Chapter Three
“In all the time we’ve worked together, I’ve never known you to cancel a client,” Christopher said.
“Then I guess you don’t know everything about me,” Ward said. He stared down at his artist pad, then scrunched up his nose. It wasn’t any good. “Do you think my client would want this on their body?” He held up the pad for Christopher to look. The serpent, slithering around a knife, was not coming together.
He saw his friend frown as he screwed up the paper and tossed it into the trash, to join all of the rest of the drawings he’d been failing on.
Ward had a lot of different inks he could decorate the body with. He’d lost count of the number of doves, love hearts, and dolphins he was requested to tattoo.
What he also allowed to a certain extent was commissioned work, which is what he was doing now. He took pride in his work, which is why he was always practicing, until he got onto the main work of art—the human body.
For the past five days, he’d been practicing this work, and so far he’d fucked it up every single time. He had no choice but to postpone the session with the guy who wanted the serpent. The only way that would change was if he got several drawings accurate.
“What’s going on?” Christopher asked.
“Nothing.”
“Okay, I know you, and I know how you work. Your art is part of you, and this says something is messing with your head.” Christopher folded his arms across his chest.
Ward tried to ignore him, but he fucked up the line he was drawing, and growled, tossing the artist pad down, and then turning to his friend. “Nothing is going on.”
“This has nothing to do with you and a certain bartender having a conversation?” Christopher asked.
“First of all, how do you know about that? Second, before you even answer the first, tell me honestly, is there some kind of bet about me and Kirsty that I don’t know about?” Ward asked.
He’d been wanting to ask Christopher and a couple of the other guys about it. There was no way he was going to ask Randall. That guy was a direct link to Kirsty through Bethany. There were not a lot of people he could ask without word getting out that he was doing the asking. Which sucked, and it pissed him off.
He rubbed the back of his head and waited.
“Uh, why do you ask?”
“So there is a bet going on?” Ward asked.
Christopher wrinkled his nose. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you also tried to evade the question. I’ve known you for years. I know when you’re trying to think of a lie to cover up shit. What bet? When? How? Who started it?” The questions just kept coming.
Christopher blew out a breath. “I don’t remember who started it. It was a long time ago. Back in high school.”
“Back in high school?”
His friend nodded.
“We’ve been out of high school for twelve years!”
“Yeah, and you and Kirsty are still in town. Most of us are still in town, and you and she are always arguing, and if I can see the attraction between the two of you, they can.”
Ward began to pace his office.
They didn’t have any customers for a few hours, but he remained open for casual drop-ins, which he did get from time to time. This was not one of those days. He’d been hoping for a distraction and it wasn’t coming.
“What is going on?” Christopher asked.
Ward didn’t know if he would be able to contain it. “Kirsty and I kissed Saturday night.” He took several steps toward his friend. “And no one is to find out about that. You’re the only one I’ve told.”
Christopher opened his mouth, closed it, and then he smiled. “And, how was it?” he asked.
“How was what?”
“Kissing her?”
“I’m not going to talk about it.” The kiss had been so unexpected, he hadn’t known what to say to her, so he’d left. Not his finest moment, he’d admit, but even still, it could have been worse. “Tell me about this bet. I want to know everything. Every single detail.”
“I don’t know all the details. All I know is that you and Kirsty are considered the ideal couple.”
Ward frowned. “Do you have any idea how messed up that sounds? We have nothing nice to say about each other, not a single thing, and you think that’s good?” he asked.
Christopher sighed. “Okay, first of all, you didn’t allow anything bad to be said about her. None of the guys were allowed to be mean to her, not to mention the fact that they also weren’t allowed to date her. Do you remember any of this?”
“Yeah, of course I remember telling the guys they weren’t allowed to date her. In my defense, it wasn’t like any of them were good for her. They were screwing half the cheerleaders, and you know, other girls. They even had a little tally going on, you know, so I will not be … I don’t know what I was going to say, but I was being protective of Kirsty. That was all.”
“And no other girl earned that protection?”
“I stood up for Bethany.”
“Randall stood up for Bethany, you joined him, but you’re the one who put the no-touchy on Kirsty. Everyone, but you and Kirsty, knows that you and she are going to end up together. It is inevitable.”
He wanted to argue with him, but there were just no words.
