Chapter 24 #2
“I’m fine, y’all!” I threw my hands up and hollered a tad too loudly, making Sutton jump out of her skin and a few of the nearby guests’ heads turn my way.
“You sure you’re okay?” my brother asked, reaching behind me to grab a bottle of vermouth for a very stressed-out looking Doyle. “You’re screeching and getting crazy eyes.”
“Yes, Charlie, I’m fine. Look at him! He’s happy. I’m happy. This is how it’s all supposed to be,” I said.
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked around the room. This was exactly how it was supposed to be—just what I had always imagined for myself when I was younger. All those big dreams were finally coming true for all of us—including me this time.
Except, were any of us truly happy?
***
Lee finished his last set, and the crowd began to thin out. As Sutton, Charlie, Lee, and I cleaned up, I looked around at the now-empty bar, a wave of sadness washing over me as last call came and went. I wasn’t ready for the night to be over.
We scrubbed, polished, and cleaned up shards of glass all around. Once O’Malley’s started looking like her old self again, I was suddenly anxious to shoo everyone out of the bar to do the one thing I had been dying to do all night.
Count the money.
“I’m heading out. Sutton, can I walk you home?” My brother’s eyes were bloodshot, and it reminded me of just how exhausted I was myself.
“I’ll come by and help you finish cleaning in the morning, Magnolia.” Sutton yawned, scooting behind the bar. She’d spent most of the night acting weird, and her bum-rushing out the door didn’t help my anxiety over her mental state.
“Thanks, guys,” I called out, locking up behind them.
And then it was just me and Lee, alone yet again.
I ambled tiredly behind the bar, my arms heavy with exhaustion, plunging my hands into the soapy water.
The warmth bit at my skin, but I kept scrubbing, focusing on the swirl of bubbles instead of the man moving around the tables.
Across the room, Lee stacked empties with a practiced ease that spoke of muscle memory from years of playing bar back for Uncle Cole.
When he stepped behind the bar to shelve the glasses, the space between us felt impossibly small, and I couldn’t help the way my shoulders tensed, waiting for him to say something. Anything.
“Tonight was a success, if I had to guess. Financially, I mean,” he said, coming up behind me to grab some more beer mugs.
I was hyper-aware of how close in proximity we were doing this simple, tedious task, but it didn’t stop my hands from shaking. I was very thankful they were submerged. “And personally, too. It looked like your girlfriend and your momma were getting along pretty famously.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him nod as he rearranged the mess of bottles onto their appropriate shelves. “I think so. I mean, they’re both so worried about their image, neither one of them would really say if they had an opinion otherwise.”
I chuckled softly. “Well, even still, it was a great night. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for doing this.”
Without warning, he grabbed me and spun me toward him, catching me completely off guard.
I gasped, my soap-soaked hands slapping against my jeans, leaving wet handprints.
My brain short-circuited for a second. What even just happened?
I froze, my eyes locked on his, my heart deciding now was a great time to throw in some extra beats for dramatic effect.
He just stood there, holding me close, like this was the most natural thing in the world, while I was still trying to remember how to breathe—or function like a normal human being.
I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to make a sound.
But, more than anything, I didn’t want him to let me go.
The thought of why I was feeling this way gnawed at me—like if I admitted how much I needed him, I’d be opening a door I’d sworn to keep shut.
It terrified me. What if this was more than just a moment?
What if it was the beginning of something I wasn’t ready for…
or worse, something I couldn’t survive losing again?
“Say the word, Maggie, and all of this ends. Just tell me, straight out, that you want me. That you want to be with me. That everything we ever wanted when we were kids, all the dreams we had, that we can have them together. I’ll send Janelle away.
Hell, I’ll call off the buyout, and we can have a million nights like this and get you on your feet again. ”
Lee’s eyes were a vivid, electric blue, locked on mine with an intensity that left me breathless. There was a longing in his gaze, as if he was about to ask something that would turn our worlds inside out.
