6. Cannon
Igrabbed my jacket and put one of my arms in, working to get the other side on when the front door opened.
“Hey, man,” West said, walking into our apartment and shutting the door behind him. “Where are you headed?”
I straightened my jacket. “To The Bridger.”
“Again? You’ve been going there a lot lately.”
I grabbed my shoes. “Yeah, well, I’ll be going there even more.”
I hadn’t told him about Demi’s new job, and I had a feeling she hadn’t told him either.
“I was hoping we could hang out. Do you have to go tonight?” he asked.
I wished I could stay and hang out with him too. We’d barely seen each other outside of the office now that he was living with Halle.
“Yes, I have to go tonight if you want me to keep an eye out for your sister.”
His brows pulled together. “What is Demi doing alone at The Bridger?”
Here we go. I focused on putting on my shoes. “Because she works there.”
Now his brows hit his hairline. “She works there?” His voice echoed loudly through the room, and I was sure Halle had heard him upstairs.
“Yep.”
“What is she doing working there?” His shock quickly turned to frustration.
I shrugged. “She needed money, so she got a job.”
“But why The Bridger? She doesn’t know anything about being a bartender.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “If she needed money, she could have come to me.”
“I think the whole point of her going off on her own is to do just that—do it on her own.” I was effectively avoiding how she’d come across said job, and I would keep with the truth by omission as long as I could. I wasn’t ready to be on the other side of West’s wrath when he found out it had been my idea.
“I’m coming with you.”
There was no talking him out of coming along, so I opened the door, and we made our way to the bar.
As soon as we walked into The Bridger, West made a beeline to where Demi stood behind the counter, wiping the top with a white cloth. I lagged behind, knowing Demi could handle West on her own. And it also gave me time to stare at her without either of them noticing.
She looked unbelievably hot tonight. She wore black cut-off jeans that showcased her sexy legs. Her black tank top scooped lower than I was used to seeing her wear, her cleavage beautifully on display. I was positive I wasn’t the only guy in here enjoying her clothing choices.
She’d braided small sections of her hair and had put some kind of hair product in the rest so that it cascaded down around her shoulders, giving it a textured look. Her hair combined with her dark shadowed eyes and maroon lipstick gave her a sex-kitten vibe, and I was just as attracted to her now as I was when her face was bare of makeup and she was in her pajamas in my kitchen.
Her look tonight gave no clue that she could probably count on one hand the number of bars she’d ever set foot in. She looked every part the bartender.
Finally coming up to stand next to West, I listened to their conversation.
“I don’t need your permission to work here,” she said, her voice full of irritation.
West let out a frustrated huff of air. “I know that. But this isn’t a safe place for you to work.”
“Have you seen Robby?” She pointed over to where Robby stood, making up a few shots. “Yeah, he’s not going to let anything happen to me.”
West’s gaze moved from Robby back to Demi. “I’m not saying he wouldn’t. I just…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I can help you, Demi. I’d be happy to help you. Then you could just go to school and not worry about having to work too.”
“You already are helping me,” she argued. “I’ve already taken over your room. Well, really your apartment since I’ve run your best friend,” she gestured her hand toward me, “out of his own place.”
West gave me a quizzical look, but Demi was talking again before he could ask me anything about what she was referring to.
“This job works perfectly with my school schedule,” she continued. “I’ll go to school during the day and then work here at night. And it’s only four nights a week, that’s a pretty good gig. The tips I’ve already gotten tonight are more than enough to keep me happily coming back.”
Dressed like that, with those pouty dark lips, I didn’t doubt guys were flocking to her. There was a reason I hadn’t been going home after work at night. She was too tempting.
“Thanks to Cannon, I actually have a decent job that I like.”
“Thanks to Cannon?” His words came out slow and full of disbelief.
She smiled. “Yeah, he’s the one that told me about the job opening here.”
West turned to glare at me. Well, it had only been a matter of time before he would find out.
I put my hands up in surrender. “I was just trying to help.”
“If this is your way of helping, then stop,” he said, clearly annoyed I’d gotten his sister in this situation. He turned his attention back to Demi. “I know I can’t tell you what to do, but promise me that if you ever don’t like working here or if it becomes too much to balance with school, you’ll quit so I can help you figure out a different plan.”