****
Kirsty loved barbecue chicken cutlets. They were one of her favorite things to eat. Add a buttered toasted roll and a side salad, and she was set. It was why she always purchased more chicken cutlets, because she loved to marinate them in many different seasonings.
She didn’t know why she was thinking about chicken cutlets.
It was nearly Friday. Thursday was a rare day where she didn’t open the bar. She lived above her bar, which is where she grew up. This place was her family’s home, and now it was her home.
With the chicken cooked, she placed it on the prepared bun, then added a few slices of cheese and put it under the broiler. Her mouth was watering, and she couldn’t help but think about Ward.
This was insane. He was the last person she should be thinking about. That kiss meant absolutely nothing. It wasn’t like she’d been thinking about it Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and of course Wednesday. Nah, it was just a kiss. She’d enjoyed plenty of kisses through her time.
Removing her plate from under the broiler, she couldn’t help but pause. Yes, she’d enjoyed plenty of kisses, but that was all she had done.
She would be completely mortified if Ward was to find out that she was a virgin at thirty years old. Who remained a virgin at this age?
For some reason, sex hadn’t entered the equation for her. It had been the last thing on her mind. In fact, it hadn’t been on her mind at all. Between studying hard through high school, then college, her sick parents, taking over and running the bar. There had been no time in her life for dating or romance.
She didn’t trust easily either. That probably didn’t help at all.
Crap, she was screwed. Well and truly screwed.
She ran fingers through her hair and blew out a breath.
Everything was going to be fine.
Then, she couldn’t help but think about Ward’s lips on hers. The hard feel against her lips.
There were people who had bets on them. She didn’t even know if it was limited to their peers, or if there were people older and younger. That had to be embarrassing. Surely there were no younger people placing bets.
A sudden knock on her door stopped her from taking a bite of her sandwich. She wanted to ignore it, but if it was important, she’d feel bad. Putting her sandwich down, she made her way toward the separate front door. There was an entrance and exit for the main bar, but for her home, she also had a different front door. For her apartment, the exit was her main front door.
She checked to see who it was, and sure enough, Ward stood on her front step. “Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me,” Ward said.
Kirsty closed her eyes, counted to ten, and then opened the door. She had changed into her pajamas, which consisted of a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. She never went out of her home like this. It was way too hot to be in anything else. She’d pinned her hair to the back of her neck.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“We need to talk,” Ward said.
“It’s late.”
“It’s seven o’clock. That’s not late.”
She glared at him.
“Fine, we can talk about how we kissed the other night, and we can wonder who is going to be listening in on our conversation. Just because it looks like no one is around, this is a small town, and people are always sneaking around.”
She rolled her eyes and stepped back, giving him the opportunity to walk into her home.
“Fine, but be quiet,” she said.
As she closed and locked the door, it wasn’t lost on her that she barely had a stitch of clothing on.
“Something smells good.”
She shook her head. “Come on.”
She made her way upstairs, wondering if he was staring at her ass, but then she tried not to think about it, and instead focused on not tripping over anything.
Once inside the main part of her home, she closed the door that led to the stairs toward the front door. She’d already closed the curtains.
Now, she was truly alone with Ward.
He followed her into the kitchen and she saw his gaze go to her food.
“Here,” she said, offering half her sandwich.
She expected him to decline, but he took the sandwich and had a bite. Sitting down at her table, he followed suit, sitting opposite, and she waited.
He actually pinched some of her food right off her plate, but she didn’t tell him off, or swat at his hand.
There was no way she was going to be able to eat while he was watching her.
Neither of them spoke as they ate, and she couldn’t deny that it was a lot of fun. This was crazy. She shouldn’t be enjoying her food while Ward sat opposite her. It just wasn’t right.
It was insane.
They finished their food, and she grabbed him a bottle of water, bringing over a tea for herself. Normally, she was a coffee girl, but in the last few months she’d started enjoying herbal tea. She blamed Bethany for tempting her.
“What do you want to talk about first, the kiss or the bet?”
As far as conversation starters went, she didn’t like it.
“Those are my two options?” she asked. “One or the other?”
“We’re going to talk about both, but it’s up to you which one we start with.”
The last thing she wanted to talk about was the kiss. Then again, she didn’t know how the bet conversation was going to turn out.
It was the easiest option. “The bet.”