24. I’ll take my Jack Fake and Neat
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I’LL TAKE MY JACK FAKE AND NEAT
LUNA
“So about those nonexistent vibes…”
I looked around to ensure no one was near before I whispered to Harlow, “Cover.”
“I thought you were… You know.”
So had I.
Saying I was Rhys’s cousin was the easiest cover story. No one would blink at me being there or staying with him.
Hell, even if we said I was a new employee and then faked our hookup, that would be more believable than the known bachelor suddenly having and employing a heretofore unknown girlfriend.
He just complicated an already messy mission.
I offered her a small shrug before restocking the lemon slices Kodie had dropped off without a single word to me. He certainly didn’t offer any pilfered bacon like I’d hoped.
It added to my annoyance with Rhys.
Unfortunately, there was no time for me to voice that annoyance because as soon as the doors opened, the place was slammed. Like how the full staff had shown up, so had the customers. Some just wanted the gossip, but most wanted to show their support to Rhys and Rye.
Harlow and I—along with a career bartender named Chuck—worked well together. They discreetly stepped in when I inevitably dropped the ball, but neither made a big deal of it.
Or any deal of it.
I turned to grab a bottle of Jack off the shelf only to crash into someone.
A muscular someone.
Tattooed hands gripped my hips to steady me, but they didn’t move once I was stable. Nope. The hold tightened, his fingertips digging into the softness there.
I tipped my head back to scowl at him.
My fake boss.
My fake boyfriend.
My very real enemy.
Okay, that was probably a strong word, but I was still stewing in my anger.
His forced innocent smile didn’t help matters.
“What?” I snapped quietly.
He kept one hand on my hip and used the other to lightly skim my chin to tilt it up. “Sorry. Would’ve been here earlier but everyone and their damn mother wanted to ask about what happened.” His grip on my chin tightened. “Thought you’d be happier to see me, hellcat.”
I’d been too distracted by my hangry food rage to pay much attention to the name last time.
I couldn’t say I hated it.
“Always happy.” Slipping into my role before I blew it, I gave him a wicked smirk of my own, and his mesmerizing eyes—more blue than green in the moody lighting—dropped in an instant to stare at my mouth. I lowered my voice to a sultry whisper, “I really need to jack something…”
His widened gaze shot back up to meet mine, and I used his stunned distraction to shift from his hold.
I reached around him to pluck the bottle of whiskey off the shelf and finished fixing the Jack and Coke I’d been working on.
I slid it to the waiting customer and moved to the tablet at the other end of the bar to add it to his bill.
I was already expecting Rhys before his heat hit my back. “It’s like that, is it?”
“You started it, barman.”
He grumbled something I missed before lowering his head so his lips were right by my ear. “You doing okay?”
I nodded. “No issues.”
That time, he didn’t grab my hip. That time, his large hand squeezed the side of my thigh as his smoky voice murmured, “Good girl.”
I tilted my head to look back at him in time to catch the challenge in his cocky smirk. My mouth was curved in a happy smile even as my narrowed gaze flung daggers at him.
If that’s the way he wants to play things…
This is gonna be fun.
The rest of the night was fun.
Just not in the way I’d meant it.
The showing of support hadn’t waned. The late shift bartenders and servers who’d clocked in at eight helped spread the workload a little thinner, but it was still chaotic.
But the mood stayed good. Happy. No one had bitched about the crowd or even seemed surprised by it, which made me wonder if it was more than just a fluke. Maybe most nights were like that.
Kase dragged Harlow away around eleven since they had to be up early for her little sister’s birthday.
Chuck took off shortly thereafter. I’d thought I would be ready to collapse on the couch in the back room when the time came, but I was a night owl by nature and necessity.
Since I had to stick around for coverage in case something happened, it made sense to stay on to help.
And since staying around had also scored me one of those amazing burgers and some battered fries, I was even happier to do it.
“I’m driving you home,” Rhys demanded from behind me as he again squeezed my thigh for absolutely no reason.
Alice and LaQuin—a server and bartender respectively—were the only two in the front of the house, and neither were paying attention as they moved efficiently through their end-of-night tasks.
But he did it anyway. The same way he’d been doing it throughout the night.
What the hell is his deal with that?
“I’ve got my car,” I said.
“You’re wiped.”
I was, but not in a bad way. And certainly not in a way that made it unsafe for me to drive.
“I can’t not have my car,” I reminded.
“Fine, then I’m following you home.”
“Stalker.”
He shrugged, accepting the label. “Gimme fifteen.”
That seemed ambitious, but sure enough, everything was shut down and secured right on time.
He armed the security system and followed me out to the lot before ensuring the door was locked behind us.
I stood watch, glancing around like I was impatient when I was actually looking for anything out of place.
The city was as quiet as it ever was, which wasn’t saying much.
“You sure you’re good to drive?” Rhys asked as he walked me to my car.
“I’m fine. What about you? It’s late.”
“I’m used to it.”
“Same.”
“Right.”
Why is this suddenly awkward?
I made it even more awkward by giving one of those weird straight-line smiles before quickly getting into my car. He got into his own but didn’t start driving until I did.
As much as I usually loved loud music while I drove, I turned the radio off and enjoyed some silence after the loud night.
I parked at the curb near the townhouse and got out as Rhys came to a stop a few spots behind me.
I walked onto my stoop and unlocked the door but waited to watch until he made it into his place.
“Wrong house,” he called.
Shit, maybe I’m more tired than I realized.
Wait. I unlocked the door.
I was about to call him out for driving while delirious when he joined me at the door rather than going home. “Come to my place.”
My heart hammered in my chest, and an echoing pulse seemed to thrum in my clit. “W-what?”
“In case anyone is watching. C’mon.”
Right.
Of course that’s what he meant.
Seriously, what is wrong with me?
I found my brain enough to refuse. “No.”
“Why not?”
“It wouldn’t make sense.”
“Isn’t you being around the whole point?”
“No one will believe this”—I gestured between us—“if they think we jumped into bed together from the start.”
“Already called you my girlfriend. That’s unbelievable enough.”
Ouch.
“No one will buy us waiting,” he continued, oblivious to the sting that smothered any trace of heat left in me.
The sting was good. Better. Smarter.
I let it sink past the exhaustion to ground me back into reality. “They’ll buy it if I’m supposed to be different.”
“Fair point,” he conceded.
“Why did you change our story anyway?” I asked.
He rubbed his hand across his jaw. “Figured you had to be around even when you’re not on shift. People would start getting suspicious if you were just my cousin but always hanging out.”
That made sense.
I nodded. “I’ll see you tomo—”
Before I could finish my sentence, strong hands cupped my cheeks and tilted my head as his mouth crashed down on mine. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders to appear into it, but that was as far as it needed to go.
In my opinion, at least.
Rhys seemed to be under the assumption that anyone watching was doing so with a telescopic lens that could see every detail. He speared his fingers into my hair and moved me how he wanted. I, on the other hand, kept my lips pressed tightly together and tried to turn my face away.
I wasn’t fighting the kiss.
I was fighting my reaction to it.
Just an act.
Nothing more.
I kept repeating that mantra as his hold on my hair tightened until a pleasant ache tugged at my scalp and my lips parted on a cry that I couldn’t choke back.
He swallowed the noise as his tongue forced its way in. It twirled around mine, fighting for dominance as I gave as good as I got. He groaned as he backed me toward the door.
I reached behind me to grip the handle before pulling away with a firm nod. “That was neat. Have a good night.”
And then I hurriedly darted inside and flipped the lock.