Page 3 of Bartender's Surprise Baby

“It’s one of my best features.” At least, that’s what I’ve been told.

Rob shook her head and studied me carefully while I waited for her receipt to print. She pulled out a bill and set it between us. “Your smile is great, but you don’t smile enough for it to qualify as your best feature.”

Heat suffused my body when I looked up and saw the naked appreciation in her eyes. Curiosity got the better of me. “Then tell me, what is my best feature?”

She tapped her chin, as if she was thinking, when I knew she already had an answer. “Eyes first. That shade of green, a mix of emerald and forest green, is the kind that a girl could get lost in. And with those lashes? Pretty irresistible.”

I realized I was having fun with her. “Why do I hear a ‘but’ coming?”

“Because, Levi, you are a very smart man.”

“And you are trying to get out of answering the question.”

She feigned shock. “Never!”

“Then answer the question.”

“Fine.” She looked me over again. “Your arms. You wear the hell out of a flannel, and you seem to have an endless supply of them, which is awesome because…arms.” She waved in the general direction of my arms. “There’s a hint of a tattoo on your left arm when the sleeve pulls, and they just look really…,” she didn’t finish the sentence, and I was dying to know.

“Hot?”

“Yummy,” she supplied instead.

My dick stood up and took notice of that compliment. Curious to see what else she had to say, I flicked the buttons and rolled up my sleeves for her. The gasp was satisfying as hell, but the way she leaned over the bar with heat and interest in her eyes was hella hot.

Rob reached over to trace the skull with the flowers growing out of it and then pulled back. “Sorry, that was a little intrusive of me. Well, I’m kind of sorry, but maybe you’ll tell me about them someday?” The question in her gaze caught me off guard. Was there a world in which a beautiful, leggy woman like her was ever rejected?

I licked my lips. Heat filled my entire body from this hour-long chat with Rob. I couldn’t believe my lips were forming the words until they were out of my mouth, but, fuck, Rob was gorgeous, fun, and smart. What was a red-blooded man supposed to do? “How about now?”

Those green eyes—jade green, I realized once I turned on the lights—rounded comically, and I wondered if I misread thisconversation. Maybe she was just a sad woman in need of a few drinks until she was comfortably numb.

I held my breath for what felt like an eternity, waiting for the rejection that was sure to come.

3ROB

Levi was smooth, I’d give him that. And he wasn’t smooth in that smarmy, greasy kind of way. Oh no, he was smooth like expensive whiskey, or really good tequila.

“You want to tell me about your tattoos…now?” I smacked a hand over my face because I sounded like an idiot.

Levi though? Completely unfazed by my doofus-ness. “Yeah, I’d like to. If that’s cool with you.”

My smile came instantly.If that’s cool with you. It was such a cool guy thing to say, wasn’t it? More importantly,wasit cool with me? It was. Hell yeah it was.

“You know what Levi? It is cool with me.” If he was asking what I thought he was, and let’s be honest, he was—then I was totally on board with that. It had been far too long since I had a one night stand, years in fact, and I was a bit rusty, but I was pretty sure he was sending out the signals I was receiving.

His lips curled up and those dimples popped under his beard, which sent my heart into overdrive. “Yeah, okay. Let’s go.” He pushed the front door open and waved me along before locking it behind us. “I’ll drive.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” I laughed nervously and let him help me into his dark Bronco. “This is a classic.”

“Yeah? You know about cars?”

I laughed and the engine roared to life. “Hardly, but my dad restored one of these when I was a kid and sometimes I helped. Well, by help I mean I grabbed tools and held flashlights.”

“Still counts as help,” he shot back. “So what do you think?”

“This baby has been restored properly, and it’s nice.” I nestled into the seat a little more. “Very nice. You do it yourself?”

“Nah, but yeah, it’s been restored.” His big hands caressed the steering wheel and I felt myself shiver. It was such a loving, affectionate gesture that it made me think he’d be a generous lover.

---