4. Faith
CHAPTER 4
Faith
I had just taken another drink and spurted a mouthful of beer into my hand.
He pushed off the bar as he laughed. “I’m just messing with you. Do you ladies want to start a tab?”
I wiped the edge of my mouth with a napkin and looked over at Jess. “No, just the one for me?—”
“Of course we do.” Jess handed him her credit card. “We’ll figure out how to split it up later.”
He walked away with the card, and Jess raised her glass. “Ladies, a toast. To the men we love, to the men we screw... hell, forget the men, here’s to me and you!”
We clinked our glasses and took a gulp of our drinks.
“So, back to Bastard Baller Brad.” Robin set her glass on the bar as she narrowed her brown eyes at me. “That was what, a couple of years ago now?”
I fiddled with the handle of my mug. “Yeah.” Actually, it still stung like it happened yesterday, but I didn’t need to share that.
“Were you two serious?” Robin asked.
“I thought so.” Hot pinpricks danced across my cheeks as I remembered the sight of Brad’s hairy ass bouncing in the air as he pounded into my roommate doggy-style on the big king-size bed.
I could have sworn he was The One. The chemistry was there—we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. He was finishing up his degree in journalism, and I was getting my master's in English Lit. We’d been compatible in every way, and after four years together, he could still turn my insides to mush with a kiss. I’d entrusted him with my heart and soul, and he’d—well, he’d tossed it aside for a quickie on what should have been one of the best nights of my life. I really knew how to pick them.
Robin’s voice pulled me out of my memories. “Don’t you think it’s time you cast out a line again? He’s not the only fish in the sea.”
“Yeah, you see, I don’t really have time to go fishing. I prefer being landlocked. Just keeping up with teaching my classes is killing me. I don’t have any extra time to try to reel in a big one.”
“Ha, very funny,” Jess said. “She’s right, Faith. These are supposed to be the best years of our lives. Live a little!”
If only they knew. I was a regular vixen on the pages of the ten books I’d authored under my pen name, Chastity Austen. But I hadn’t told anyone about that. The only one who knew about my alter ego was my agent, Steph, and she was sworn to secrecy. If my mom and stepdad, the poster couple for Christian family values, found out... I shuddered at the thought.
My eyes cut to the hottie and the way his shirt stretched taut across his broad shoulders as he switched out a keg. I didn’t usually regret my uncompromising stance on the no-flings rule. But a boy toy like that gave new meaning to the term global warming and could cause even the most frigid ice queen to defrost.
I lifted my mug to my lips as he stood and raised his gaze to mine. Was that a challenge in his eyes? My front teeth caught my lower lip as I considered the possibility of making an exception.
Dammit, who was I kidding? I couldn’t afford the time for a distraction like him. I tilted the mug to take a sip, and cold beer sloshed over the edge and spilled down the front of my shirt. Crap. I’d completely missed my own mouth.
“You okay?” Jess handed me a napkin.
“Yeah. Can’t take me anywhere, right?” I hopped off the stool. “I need to find the bathroom. I’ll be back.” As I turned to walk toward the sign for the ladies’ room, I allowed myself a final glance his way. He hadn’t moved. His gaze still rested on my face, and a gorgeous teasing smile played across his lips.
Dante
I balanced the stack of empty boxes in my arms as I pushed through the swinging door and headed to the box crusher in back. In my short time behind the bar, I’d already discovered a major flaw in design. No one should have to schlep empty boxes through the hallway and past the bathrooms to get to the storeroom. I’d almost taken out a few customers already. Once this place really got humming, there’d be no passing through the hall during operating hours.
I turned the corner and smacked into something hard. “Shit!” The tower of boxes fell out of my arms and crashed to the floor.
Faith stood in the middle of the hall.
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry.” She rubbed her hand over her shoulder. “I don’t know how I didn’t see you.” Then she leaned over and tried to stack the boxes back up.
“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to make it in one trip.” As I bent down to grab a box, her shirt rode up in the back, exposing a sliver of skin right above the waistband of her jeans, along with part of a dark swirly tattoo. Hell, I was a sucker for ink. What did the rest of it look like?
I crouched down to help. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Where do these need to go?” She picked up half the boxes and stood.
“Here.” I pushed a door open behind her. “They just need to go in the supply room.” My hip brushed up against her thigh as she walked past me into the room, and my dick pulsed at the brief contact. Obviously, I was out of practice if a single bump could send a rush of blood to my crotch. The whiff of something flowery and sweet drifted up to my nose as she passed.
I almost hadn’t recognized her as the frumpy chick I’d run into outside the library this afternoon. The bulky sweatshirt was long gone. Her snug t-shirt clung tight across her chest, the deep V-neck promising her bra contained more than a handful. She’d had her hair pulled up before, but now it flowed over her shoulders and down her back. Red, like the deep, dark color of the paprika Meemaw generously sprinkled over platters of her deviled eggs.
I stepped into the room after her, the door closing behind me. My finger flicked the switch, although the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling didn’t provide much light. “If you just set them here, I’ll come back later and break them down. Thanks for your help.” I moved to the back corner and tossed the boxes next to the box crusher.
“No problem.” The boxes fell from her arms, and she turned toward the door. She flipped her hair out of her face to back behind her shoulder, and the girly scent tickled my nose again.
What the hell was that? Shampoo? Perfume? Whatever it was, it sure smelled good. Usually, the girls I ended up with doused themselves in body wash, body spray, perfume, hairspray, and all kinds of other crap, so I couldn’t tell what they were supposed to smell like. I shook my head to clear the scent away and noticed she’d almost reached the door.
I raced ahead of her and twisted the knob. “Let me get it.”
I pulled, but the door didn’t open. “Seems to be stuck.”
I pulled harder, but it didn’t budge. “Um, yeah, we might have a little problem here.”