Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
RORY
The bar wasn’t overly crowded, seeing as it was barely after three in the afternoon, but fortunately, there were enough customers to keep me busy and thus keep my mind off the fact that I felt like an automaton, going through the motions on autopilot out of habit only, not giving a single thought to anything I was doing.
I was the only one behind the bar since it was early enough that we didn’t require two bartenders, and since the number of day drinkers was limited to the likes of Dusty and a few others, I was moving back and forth from there to the floor, where I helped Mona and Tammy wait and bus tables.
It had been three hours since Eden dropped the bomb that decimated my world, and the pain still hadn’t lessened.
Not one. Damn. Bit. I had to stay moving, always moving.
If I didn’t, I’d have to think about the fact that Laurie Dutton, the love of Cord’s life, was back in my town.
I’d have to think about the fact that once again, she’d come to seek him out.
I’d have to wonder where the hell she got the nerve to return after she up and disappeared to parts unknown while he fought for his life.
God, what a bitch!
And he hadn’t told me. He knew she was here, and he didn’t say a goddamn word.
I thought about all those almost-kisses and those deep, meaningful looks. I thought about how he’d pulled away when I’d given him every indication I wanted more. I thought about that gentle brush of his lips against mine before he drove away just last week.
And the longer I thought on all of that, I finally began to understand what was happening.
Eden, god love her, had gotten it all wrong.
Hell, I’d gotten it wrong. He pulled away from me because he knew she was back.
He gave me that gentle lip brush because he felt sorry for me.
He could see it in my eyes how much I wanted him to kiss me, and he gave me that in the hopes of making me feel better.
Dinner at the Groves wasn’t a date. I bet that was when he was planning on telling me that Laurie was back and they were working things out.
After all, what woman would make a scene in a place as classy as the Groves?
Certainly not me.
And he knew that.
God, I was such a freaking idiot.
I was carting a tray of empties back behind the bar when I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket, followed by the chime alerting me to a new text.
Slamming the tray down with more force than necessary, I reached around and yanked the phone out, already knowing who the text was from.
Cord: Just hit town. Looking forward to tonight, baby.
I let out a derisive snort that was loud enough to gain several patrons’ attention as I jabbed at the screen and violently typed out my reply. He was looking forward to it? Well too damn bad for him.
Rory: Something came up. Too busy to do dinner, sorry.
And that was that. I slid the phone back into my pocket and started dunking the used glasses into the wash bin beneath the sink. Halfway through, my behind began to vibrate just before the trill of an incoming call filled the bar.
Grabbing a towel, I dried my hands, pulled out my phone, and glared down at Cord’s name. I engaged the call, then immediately hung up. Before I could put it back in my pocket, the phone vibrated and rang again.
I went through the same motions before stuffing it into my pocket and moving down the bar to Dusty. “Hey, Dust. You good? Can I get you anything?”
He spun the pint glass between his hands and studied my face closely. “I’m good, darlin’. But are you?”
“I’m just fine,” I drawled with a fake, overly bright smile.
The vibrating ring started again, and my smile fell, my jaw instantly locking tight. Dusty’s gaze shifted behind me and down before returning to mine. “You gonna get that?”
“Nope. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
The ringing stopped and instantly started up again.
“Doesn’t sound like nothin’ to me.” His eyes turned shrewd and sober as he leaned in and spoke softly. “Take the call, sweetheart.”
Pursing my lips, I blew out a breath before turning to face away from the stools and moving a few steps away. I slid my thumb across the screen, mindful to keep my voice low as I answered, “What is it, Cord? I told you I’m busy.”
“What do you mean, you can’t do dinner?” His voice rumbled in my ear, making my belly quiver.
“I mean just that,” I snapped back. “I’m busy. I don’t have time. Therefore, I can’t go.”
“Dollface, we’ve had these plans for a week.”
I ignored the piercing sting his endearment sent through my heart and bit out, “Yeah, and?”
“So what’s come up that you’re suddenly too goddamn busy to have dinner with me?”
“That’s not really your business, Cord.”
When he spoke again, his voice was a snap just like mine, only his was way scarier. “What the fuck’s goin’ on, Rory?”
