Bourbon Summer, page 24
The place was quiet. Just the mash in the short, wide tanks bubbling, a warm, grainy smell filling the room. Still riding my content-creation high, I grabbed a couple pictures of Tenor from behind. The shot exuded quiet power and contemplation. Competence.
God, he’d be catnip to the introverted bourbon lovers.
I wove around the tank to Tenor’s side.
He clicked a button and the monitor went dark. He turned, his lips tipping up. “Hey.”
“How did you know it was me?”
“I knew.”
My belly warmed and I fought an aw-shucks grin. His gaze dipped down my soft yellow camisole top to my cargo capris. I wasn’t wearing a skirt, but there was no less heat in his gaze.
I showed him my screen. “I’m not using these, but should you ever decide to put yourself in front of the camera, you should use them.” I smirked. “For now, they’re for my personal use. I may send them to Wynter only to show her the authentic aesthetic I had in mind. Unless you want me to delete them.”
His gaze heated. “Not if you tell me exactly how you use them.”
I’d show him. But later. I tucked my phone away. We were secluded but not private. Instead, I changed the subject. “I hear I’m out of a job tonight.”
He nodded. “It’s a mess, but a small one.” His brow furrowed as he crossed to me. “They didn’t get ahold of you in time?”
“Wynter forgot I was coming early. It was going to be a brainstorming night.”
“But I still get to see you.” He kissed me, nice and slow, but also tame if any of the tourists peeked inside. When he pulled back, the crease was still in his brow. “I was just going to leave. You can join me.”
Surprise washed through me. “To your game night?”
His jaw was set, like he couldn’t believe he had invited me, but he nodded.
“You really want me to come?”
A shadow flitted over his expression. The offer hadn’t been easy for him. He’d protected that part of himself for so long. He cupped my cheek. “Leaving every Wednesday night when I could hang out with you instead hasn’t been the easiest.”
A small gasp left me. This man made me feel so treasured. I put my hands on his shoulders. “Having our own interests is healthy. Wynter and Autumn invited me out.” I smiled. “I’d have fun with you, but Warhammer is your thing, not mine. You go. Have fun. And we’ll connect on Friday.”
“For the weekend?”
I bit the inside of my cheek or I wouldn’t be able to speak around my grin. “If I’m invited for the whole weekend.”
“You’re welcome anytime. My place is y—” He clamped his mouth shut. “My place is always open to you.”
My place is yours. Was that what he’d been about to say? But he hadn’t. Yet what he had said was still sweet. “It’s like I’m your girlfriend or something.”
“Yeah, or something,” he said softly.
Tenor
I was finishing in my office when Teller entered. He closed the door. The interior walls of the office were tempered glass facing the hallway on the upper level of Copper Summit. Each room was dark, including Teller’s.
He plopped in the chair across from my desk. He reclined and locked his hands behind his head. “Must be a Friday night.”
“Get a calendar and you’d know.” I’d been working late each Friday night Ruby was in the bar.
“Did you see what Ruby posted of yours truly?”
I hadn’t. I took out my phone and pulled up Copper Summit on each app. A filtered photo of Teller scratching his beard and pondering the leak had hundreds of comments.
If I start drinking bourbon, will he show up?
I need to get to Bourbon Canyon ASAP
This picture makes me think about cocktails differently.
The comments were . . . thirsty, and some were downright inappropriate, but Ruby had replied conversationally, yet professionally to many of them, stoking enthusiasm and spreading information about our products. “Damn. She did some good work.”
“I was just thinking . . .” He rubbed his chin. “People really do want to get to know us. We can give them a little more.”
The pictures of me from the distillation room rose in my mind. To me, the image was boring, and that was likely what others would think. Ruby knew me, so she liked it. “I’m good sitting this out.”
His lips pressed together. “It’s not that I don’t respect your decision to keep offline. It’s just, it bugs the shit out of me. Before Katrina, you’d have done it.”
No. “Not everything stems from her.” Before Katrina, there had been Bobby. Keeping attention off me had always been the goal.
“Sure.” He gave me that narrow-eyed stare, like he was seeing right through me. “You ever go to Bozeman?”
I saved the financial report I was compiling and closed out of my computer. I took my damn time too. Teller wasn’t here to shoot the breeze. “Get to your point.”
He remained unfazed. “Relationships go both ways.” I didn’t respond. “Seems like only Ruby’s going in both directions.”
Irritation clawed along my skin. “I also work the weekends.” I folded my arms. “Cruz and Lane are gone a lot more. You might be single, but I’m sure Tate wants to see his family.” Ranching wasn’t just a full-time job. It was a way of life, and it’d take over with no help.
“We can always hire someone.”
“But you haven’t.”
He assessed me. “If we do, would you change? Suddenly stay home or go see Ruby and find out what she’s interested in?”
“She likes to read.”
“That it?”
I wasn’t about to tell him what else she liked. “She likes to be here.”
“Have you asked her?”
I pushed my glasses up and rubbed the bridge of my nose. “For fuck’s sake, Teller. You gonna charge by the hour to shrink my head?”
“Nah. You know I’m not an expert or my ex wouldn’t have run off with someone like Scooter fucking Townsend.”
