Page 15 of With a Grain of Salt

I snort at the clipboard he's holding out for me.

"What is this? An exit interview?"

I pull the clipboard from his hand, already annoyed, but that irritation is replaced with confusion when I look down atit.

"An application?"

"And the W-4 under it. I need both on record."

"I already completed the application."

He pulls in a deep breath and I do my best to focus on his face rather than the way the inhalation makes his chest expand under his t-shirt.

"I can't find it," he says, pointing to the mess on his desk. "If you want to get paid, fill it out again."

I pull the stack of papers from the chair he offered and place them on top of another pile on his desk. At least the man tries to hide his smugness when I take the seat he initially offered.

I spend the next ten minutes completing the required forms, all the while still wondering if he's going to hand me my paycheck and tell me never to come back.

"We only do direct deposit," he says when I hand the clipboard back to him. "I'll need a voided check."

"No one has checks anymore," I tell him. "Besides, I don't have a checking account."

"Did you have a conversation with Maggie? Do you know how much it complicates things to be paid through CashApp or freaking Venmo?"

"I don't have those either."

He narrows his eyes at me. "I'm not paying you under the table. I could lose my liquor license."

"I'm not asking you to. A paper check will be fine."

He looks like he wants to argue with me, but he doesn't open his mouth.

"Are we done?"

He licks his lips before nodding, and I make a hasty escape.

Instead of fighting the temptation to stick around and make a few suggestions about what the man could do with that mouth of his, I bolt for the door and head to the Kennedys to pick up Larkin. I need the reminder of who my life revolves around right now, and it sure as hell isn't the local bar owner. I need this job more than I'll ever need a little below-the-belt relief.

Chapter 7

Walker

I pull in a deep breath as I tug open the door to Fondante's Inferno. Adalynn Tate is a very sweet woman, but there are also times she can be a little spiteful. I never know which one I'm going to get.

I stop dead in my tracks when I see Cash Tucker there with his arms wrapped around her.

It seems the rumors I've heard whispered at the bar are true.

"Look at the two of you," I say, when even the chime above the door doesn't pull their attention from each other.

Adalynn bites her lower lip, her cheeks turning pink when Cash refuses to take a step back even though she must feel like that would be best.

My smile triples when Cash shifts, standing behind her and resting his hands intimately on her lower stomach.

"So, you two are like a thing now?"

"We've always been a thing," Cash confirms, his face the perfect image of a man in love.

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