Chapter 7 #2
I turn around, startled, and my face breaks into a smile before I can stop it.
Penny and Cas are there. Penny wears a white cowboy hat tilted just right, confidence written all over her smile, while Cas guides her toward a table with a hand resting protectively at her lower back.
“Hey,” I say as I walk over to their table, warmth flooding my chest.
Cas offers me his hand, polite and charming. “Saw you the other night but didn’t get to introduce myself. Cas, nice to meet you.”
I shake his hand and look from him to Penny, the way his hand settles at the small of her back, steady, like it belongs there. I smile. I like them together, something about it easy and right in a way I can’t quite name.
“So,” he says, his eyes twinkling, “my idiot brother decided to keep you?”
Heat rushes to my cheeks. “He gave me another chance,” I say, nodding.
Penny’s face lights up instantly. “I knew it!” She claps her hands together.
“Karaoke night, baby!”
A loud yell cuts through the bar, followed by laughter.
We all turn toward the entrance just in time to see Summer walk in, her hand laced with a tall, handsome man’s, green eyes like Dex’s, his hair just a shade lighter. Summer is glowing, all effortless beauty and confidence, her laugh already echoing through the room as she takes in the crowd.
Something in my chest loosens.
This place suddenly feels… alive .
“Lexy! You’re working here!” Summer comes over and hugs me.
“Yeah, Dex decided to give me one more chance,” I say with a smile as I step back.
Her husband sticks out his hand to me. “Ethan Hawthorne, your idiot boss’s older brother. This beautiful woman’s husband.” He nods towards Summer.
Ethan smiles as I shake his hand. Damn, Dex’s mama sure breeds some handsome men.
“Lexy. Nice to meet you.”
They take their place at Penny and Cas’s table.
“What can I get you guys?” I ask as I take out my pad and pen.
“Two beers, two Cokes, two baskets of chicken wings…” Cas looks at Ethan, who takes over.
“And two hamburgers and fries,” Ethan says with a smile.
I write it all down.
The bar fills up fast, and soon there are no tables or seats left at the counter. Still, people keep coming inside, happy to just stand.
The microphone crackles, then a low, rough voice I know too well speaks up.
“All right, all right. Welcome to Midnight Rodeo’s very special and very requested karaoke night.”
Dex announces it, and the whole bar hoots and claps.
“Are you ready?” he asks the crowd, who goes wild again.
I look over at Penny and Summer’s table and find them both standing on their chairs, hands around their mouths as they shout into the noise. Cas is whistling loudly while Ethan claps his hands.
“And for our first act of the evening, I want to invite my two lovely sisters-in-law to the front.”
Dex swings his head toward their table and gestures for them.
“Give it up for Penny and Summerrrr!”
Both women walk onto the stage, and Penny whispers something to the DJ. Then I hear a song I know and love start to play, making me smile as I tap some beers for the group of men at the bar.
Penny starts to sing “Unwritten,” and my mood instantly lifts.
I love this.
I dance while I take more orders and see Stephen doing the same. The whole bar is singing along. Even the rough cowboys scream the words out without shame, and I feel… happy.
This is total chaos, but I like it.
A ruckus at Ethan and Cas’s table makes me look over, and I laugh.
Ethan, Cas, and Dex are all standing on the table, singing and shaking their asses. Dex knows the whole song, and somehow that surprises me the most, a flicker of something warm and unexpected settling low in my chest before I push it away.
I look around and can’t help being pulled into the madness as I smile and start to sing along.
Maybe working here won’t be so bad after all… or maybe I’m just getting used to the chaos.
? ? ?
Dexter
I fight the urge to look over at the bar.
And lose.
A smile slowly forms as I watch Lexy sing along to the song, her hips swaying as she prepares drinks and sets them on her serving tray.
My gaze flicks to the braids again before I can stop it.
Bad idea. Very bad idea.
Because the first thing that comes to mind is what it would feel like to have them wrapped around my fist, pulling her close enough to shut that smart mouth of hers with mine.