“Wendi divorced him, so her taste isn’t completely terrible.”
He grunted. “All I’m saying is that . . . Fuck, I don’t know. You still seem to be holding back.”
“What the hell do you expect?” He was looking out for me, but he was also making me seem like a selfish jerk.
“Nothing. Just remembering what Dad told us once.”
A lump of molten lead formed in my gut. My parents’ marriage was something I had aspired to. They’d loved each other so completely. So honestly. Dad had doted on Mama, and she’d done the same. I had tried to follow suit only to be called duplicitous. A liar. “And what was that? ‘Early is on time and on time is late’?”
He gave me a don’t be a dumbass look. “After Katrina, and after Wendi, he told us not to let those experiences scare us from giving ourselves fully to the women we fall in love with. He told us not to let our exes stop us from finding real love.”
“How’s that going for you?”
“Terrible. You?”
I wasn’t sure yet. Looking back, I hadn’t been in love with Katrina. I’d been an infatuated puppy. She’d been beautiful and smart and sexy. I hadn’t been comfortable being myself around her.
Ruby was beautiful and smart and sexy. She was fun and kind and genuine. Her laughter was infectious. I had switched where I painted at my table so I could watch her. When she was studying other social accounts, she’d bite her lower lip and crinkle her brow. When she read, a faint blush would dust her cheeks and I’d know she’d gotten to a naughty scene. Then she’d catch my eye and smile. Sometimes, we returned to our hobby. Sometimes, we got naked.
I could be myself with her.
I’d also stayed in my environment. She slept over. I was out of my comfort zone, but I also wasn’t. Did that mean we were one-sided? Ruby hadn’t told me what more she wanted.
I never asked.
“I don’t know yet,” I answered. “We’re taking it slow and she knows it.”
“Are you taking it slow or looking for a reason it wasn’t meant to work?”
“No, Teller, fuck. Do you think I have to have an engagement ring already? That we’re planning the guest list for the wedding? Picking baby names?”
He kicked up a brow.
An inferno started at the base of my sternum. I cleared my throat. “I’m older than her and I’m still her boss. I’m not rushing her.”
He tipped his head, eyeballing me like he’d caught me in a lie. “You actually thinking of getting married and having kids? That might take a little remodeling.”
His tone was just shy of taunting. He and Tate had given me shit for building a place a fraction of the size of theirs. Dad had sat me down to see how I was doing. I’d told him I was just fine. More certain of anything than ever.
Now I was only certain that I wanted to keep seeing Ruby.
“I’m not engaged. Ruby’s not pregnant.” The image of her with a rounded belly flashed in my head. Would she wear a maternity dress so the skirt would still swish around her thighs? I would be able to press the fabric tight against the bump—
Fuck. I was not thinking of getting married, and I sure as fuck wasn’t planning kids.
Was I more open to the possibility? Maybe. But taking it slow meant not planning a fucking wedding before our first month of official dating was in the books.
Were we officially dating?
Teller was still studying me.
I had to give him something to get him off my back. “I asked her to come to Billings with me earlier this week. Happy with that?” She had turned me down, and I’d been . . . disappointed. I’d wanted to see her face when she entered the quaint little game shop. Her shy smile when she met the guys I played with. Her questions about our process and how we played. She wouldn’t have been rude or embarrassed, and that realization had made me glad I had asked. I trusted her.
A thoughtful expression played over his face. “Actually, yes. That does make me feel better. It’s definitely out of your comfort zone.” He frowned. “Didn’t she go out with Wynter and Autumn last Wednesday?”
“Yes. Because she knows we don’t have to be glued at the hip.”
He smirked. “Is that how you guys do it?”
“I don’t need glue.”
He put his palm toward me. “Treading too close to TMI.”
“I’m also meeting her parents. Soon.” Dread filled my gut. What would they think of me? How could I show them that I respected their daughter, that I wanted the best for her, even if that wasn’t me?
His brows lifted. “Both of them?”
I nodded. “Her mom and dad want to play doubles.”
He let out a low whistle. “Tennis even. Do they know who they’re going up against?”
“That was a long time ago. And to answer your next question, no, I don’t know when.” Hopefully it’d be a while. Next summer. The summer after.
He pushed himself to his feet. “Maybe you are making progress.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Anytime.” He sauntered out.
I scowled at my desktop for several moments.
What the hell? I wasn’t letting what Teller said get to me. Ruby and I were doing just fine.
I checked the time. The bar closed in a couple of hours, but I’d shut my computer down. I tapped my fingers on the armrests.
I wanted to see Ruby.
I wanted to talk to my girlfriend.
She was working and I’d either pitch in or be the customer who hit on her all night.
I was heading down the stairs when my phone vibrated. I waited until I hit the bottom before I checked. My boots thumped to a stop. First one. Then the other.
Unknown: Hey, it’s Katrina. Can we talk?
I stared at the message. What . . . the fuck?
I had deleted everything about her, but she apparently hadn’t trashed my number.
Fuck no. I didn’t want to talk. I swiped to delete the message and continued to the bar.
