Page 35 of The Fixer

“That’s okay. Theotherbartender will take care of me. He’s cuter anyway.”

Lauren tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I call bullshit. Charlie’s the cute one.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake!He checked his watch. He still had an hour of awkward ahead of him.

From the end of the bar, Shane gave him a satanic grin, and Charlie slid his middle finger alongside his nose. Shane answered with two on either side of his, then blew him a kiss. Ah, the beauty of the silent insult exchange.

Charlie slid another discreet look Joy’s way. The notebook was open again, and her head was down, her eyes glued to the contents. His curiosity surged right before a really bad idea struck him. If hedidtake her to Doro, he’d escape Bea’s niece and Lauren’s tentacles. Germaine’s too. He’d also get his chance to fill Joy in on Carl Weatherly,and—bonus—the drive there might nudge her to fall in love with the area. If she fell in love, she might see the Crystal Harmony Haven potential through a rose-colored lens instead of a scratchy one. It would be on the up-and-up, purely professional. Just a local contractor showing his client the sights, broadening her horizons. Yeah. Right. He’d never shown a client “the sights” in his life.

As if she felt his eyes on her, she raised her head. He smiled. She frowned.

“I’m waiting,” she snapped.

“For?”

“Check?”

Oh, right.

“Charlieee,” Germaine cooed. “I’m not doing anything Saturday night.”

“Busy right now.”And Saturday night.

He tapped the surface of the POS, stuffed Joy’s bill in a check holder, and handed it to her. She was ready with a credit card, damn it. As she slid it into the folder, he made his move. “The drive to Doro is really spectacular. It’d be a great way to see—”

“Are you asking me out?” Those tawny eyes drilled into his.

Oh hell no!

He felt other sets of eyes on him too and guessed they belonged to Germaine and Lauren.Great! Nothing like having an audience watch while I flounder.Not to mention being faced with the lesser of three evils.

At least Joy wouldn’t paw at him. There were advantages to being the target of someone’s disgust.

He dropped his voice and his head at the same time. “Not on a date. I’m just offering to show you around San Juan County, give you a feel for the area.” God, was he really this desperate?

Her lips curled into a humorless smile, and he suddenly knew what a fly felt like when it got stuck in a spider’s web. He tugged on the neck of his T-shirt. She stunned him stupid when she accepted.

“Sure, I’ll go. On one condition.”

“Which is?”

“I drive.”

“Mytruck?” Sheesh, she wanted a lot.

She rolled her eyes. “No. I want to take the Beamer for a spin.”

“Aw, sweet!” Micky chortled. So much for being discreet. How many people were listening in anyway? “Can I come?”

“No!” Charlie and Joy barked at the same time.

“Okay, okay!” Micky took a swig of his brew.

At least Joy and Charlie agreed on one thing. That was a start, and so was Saturday night.

He picked up the check folder and pointed it at her. “Hang on. Saturday’s five days away. Thought you weren’t going to be here that long?”

A few heads turned from her to him and back to her, like a tennis match. He ignored them.

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