Page 71 of Challenged by the Single Dad

“Fine. Remove the gimlet and put down Caesar,” he grumbled as he started to help Jillian with the teas and coffees for the Sewing Circle.

Renée glanced up at him, beaming. He’d never seen her eyes so twinkly as they were today. “Really? It’s that easy?”

“Keep talking and I’ll change my mind again.”

Her eyebrows lifted quickly. “Okay. Mouth closed.” Then she finished the board and took it outside to the covered entrance of the pub.

By twelve thirty the place was buzzing. And Logan fit right in. He was efficient. He was clean. He was personable. So far, no red flags were waving in the wind in front of Dom’s face.

But it’d only been a few hours. So as much as he hoped his cousin was the real deal and a blessing sent from the universe, Dom continued to reserve judgement a little longer.

It helped that Logan was also nice looking. Several young women who came in for lunch ogled and flirted with him. He’d definitely take home some decent tips.

Even though they were busy all day, and Dom really didn’t have time to think about Chloe, he still did. Endlessly.

Every time someone ordered a Caesar, he was instantly transported back to the cash room. Then his dick would twitch in his jeans, his heart would pound, and his fingers would tingle with the need to touch her.

Four o’clock could not come fast enough. Because then he’d get to see her again.

Would he be able to keep his hands to himself?

They agreed—after their third time—never again. They got it out of their system and needed to just be friends. It was too messy, too complicated, toowrongfor them to continue

Only, she wasn’t out of his system at all. If anything, she was deeper under his skin than ever.

It was two thirty and the place had slowed down as it normally did until the dinner rush. Typically, one of the servers went home for a few hours, pulling a split shift, only to return later for the dinner hour. Today was Renée’s turn to disappear for a bit.

“You did well for you first shift,” she said to Logan, stashing her apron and grabbing her purse. “This wasn’t your first rodeo as a bartender, was it?”

Logan smiled big and wide. “No. I used to bartend at a night club back in Boston.”

Her cheeks colored up in a cute way. “Cool. Well … I guess I’ll see you later, Logan from Boston.”

If Logan had a tail, it would have been wagging. “See you later, Renée from …”

“Spokane,” she said, rivaling his big smile with an enormous one of her own as she backed away to the front door, all googly eyed.

“She’s cute,” Logan said, once Renée was gone. “What’s her deal?”

Dom shrugged. “No idea. She had a boyfriend a few weeks ago, but I haven’t heard her mention him in a while.”

“They broke up,” Jillian said, coming to stand in front of the POS machine.

Dom grunted.

“You know who you remind me of?” Jillian asked, addressing Dom. “Besides not having a British accent, you sound—and act—a lot like Roy Kent fromTed Lasso. The growling, the grunting, the husky voice. And the overall grumpy attitude.”

Logan nodded, his smile wide and goofy. “Oh my god. A hundred percent. You are the American version of Roy Kent.”

Dom had watchedTed Lassoand wasn’t inclined to agree. He growled and glared at the two young people, which only made them both chuckle.

He was about to roll his eyes when an idea popped into his head.

He didn’t want to wait until four o’clock to see Chloe. And although he knew they were trying to just be friends, maybe he needed to make a solid effort atbeingher friend. And friends helped each other, right? They had each other’s backs.

“You two okay here if I duck out for like an hour?” he asked. “I need to run a quick errand.”

Logan shrugged. “I think so. It’s pretty quiet.”

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