finally stated, turning his head to look at me.
“One of the best I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing,” I agreed. “There a reason you’re pointing out the obvious?”
He turned forward, taking a pull of his own beer before speaking again.
“Know you well, brother. You got my respect, which isn’t something many men get.
But you got it because you earned it. Know your history, what drives you, and I know you’re loyal to your core.
” His shrewd eyes hit me once more. “Damn near to a fault.”
It was then I knew where he was going, and I didn’t like it one damn bit. Steel slid down my spine, causing it to grow stiff as I lowered my voice. “You know me so well, then you also know I learn from my mistakes.”
He nodded in agreement. “This is true. But I saw a good woman get hurt once already. Saw my brother pick wrong because he was loyal.”
“And you saw me put Laurie in her place when she showed, unwanted, at the office,” I said on a near growl, my defenses rising.
“I did. But sometimes the shit from our past has a way of diggin’ its claws back in. I just wanna make sure you know where your head is this time before you start down this path.”
My fingers clenched around the pint glass in my hands as I let out a slow exhale.
As much as I didn’t like hearing everything Lincoln was saying, I knew his concern came from a good place.
Rory wasn’t just his woman’s friend, she was his friend as well.
And I held the same respect for him that he had for me, so I would give him this play. Just the once.
“I chose wrong. Hell, a big part of me knew I was choosin’ wrong as I did it, and I was never able to shake that feeling.
Laurie showed up outta nowhere, and I’ll admit, you’re right, my head was twisted by that, but it’s on perfectly straight now.
And like I said, I learn from my mistakes.
Learned from that one in a big fuckin’ way, and I won’t make it a second time. ”
“You say that now, but—”
Letting the fact that I respected this man go, I allowed my annoyance to show through as I broke in.
“I know I hurt her,” I gritted out. “See that pain on her face every time I close my fuckin’ eyes.
Keeps me up at night. You think, for one second, I’d toy with causin’ her that same kind of pain again?
No way in hell. I’d give anything I could, everything I have, to go back and do it over again so I could make the right choice just to keep her from feelin’ even an ounce of that. Unfortunately, that’s not an option.”
He studied me for several beats. Then his lips quirked into a grin and he gave me another nod. “All right, man. Then I wish you all the luck in winnin’ her trust back.”
And just like that, my annoyance faded. “Thanks.”
“You need me to help in any way, you just say the word.”
From my tracking of Rory, a skill I’d developed as a foster child—you had to learn to watch your surroundings without being noticed or, at the best your shit got stolen, and at worst, you got the hell beat out of you—and honed during my time as a SEAL, I spotted her moving back toward us without her realizing I was watching. I quickly shut the conversation down.
“You two still good over here?”
“Perfect, dollface,” I answered. As they usually did when I muttered that endearment, her cheeks took on a pale pink blush before she quickly cast her eyes away.
“All right,” she said quickly, trying—and failing—to hide the effect that had on her. “Holler if you need anything.” Then she headed back down the bar, checking on Dusty before resuming her earlier conversation with Joe Silvester.
I scanned the crowd gathered around the bar and clocked at least three men staring at Rory’s ass as she bent and rested her elbows on the counter, listening to one of Joe’s longwinded yet often hilarious stories.
It wasn’t a calculated move on her part to garner more tips; it was just her way of giving the old man her undivided attention.
Rory was sexy in an unintentional way. She didn’t even realize the hold she had on men, but every move she made, every smile she cast, made the men around her—me included—dream about what that smile would look like while they were buried deep inside her.
She threw her head back on a loud laugh just then that engaged her entire face, her perky, round ass still on display, all that dark, gleaming hair tumbling down, and I knew without a doubt those assholes watching her now would be going home later tonight and jerking off to the image of Rory just like she was now: bent over, hair wild, smiling face bright.
One of the men licked his lips, a calculating glint in his eyes as he opened his mouth to let out some lewd comment, but he caught me staring before he could speak.
I gave my head an infinitesimal shake that made his face blanch before he quickly looked away, pretending he hadn’t just been ogling the hot, unsuspecting bartender.
I caught movement at my side but didn’t turn from the prick several places down as I sensed Linc stand from his stool.
A second later, he tossed some money on the bar and clapped me on my shoulder.
“Might be more subtle if you just jumped over the bar and pissed a circle around her,” he muttered, his voice full of humor.
“Fuck off,” I grunted in return, finally feeling I’d made my point to the ogler and looking away from him to take a swig from my pint.
“You have a good night too, buddy.” I got another shoulder clap, and then he lifted his arm and called loudly to Rory, “’Night, darlin’.”
“Back at you, Linc. Give Eden my love.”
Rory eventually made it back around to me, once again relieving me of my empty beer glass and pouring me another, only this time without having to ask. “You sticking around for a while?” she asked conversationally, taking the same pose she had with Joe.
“’Til close,” I answered, looking back at the men who’d spent the past half hour watching her like she was a steak and they were a pack of mangy dogs who’d been starved for a week. “Don’t like the looks of those guys.”
I tipped my chin in their direction, but she didn’t bother to look. Instead, she grinned openly and shook her head. “I think I proved to you already that I’m capable of handling myself.”
“That you did,” I replied, turning my attention back to her and returning her smile. “But doesn’t change the fact that I’m staying ’til close. If for no other reason than my own peace of mind.”
She shook her head again like I was being ridiculous, but this time she did it on a giggle. “All right. If you need that for your peace of mind, suit yourself, but come closing, I’m putting you to work.”
My smile shifted into a smirk as I said, “Then it’s a damn good thing I’m good with my hands, huh?”
She blushed at my tone and the innuendo laced through my words before brushing it off and playfully rolling her eyes as she stood tall and knocked her knuckles against the wood counter.
“All right, stud.” My chest swelled at that endearment—the one she’d christened me with the first time we met and used liberally throughout our friendship—because I hadn’t heard her call me that in more than two years.
Somehow, I managed not to show any outward reaction as she continued talking.
“I’ve got people to see to. Rest up while you can, ’cause you’re gonna be on cleanup duty. ”
“Looking forward to it, dollface,” I murmured, watching that pink hit her cheeks. And damn if I wasn’t telling the truth. Even if I had to scrub down tables and sweep and mop the floor, I was more than happy to do it if it meant spending time with her.