Chapter 24 #2
“The fuck is she doing?” Rhett says, coming up behind me, eyes glued to the girl of my dreams as she punches a hole through my heart.
“Dancing,” I say simply.
He looks at me. Looks back at her. “Shit.”
“What?”
“You really are fucked.”
I roll my eyes, turning to face him. He’s been upstairs checking on Olivia for the last forty-five minutes, and now his collar’s obviously crumpled and his hair’s a mess. “You’d know all about it, wouldn’t you?”
He frowns and turns away, shouting, “Not sure what you’re talking about!” over the music.
“You have lipstick on your neck, idiot!” I shout back.
“Excuse me,” someone asks from behind me. I turn to find one of the middle-aged women who came in earlier with the cowboys. A quick glance tells me the other woman—her friend, I’m assuming—is back at the table with them.
“Yes, ma’am,” I say politely as I approach her. “Can I get you something?”
“I’d love a lemon drop martini, please,” she says as her eyes trail down my bare arms. She’s wearing a tight black dress that reveals more than I care to see, but I respect her confidence.
It’s not the first time someone from out of town has come in and ordered something you’d probably find on any other menu, but not ours. We actually don’t even have menus. We have a couple of cheap beers on tap and whatever bottles are currently on the shelf, which are mostly whiskeys.
I give her my best customer-service smile as I lean forward on the bar between us to spare myself from having to yell over all the stomping going on behind her.
It pains me a little, actually, that I can’t watch Ava.
“This isn’t really a fancy bar and we don’t have a lot of fancy tricks.
Don’t even own a single martini glass, I’m afraid.
But I can give you some vodka with some lemon juice squeezed in, if that’s something you think you might like. ”
She clutches at her chest, face flushing as she laughs. “Oh my, you cowboys are all the same, aren’t you?”
I narrow my gaze, not understanding.
Her eyes now rake over my face in a way that feels . . . weird. Uncomfortable. “You might not be able to give a woman everything she’s asking for, but you still find a way to give her what she needs.” Her tongue makes a sweep along her bottom lip as she watches for my reaction.
I frown, impatient. “Lady, do you want lemon juice vodka or not?”
Now she’s leaning forward too, running her claw-like red nails up the skin of my forearm. “What’re you doing tonight?” she asks in what she must think is a sultry voice.
I pull my arm back and straighten. “Working.”
Her brown eyes pinch in challenge. “What about after?”
“Kasey!” Ava shouts over the Red Clay Strays song that’s now blaring through the bar’s speakers.
I lift my eyes over the woman’s tired blonde hair to see Ava marching back toward me.
She looks adorably windblown and there’s a sheen of sweat along her forehead.
My heart snags as I take it all in, distracted enough not to notice the dangerous edge in her gaze.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she says, eyes trained on the woman between us.
The woman rears back. “Me?” she asks.
Ava scoffs. “No, not you. Him.”
Her tone is sharp enough to let me know what’s coming. “Ava,” I say—a gentle warning, even though there’s a strong part of me that would love to see her show her teeth. Especially over me.
“Actually,” Ava continues, her focus still centered on the woman. “I’d appreciate it if you kept your fucking hands off of my husband.”
And there it is. I beam.
The woman’s eyes grow wide as she looks back and forth between us. “I had no idea—I’m so sorry!”
Ava shrugs. “I imagine you wouldn’t. You seemed too busy cataloging all the things you’d like to use him for to notice the ring on his finger.
” Her eyes finally rise to mine, and there’s something playful in her expression now.
Her own gentle warning. “But to be fair, he likes to flirt with other women when he knows I’m looking for him—tries to get a rise out of me.
It’s a little game we play because the sex it leads to is always so damn good. ”
The woman gasps, snatching her purse off the bar. “Pig!” she yells at me before turning back to the table her friends are sitting at.
“What is the matter with you?” I ask Ava, though I can’t help the grin that slices across my face.
She giggles, rolling her eyes. “You were the one putting the foundation of our marriage in jeopardy, flirting with someone in front of all these people. And so quickly after saying your vows to me?” She tsks. “You make it too easy.”
“Says the woman flirting with two guys.” She laughs again, playful. “Plus, you know what my flirting looks like, sugar, and that was not it. Though I have to say, jealousy looks real good on you.”
Her eyes flash, and suddenly I’m back in my room, watching her put her mouth around me. Watching her touch herself as I start to move inside of her.
She must sense it, because her expression changes. Morphs into something on the cusp of feral. Wild.
I swallow. “Be good, Ava. I’ve still got a few more hours here.”
“So do I.” She grins, letting her gaze linger on my mouth.
And then she’s off again.