“Nothing’s going on,” I insisted. I’d been wrong before. I hadn’t left my heart on the office floor earlier. At least not all of it, because there was a small piece still in my chest that was, at that very moment, being torn to ribbons. “I’m just busy.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit!” I said on a whisper-yell. “With everything that’s been going on lately, I’ve fallen down on some of my responsibilities. I need to work on the schedule for next week and get the books up to date.”
“It’s total... fucking... bullshit,” he seethed, his anger coming through the line and permeating the air around me.
Pushing the uneasiness I was suddenly feeling to the back of my mind, I shored up my defenses by holding on to my own anger. “Think whatever you want, Cord. I don’t have time for this. I need to get back to work.”
“Rory, don’t—”
“Besides,” I added, the venom in that one word so thick I worried it would poison me, “I’m sure Laurie would be glad to take my place.”
A heavy, invading silence wrapped around me, sinking its claws deep beneath my skin before he finally broke it with a whispered “What?”
“I know, Cord. I know Laurie’s back, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why.”
“Rory—”
“I’ll admit, when Eden first told me, I couldn’t help but wonder why you didn’t mention it when you found out weeks ago. But now that I’ve had a few hours to think on it, I’ve discovered that I just don’t really care what the answer to that is.”
“We need to talk,” he clipped. “I’m on my way to the bar now.”
Oh hell no. My back went straight, and my voice came out slightly shrill as I said, “No! Don’t do that.”
“I’ll be there in five,” he said in a furious rumble. “And, Rory, I’m warning you now, don’t even think of taking off.”
Then he hung up, leaving me staring at a whole lot of nothing with wide, panicked eyes. “Oh shit,” I muttered, clutching my phone in my hands. “I’m so screwed.”
“I’d say that again, darlin’,” Dusty hooted, and when I spun around, he lifted his pint glass and gave me a wink.
Those five minutes Cord said he’d be actually ended up only being three, and I spent all three of those minutes teetering back and forth between standing my ground and making a Usain Bolt-style run for it. In the end, it didn’t matter, because my time had run out before I could make a decision.
The door to The Tap Room flew open, and every single person in the place felt the air around us crackle with Cord’s anger.
His energy was so thick and forceful that it invaded my senses and made my mouth and throat as dry as the Sahara.
Even from a good distance away, I could see the flames in his eyes, and I had to fight back the shiver his presence sent from the top of my head all the way to my boot-clad toes.
He started in my direction, his long legs eating up the distance between us quickly. I took two steps back as he bypassed the front of the bar altogether and came around the back where I was—where customers weren’t supposed to be.
My hand went up, palm out to ward him off as I started in a warning tone, “Cord, you can’t—” But my words were cut off on a girly squeak when he bent at the waist, shoved his shoulder into my belly, and lifted my feet clean off the ground.
“Cord!” I screeched, wrapping my fingers around his belt so as not to fall when he threw me over his shoulder!
“Damn it, Cord! Put me down!” I pounded on his back with my fists, the firm, taut muscles not giving in the slightest as he stormed around the bar and down the hall.
I managed to push myself up enough to brush the hair out of my face and look on for help, but every single person watching us was doing it with a smirk or full-blown smile on their faces.
I wasn’t getting any help from them. Traitors!
The grinning faces disappeared when we hit the mouth of the hall and Cord whipped me around to shove my office door open. He stomped inside, kicking the door closed behind us with his thick-soled motorcycle boot.
A second later, I was off Cord’s shoulder and sliding down the front of his body, every single inch of me pressing and rubbing against every single inch of him before my boots hit the ground.
The controlled motion was enough to leave me completely breathless and achy in a way that I had to squeeze my thighs together to try and alleviate the need growing in my core.
“That was totally uncalled for,” I started, putting my hands to his chest and giving him a shove that didn’t move him at all. It was like trying to shove a goddamn mountain out of the way.
“Quiet,” he clipped, his jaw ticking manically as he brought his face closer. “You said what you wanted to say and didn’t let me get a goddamn word in edgewise. Now it’s my turn.”