Chapter Thirty-Four
Parker
I stalk back into Whiskey Joe’s and am met by Leonard’s and Leena’s inquisitive stares at the door.
“Meeting is being rescheduled,” Leena says.
I nod.
“Sorry about the outburst,” I say. “I let my anger get the best of me.”
She shrugs and looks at Leonard.
“We don’t blame you. It didn’t look good,” she says.
“Audrey and I—our relationship is …” I pause, searching for the right words.
“Complicated. We know,” Leonard says. “I’m starting to understand why Audrey doesn’t want us fraternizing though. It can get intense.”
I laugh. “Yeah, good thing I don’t actually work here.”
That makes Leena frown.
“Don’t worry. You’ll still see me all the time.”
“In fact, you’re going to see me in about six hours for the dinner shift,” I remind her.
“Right. I’m going to run home and make lunch for my husband,” she says. “See you soon.”
Leonard gives me a fist bump, and they leave. I search for Audrey and find her coming out of the break room with Jake.
She startles when she sees me. I might have come in too hot with my declaration of love. I intended to talk to her and make it clear that I was in it for the long haul and wasn’t going anywhere. Not in December. Not ever. However, I hadn’t meant to lay all of that at her feet just yet.
Seeing her walk in with Jake rocked me. My good judgment flew straight out the window.
“Parker,” Jake says tentatively.
“I’m sorry, Jake. I didn’t mean to jump to conclusions,” I say.
“That’s okay. I didn’t know you guys were … whatever you guys are. If I had, I wouldn’t have acted the way I did the last few days. I’m sorry if I was pushing your buttons.”
I glance down at her. “How could you have known? We don’t even know what we are.”
“I’m going to go find Brew and let you two talk,” he says, sliding past her. “Calmly and quietly, if possible.”
“Thanks, man,” I say.
We stand in the hallway, her against one wall and me against the opposite. Arms crossed. Neither of us brave enough to start the conversation.
She finally sighs. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“Let me come over tonight,” I say.
She shakes her head. “Sex isn’t going to solve anything, Parker.”
“To talk.”
The door to Brew’s office opens, and he and Jake walk out.
“Is everything okay out here?” Brew asks.
“Yeah, it’s all good,” I reply.
“In that case, I’d like to talk to Audrey,” he says, looking at her. “If you have the time.”
“Of course. I’ll just be a minute,” she says, walking past me toward the restroom.
I grasp her wrist, and she looks back at me.
“My place tonight,” she says, and I feather my lips over her wrist before letting her go.
I turn back to the two men.
“You look like you could use a drink,” Jake says.
“We’re not open yet,” I note.
“I know. Come on. Give me a ride back to Brew’s. We’ll raid his bar,” he requests.
“Sounds good.”
Jake and I landed on Brew’s deck. He joined us two hours later, and I opened up to the two of them about my and Audrey’s history. Then, I explained I’d missed poker night because I went to talk to her father and ended up helping him work on the fishing boat until the wee hours.
“Damn, I had no idea that hiring you would be so entertaining,” Brew says.
“At least my suffering is amusing,” I reply.
He chuckles. “I’m just happy the two of you haven’t destroyed my bar.”
“Audrey would never do that. I think she loves that place more than she loves herself.”
“I know she does. That’s why I offered her the general manager position,” he says. “You’re welcome.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“It will involve more responsibility, but she will have more freedom and be able to create her own schedule.”
“Which means she will work even more,” I reply.
“You’re probably right,” he agrees.
“She’ll be a great GM,” I say. “She knows that bar inside and out. Her management skills are stellar, and the staff respects her. She’s patient but firm. I think you’re making a good choice.”
“I agree. We’re going to promote Leonard to head bartender, so she will spend the next month training him to take over. We’ll hire two more full-time bartenders, and by the end of the year, we should be in good shape, and you can go back to a life of leisure until March.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but I think I’m going to miss slinging drinks for you,” I confess.
He raises a brow. “You want a permanent job?”
“Fuck no. I miss sleep,” I quip.
He laughs.
I look down at my phone. “Speaking of which, I’m going to head home and get a nap and shower before my shift.”
“I’ll see you there,” Brew says.
“And I’ll see you when I see you,” Jake adds. “Good luck with everything.”
“I appreciate that.”
“What did you do?” Heather hisses when I walk through the door.
“Huh?”
She glances to where Audrey is chatting with a customer at the bar, grabs my sleeve, and pulls me to a corner near the entrance.
“You told Audrey you loved her,” she says.
“I was taking your advice, telling her I wasn’t going to leave again.”
She smacks my chest. “I told you to ease her insecurities, not drop the L-word on her.”
I shrug. “I was winging it in the heat of the moment and pulled out the big guns.”
Her eyes go wide. “Big guns? You pulled the pin and set off a grenade!”
My gaze moves over her head to my girl. “How is she doing?”
“Between your declaration and Brew’s big news, she’s all over the place—angry, happy, confused, excited, and scared. You name it.”
I take a deep breath. “All right. What do we do?”
“We? Oh, no. You caused the waves. Good luck finding a way to tame them, Romeo,” she says before stalking off.
Tame the waves? I’ve been trying to do that since the beginning.