Page 16 of Jett in Jeopardy

“Wait for me upstairs. I’ll be up when I’m done, and then we’ll finish what we started.”

He smiled again, bright and pleased, without the sultry promise of a few minutes ago, but genuine and somehow more endearing. Something tightened in my chest, but I paid the sensation no attention.

“Do I go the same way as last night?” He nodded to the corridor that led to the rear exit.

“Yeah. I’ll be up as soon as I can. And this isn’t an invitation to go through my shit.”

His brows lifted. “Of course not. What kind of person do you think I am?”

The fact that I couldn’t say for sure was probably proof that I shouldn’t be just handing over the keys to my apartment, but the more I thought about him in my space, waiting for me, the more I liked it.

He turned and maneuvered through the crowd before disappearing down the back hall. I went back to making drinks. Most nights that were busy like this went by in a blur, but tonight the hours crawled. Despite time having nearly come to a stop, the night was without drama. No fights. No one throwing up in the bathrooms. No one was so drunk they couldn’t leave on their own. Though, to be fair, I was usually careful not to over-serve, so it was rare that I had to deal with anyone as drunk as Jett had been last night—which made it even more unusual that he had wound up so incoherent.

Later, after last call and the initial rush at the bar, The Dunes finally started to clear out. Not fast enough, though. It took almost everything I had not to shove some customers still lingering out the door.

“You seem restless tonight,” Cilla said, fighting a smirk. “Kind of like you got somewhere to be.” I glanced over at her, where she was leaning against the bar. Her short black hair, streaked with purple, was standing up at a weird angle as if she’d just run her fingers through it.

I offered her a noncommittal shrug before folding my arms over my chest and glaring at the half-dozen college students still seated around one table near the front of the bar. Even though the lights were up and the music off, they didn’t look like they had any intention of going anywhere, anytime soon.

“Or someone iswaitingfor you,” she persisted, earning a sharp look from me. She grinned outright. “You didn’t think I missed you sending Jett out through the back, did you?”

“I had hoped you hadn't,” I admitted, but I obviously should have known better. Nothing went on around here that Cilla didn’t know about.

“So, how long has that been going on?”

I shot her hard a look. “There’s nothing going on.”

“Really? So, you just sent a guy who’s been panting after you for years up to your place to do what? Charades? Parcheesi?”

I rolled my eyes. “Parcheesi? Howoldare you?”

“Old enough to know you’re full of shit.”

I grit my teeth. I had no desire to talk about what was going on with Jett with anyone, especially when I hadn’t quite wrapped my own head around what exactly we were doing. Not that it mattered at this point. It was taking so long for me to get out of here, Jett would probably be asleep by the time I got up there, and there’d be a whole lot of nothing happening tonight.

I turned back to watch Damien herding the last of the lingerers out and lock the door behind them. I turned back to the bar to begin the usual end-of-night routine.

“Why don’t you go on up? Damien and I can close up tonight,” Cilla offered.

“I can’t ask you to do that. You both covered for melastnight.”

“First, you didn’t ask. I offered,” she said, shooting me a pointed look. “Second, you know that you’re the boss, right? We work for you.”

All the more reason for me to finish closing myself. Besides, cleaning up at the end of the night was a lot of work for three people—and even more for two. “That doesn’t mean I dump shit I don’t want to do to you two.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not taking advantage. You can owe us. Besides, it’s going to be hard for me and Damien to talk about you behind your back if you’re here.”

I stiffened. The prospect of anyone speculating about what Jett and I were doing a cold sweat to my skin and left me a little nauseous.

My panic must have been visible. Cilla let out an exasperated sigh and threw up her hands. “Holy crap! I was kidding. Now, go. Have fun. You deserve it.”

Jett wasn’t the first person I’d fucked since Ryan, but I had never seen Cilla so encouraging about me getting laid before. Admittedly, she probably hadn’t known about the others. I’d never let them into my home before Jett.

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” I told her. “One of you can leave early tomorrow night and the other next weekend. I’ll let you two work out who goes when.”

“Yeah, fine,” she said, shoving me toward the exit. “Have fun.”

Shaking my head, I left the bar and hurried upstairs. Inside my apartment, the lights in the living room were on, but there was no sign of Jett. Had he got bored waiting and left? Disappointment rolled through me, leaving me with a dull, sinking feeling.

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