She pressed her lips together. “Fine,” she relented. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have customers waiting.” She sauntered off, and I let my eyes linger on the way her hips swayed, her full b—
“Ahem.” West cleared his throat.
Oh, crap.
I hurried to swing my head back to West, working to school my features. The last thing I needed was for him to see me checking out his sister.
His eyes narrowed slightly. “You failed to mention that her working here was your idea.”
“Did I?” I tapped my chin. “I could have sworn I said something to you about it.”
The frown that had been pulling at his mouth lessened. “This is why you’re going to be hanging out here more? To keep an eye out for her?”
“Yes.”
His shoulders sagged in what I assumed was relief, most of his anger seeming to dissipate. “Thank you. I’ll feel better knowing you’re here to protect her.”
If he knew what I’d been thinking earlier, he wouldn’t be so grateful. I was one of the guys that she needed protection from.
West only stayed for a few more minutes, since two women had quickly made their way over to us with flirty stares. He’d politely excused himself, saying he was going home to his beautiful girlfriend. Even before Halle, bars had never been his scene.
Both women decided to stay and talk to me, but I struggled to stay in the conversation. A certain bartender kept catching my eye. She looked surprisingly in her element. She wasn’t as quick at making drinks as Robby, but that was to be expected. Not that any of the guys seemed to mind she was slower.
She handed a drink to a guy who looked nice enough, but I knew better. I was a nice enough guy too, but my thoughts weren’t innocent when it came to Demi.
He set a bill down on the bar, sliding it only halfway across to her with what I assumed was some asinine comment. My hand clenched on the glass in my hand. She placed her hand on the other end of the bill and leaned over the counter, saying something flirty back. His gaze dipped down to her cleavage.
And that was all I needed to see. I stood, ready to push through the two women between me and this creep coming on to Demi.
“Excuse me, ladies,” I said, interrupting the brunette who had been talking and pushing through them. I probably should have felt bad for being so rude, but I couldn’t think about anything else besides getting this punk away from Demi.
By the time I reached them, she was putting the money in her back pocket and giving him a smile that made my stomach cramp. She’d never given me a smile like that before. But then again, why would she? We weren’t anything more than glorified acquaintances when it really came down to it. I was supposed to not want her to smile at me like that. I was supposed to be thinking platonic thoughts about her. I was supposed to be here only to help protect her from idiots like this guy.
As I came up beside him, he looked up at me. I put on my most friendly smile, even though I wasn’t feeling one friendly feeling toward this guy. “Hey, those two girls down there”—I pointed to where I’d left the two women I’d been talking to—“were asking me about you.”
He glanced their way, perking up at my words. “Really?”
See? This guy was just here to find some random girl to hit on, hoping to get lucky. He didn’t have any good intentions when it came to Demi. That’s why it was important for me to be here during her shifts. I could save her from pricks like him.
“Yeah,” I assured him. “You should go talk to them.”
He grinned as he looked at the brunette and blonde, who were still looking our way. Standing, he slapped me on the shoulder. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem.”
I watched him go, the women excited he was seeking them out. Not only had I gotten him away from Demi, both parties seemed happy about their new trajectories I’d put in place. It was a win-win.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you just did there.” Demi’s voice pulled me back to her.
She was drying clean glasses and giving me a pointed look.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, feigning innocence as I took a seat on the stool in front of her.
“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes. “Those women were practically drooling all over you. There is no way they were asking you about him.” She nodded to where the guy was still flirting with the women. Was there a hint of jealousy in her voice? “He’s leagues beneath you.”
I couldn’t have helped the grin that spread across my lips if my life depended on it. “Is that so?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know how good looking you are,” she chastised.
“I’m not insinuating I don’t know how good looking I am,” I said, leaning my forearms on the counter. “But I didn’t know you had such high opinions about my looks.”
Despite the dim lighting in the bar, I could still make out the tint of pink on her cheeks. “Almost every woman in this bar is looking at you like you’re a prime rib steak. It’s not like I’m the only one.”
“Maybe, but I don’t care about any of them.”
Crap. Why was I flirting with her?