I felt the weight of his desperate need as his hands rested on my shoulders, his gentle touch sending a jolt straight through me. His eyes had this pleading look, as if the short distance between us was killing him. It was killing me, too.
I knew that any sudden move or word from me could break down the walls we’d put up and change everything right then and there.
Reaching up, I turned his hat backwards and pushed a wayward curl that had escaped out of his eye. I let my hand rest on his cheek for a moment, taking in his handsome, rugged features. He turned his face into my palm, inhaling deeply, a pained look spreading across his brow line.
A low, desperate rumble escaped him. “I won’t be the one to do it, Maggie. The way I want you right here, right now… you gotta be the one to kiss me first because if I start, we’re not stopping until I have you bent over this bar.”
I moaned, stretching my neck to the side and letting him run his nose softly down my cheek and into the nook behind my ear. He peppered tiny, gentle kisses down my throat and landed on the sensitive spot just above my collarbone. My hips thrust toward him in response.
“I remember how much you like that,” his words tumbled out in throaty breaths against my skin.
Our hips melted together, and he dipped his forehead to mine, running a thumb along the waistband of my jeans. “Kiss me, Magnolia. Remember how good I make you feel? Remember what it’s like when it’s just you and me and no one else, like we’re the only two people in the world?”
I couldn’t take it anymore. My body, the traitor that it was, was writhing and screaming for just one touch, one taste. To remember, once again, what it felt like to be wrapped up in Lee Wilder so tight, nothing else mattered.
He lifted me up and sat me on the ice chest, wrapping my legs around his back and pressing me against the liquor shelf. One push from him was all it took. I was already seeing stars and my pants were still on.
What were we doing?
I broke contact, releasing my fingers from where they were unfastening the buttons on his jeans. “We can’t do this.”
He released his tight grip on me and took a step back. “Are you serious?”
“I’m deadly serious. What if your brother found out you practically had my legs wrapped around your neck on top of the beer cooler? What would happen to my bar then?”
Part of me imagined a future where I’d marry Dane, partner with the Wilder family, and Lee would pop in for his gigs, turning our lives into some twisted version of “ever after.” The “happily” part? I figured I’d have to sort that out on my own.
But the other part of me was writhing in pain, red flags flashing everywhere, yanking me from the fantasy that was nothing more than make-believe.
How long before Dane started wandering off in a miserable marriage?
How long before I lost myself, desperately clinging to my still-sinking ship?
It felt like I was standing at a crossroads, where every turn seemed to come with a side of regret.
Would it be worth it in the end? I had no clue, but if nothing else, I had to at least give it a shot.
He hastily buttoned himself back up and brushed past me, avoiding eye contact as he rushed toward the front of the bar.
He stopped with his hand on the door’s lock, shoulders tense, like he was still debating whether to bolt down the street or say something.
The anger and embarrassment hung thick in the air, and I could practically feel it radiating off him.
“I know you’re smart, Magnolia Pruitt. I know you can smell a good business deal a mile away.
But this thing with Dane? It’s bullshit.
” He whipped off his hat and angrily ran his hands through his hair, mussing up his curls.
He exhaled before looking back up at me again, a deep scowl lining his face.
“There’s so much you don’t understand about my brother.
Hell, about my whole family. Maybe even me. ”
I chewed on my bottom lip, willing myself not to move. As much as he was handing me my ass on a platter, I wanted nothing more than to reach out and wrap my arms around his neck again. “What do you mean?” I whispered.
Lee groaned and rolled his eyes, his hand landing on the door again.
“I mean, if you look around, beyond the dollar signs you’re trying to manifest into existence, that not everything is what it seems. Sure, we’re all pretending to be happy, cheering you on and hoping you don’t lose the bar, but that also means we’re watching you make the biggest mistake of your life.
” His eyes met mine, and a sad, sullen smile played across his lips.
My heart dropped. “But that’s just it, Lee, it’s my mistake to make,” I declared, sounding far more confident than I felt.
“I just hope you know what you’re doing, Maggie. I hope you know that in the end, the only person who’s going to get hurt is you.”