Inside, most of the tables were full after a couple of nights of being closed. Ruby was laughing with a couple of guys by the front windows. She glanced over and the smile that graced her face was all for me.
There had never been a time after the way Katrina had broken up with me when I had wished she’d call or text. I had trusted her and she’d tossed it all back in my face. She’d purposely humiliated me. All this message had done was make me glad that I wasn’t home alone painting my figures.
I had moved on. I hadn’t stayed in one place. And I liked where I was at. Maybe I even more than liked who I was with.
My chest constricted and I struggled to draw in a breath.
Taking it slow. Just like I’d told Teller. I wasn’t rushing Ruby. Most of all, I wasn’t rushing myself.
Ruby
Tenor drank me in like he was seeing me for the first time in months. It almost shredded my nerves. I had to talk with him about my parents.
“Let me know if I can get you anything else,” I said to the couple I’d been talking to.
I met Tenor in the middle of the bar by one of the few empty tables.
He stroked his gaze over my face, only this time, his eyes weren’t just full of heat. Tenderness lit the yellow flecks in his soft brown eyes. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself.”
“Busy night. Need a hand?”
“I’ve got it all under control.”
“Well then.” A slow grin spread across his face. “I’m going to sit at the bar and see if the pretty bartender will go home with me tonight.”
Pleasure filled me. “Don’t get your hopes up. I heard she has a thing for nerds.”
He leaned close. “I have a thing for romance readers who like to act out scenes from their book.”
My cheeks grew hot and I glanced around. People were watching us, but they couldn’t hear. At least, I hoped they couldn’t. “Like the car scene?”
His gaze sharpened. “What car scene?”
“You’ll find out.” I bit my bottom lip and scurried away. When I peeked behind me, he was watching me through slitted eyes.
One of the delivery drivers walked in with his wife. He spotted Tenor. “Tenor! How’s it going?”
While Tenor was occupied, I busied myself behind the bar, mixing refills and new orders.
Tenor broke away from the new arrival and rounded the bar. He gestured to the four cocktails I was ready to deliver. “Want me to take these out or make a spiced old-fashioned and a huckleberry spritz?”
“I’ll get to mixing.” The locals loved talking to Tenor. I knew the feeling.
The couple I’d been talking to was in the latter crowd. They smiled and chatted with Tenor. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and slouched, as ever, trying to make the other party feel less intimidated. Instead of wanting to lord over others thanks to his size and authority, Tenor tried to diminish himself so others could shine.
He caught me looking at him and shot me a promising stare before returning his attention to the guests. Having him around made my already enjoyable shift better. For the next hour and a half, we worked together until the last customer left. Then we closed down the place.
“Whew,” I said, hanging the rag up. “That was a busy night.”
“Helps make up for the last two nights we were closed.” Tenor closed the tablet. He’d done all the books for me. It wasn’t my least favorite job, but I wouldn’t be applying for his position anytime soon.
“Did you cash out your tips?” When he gave me a hell no look, I grinned. “Some of those guys were tipping you, not me.”
“Owners don’t take tips. It’s the rules.”
It was not, but I had noticed that if any of the Baileys helped me, they gave me all the tips for the night.
He folded his arms and leaned against the counter. A muscle popped in his jaw and he got a faraway look in his eyes. He was no longer thinking about cashing out for the night.
“You have something on your mind?” I asked.
“Maybe.”
I waggled my fingers toward myself. “Hit me.”
“I’d rather spank you.”
Immediate heartbeat between my legs. “I don’t read those types of books.” Hmm . . . being turned over his knee? I’d already sat on his face. “Yet.”
“Christ, Ruby. I’ll have to wipe tonight’s tapes too if you keep that up.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Or the second.”
I grinned, but the heat in my belly swirled, lowered. Working was definitely more enjoyable with him. “So? What’s up?”
He paused for a second, then he tugged me to him. “Nothing. My mind was on work and not you. I need to fix that.”
I sank into his hold and leaned my head against his chest. He wasn’t being honest. Maybe whatever had been on his mind wasn’t my business.
It might not be, but couples talked.
I waited another moment. His strong heartbeat thumped under my cheek. I couldn’t worry about something small like this. I was reverting to the days when Brock would be moody. Usually, that type of moodiness preceded a dumping.
Tenor wasn’t Brock. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be dating him.
I leaned back and pressed a kiss against his hard jaw. “I hate to break the silence, but my mom is back in town.”
He turned into a two-by-four against me. “Oh yeah?”
“Dad’s hitting me up for a date to play.”
“Right.”
I pushed away, but he didn’t release me. I hadn’t upset him badly enough to let me go, but he hadn’t relaxed either. “You don’t have to—”
“I said I would,” he said gently. “Two weeks?”
“You need time to practice?” I teased. He was good at everything he did. If anything, he might let my parents win.
“I might need a refresher. I don’t want to be a bad partner.”
“You could never be.” I raised on my tiptoes and placed a kiss on his mouth.
His arms tightened around me, cinching me closer to him. “Two weeks. Saturday or Sunday, your choice. I’ll be there.” He kissed me again, lingering longer this time. “Now, what were you saying about a car scene from one of your books?”