I jump off the table and make my way over to the bar. It’s packed, and I see Stephen struggling to keep up with the orders.
“Whiskey sour,” Rob, a regular, asks. His wife is on the dance floor, cheering the new singers on.
“There you go.” I set his drink in front of him just as Lexy walks back behind the bar and starts preparing her order.
“New waitress?” Rob nods toward her.
“Yes.”
I don’t elaborate.
“Cute one.”
I look up and find him staring a bit too long at her ass while she pulls out some sodas.
“Don’t think Eileen would like you ogling my new waitress.”
It comes out way too pissed off, but…
“My wife won’t mind. She ogles you from time to time too.”
Rob just smiles, takes his drink, and walks over to smooch his wife on the dance floor.
I shake my head.
They’re a weird couple, but somehow they work.
“Hey, cutie!”
Carl, James, and David take their seats at the bar. They come by a few times a week, and I always have to cut their tab after a while and call their wives or girlfriends to come pick them up.
Carl is looking at Lexy, and something tightens low in my chest, sharper this time, less explosive and more controlled, like I’m holding it in instead of letting it snap.
Get a grip, Dex. A beautiful woman serving at your bar means more business… but that thought does nothing to settle the tension sitting heavy in my chest.
Lexy turns and smiles at him. “Hello. What can I get you?”
She looks at all three of them, and their damned smiles grow.
“I’ll take care of them. You go make rounds. See if there are empty plates or glasses to take away.”
My voice comes out rough, and Lexy’s smile dies.
I didn’t mean to say it like that…
“Damn, Dex. I like your new waitress.”
I look at Carl. His blue eyes are still on Lexy when I smack my hand down on the bar in front of him, making him and his companions jump and look at me.
“What can I get you?” I ask, not nicely.
“Three beers.”
I nod and get to work.
When I come back to them, they’re looking behind me. I follow their gazes and see Lexy standing on a small step, trying to reach the whiskey on the top shelf, her jean-covered ass still very much on display.
“Can’t concentrate?”
I turn and find Ethan and Cas smirking at me.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s practically homeless, I’d fire her,” I grumble as I wipe down the counter.
“Why would you do that? She looks like she’s doing a good job.” Cas studies me.
My damned older brother is always trying to analyze people, and it’s getting on my nerves.
“She’s too… I…” I let out a frustrated breath. “Customers keep looking and making comments.”
I start washing some glasses, scrubbing harder than necessary, the tension in my shoulders refusing to ease.
“That doesn’t sound like a problem.”
Ethan smirks, and Cas shakes his head.
“Did you say she’s homeless?”
Shit.
I didn’t mean to share that bit of information right now, but they’re nosy bastards and would have found out eventually.
“Found her sleeping in her car,” I grunt.
Ethan’s eyes widen. “In this weather?”
I nod.
“Found her after dinner the other night. She had a fucking fever.”
I swallow, jaw tightening as that same anger creeps back in, low and steady, at whoever hurt her and made her run, and at myself for treating her the way I did when she was already in a difficult situation.
“Where is she living now?”
I look at Cas and already know I’m going to regret ever bringing this up.
“With me.”
Cas and Ethan’s smirks return.
“Why didn’t you take her to Mom’s B&B? You know she would have loved to help out,” Ethan asks.
Cas just studies me.
“Closer to work this way.” I shrug. “Her car’s not working.”
Cas finally speaks up. “Far as I know, there isn’t a car you can’t fix.”
He brings his hand to his chin and makes a thinking gesture.
“Why is this any of your fucking business?” I ask, annoyed.
“Just seems weird… you, the town’s biggest player, the one who never takes a woman home or calls back, now offering his home to this girl…” Ethan cocks his head.
“And all this while he knows she could have stayed at the B&B,” Cas adds.
“Again, how is this any of your fucking business?”
I turn and leave, their snickers following me, their words leaving my head full of unanswered questions.
Why the fuck did I not bring her to the B&B?