I could use the excuse that I flirt with everyone but that wasn’t why I was flirting with her. I wanted to. I liked seeing her blush. I wanted to see if she had any of the same feelings for me that I had for her. The feelings swirling around in me, requiring serious will power to keep them tamped down.
She paused drying the glasses, her eyes snapping up to meet mine in surprise.
Double crap.
I really shouldn’t have said what I did. It was the truth, but it wasn’t going to help our situation.
Whatever tension this was, I needed to get us out of it quickly.
“How is your first shift going?” I asked, hoping my question was enough to dissipate the charged moment between us.
“It’s been good so far,” she said, going back to drying the remaining glasses. “The studying I put in has helped a lot. And no one has seemed annoyed that I take longer to make drinks than Robby does.”
Probably because they didn’t mind watching her in that outfit while they waited.
“That’s good.”
She placed the last glass on the counter. “I’m going to go see what else Robby wants me to do. But can you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“Can you at least wait until after the guys give me my tip before making up some lame excuse to get them to leave me alone?” she demanded.
“If you can do me a favor as well,” I countered.
She crossed her arms. “And what’s that?”
“No more leaning over the counter.” I glanced pointedly at her chest for a brief second.
Her eyes widened. “You saw that?”
Not as much as I wanted to, but I didn’t say that. “Yes.”
Her face flushed, and her body went rigid. “West put you up to this, huh? He wants you to babysit me,” she accused. “Well, news flash. I’m all grown up, and I don’t need someone to babysit me at work. So you can tell West to stop worrying.”
“As we’ve previously discussed, I know you’re all grown up. That’s exactly why I’m not thrilled about all the attention you’re getting,” I said, matching her tone.
“You’re not thrilled? What do you care? You’re the one who told me about this job in the first place,” she exclaimed.
Triple crap. I kept digging myself into a hole.
“If West cares, then I care,” I said, pulling on a partial truth to help hide my true feelings. “Is it so awful that I want to make sure you’re safe? Isn’t that what friends are for?”
“Friends?” she mocked, her laughter completely lacking in humor. “Friends don’t stay out late, who knows where, to avoid coming home so they don’t have to see their roommate.”
She was apparently taking a personal offense at my staying out late. She thought it was because I didn’t want to be around her, but it was actually because I did want to be around her. I wanted to stay up late on the couch with her feet in my lap while we talked about anything and nothing. The truth was, I was scared to be home alone with her. Afraid I’d let her in. Afraid my feelings for her would grow a hundredfold, and then I’d been in a real mess.
“Friends don’t give each other curfews,” I threw at her, trying to get the attention off of me.
“Friends actually talk to each other,” she countered.
“Friends don’t hold grudges,” I ground out.
She wasn’t going to let this friends thing go, and I’d have to figure it out before it ruined what relationship we did have. The Vanderhall family was important to me, and I didn’t want to make things awkward every time we got together.
“How do you even know that? You’re not exactly an expert on friendship. You’ve only let yourself have one friend. And although I don’t understand your trust issues, I don’t doubt why you have them.” She paused, her voice softer, then she said, “I know you feel like you don’t know me, but you know enough about me after ten years to know you can trust me.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in through my nose, trying to diffuse some of my frustration.
I did trust her.
It was me I didn’t trust.
Opening my eyes I could see the hurt in her eyes, which had me wanting to smack myself in the face. I didn’t want to hurt Demi. I never wanted to hurt her. That was exactly why I’d always kept my distance, but it seemed like that distance was hurting her all the same.
“I do trust you,” I said. “I was just trying to give you some space.”
She quirked a brow at me. “You call babysitting me while I’m at work giving me space?”
I let out a soft chuckle. “Good point.”
“Demi,” Robby called out. “I need you down here.”
She nodded at him. “I need to get back to work,” she said to me, our conversation officially over.
I stood. “Okay, I’ll see you at home.”
I had been too obvious with my reasonings for being here tonight. I’d have to be more careful next time. She called it babysitting, but I called it being proactive.
And maybe a little territorial.
“Be careful,” she smiled. “That almost sounded like you’re going to wait up for me.” She winked at me before turning to walk away.
I let myself enjoy the view since no one was here to reprimand me for it.
She had been teasing, of course, but there was no doubt that I would be waiting for her to get home before I went to bed.