Page 65 of Royally Lucky

She looked at him. Taking in his pot belly, she let her eyes wander to his feet. She smiled at the pair of loafers he wore, swearing her grandpa had a similar set in the twenties, and then she glanced back at the top of his head. The man had perfected the combover. “Frank, while I love you dearly, I could whoop your ass on my worst day. Besides, you wouldn’t know what to do with all this.”

Blair waved her hand down her side. Tonight, she had on a pair of faded denim jeans with a few rips in the knee that were put there through wear not fashion. They were the most comfortable pair she owned, matched with a red and white flannel shirt over a red bodysuit. It was freaking Christmas, after all. Black combat boots completed her festive as fuck outfit.

“Not many men can, girl. If you don’t watch it, you’ll become an old spinster like Harriett. Mark my words.” Frank snorted.

Blair slid past Frank so she could make her way out to the bar. As he said, the place she called her second home could get rowdy, especially on Christmas, and people wanted to get away from their families.

“Jinx, I’m so freaking happy to see you.” Fred held his arms open, knowing she didn’t allow others to touch her without permission.

She walked into his arms and gave a brief hug before stepping back. “I hear it’s already been crazy today.”

Fred sighed. “You know my dad. He thinks the place is hopping if there are more than a dozen patrons.”

Jinx turned to the cooler, needing to make sure she fully stocked it before the evening rush. “I’m going to grab a couple more cases to stack off to the side. We good on everything else?”

Fred scrunched up his face, rattled off a couple of things, and then she left him to get other necessities.

By the time the evening crowd started filing in, Frank moved to help Blair and Fred serve drinks. Their two waitresses were working their asses off, but Blair saw they didn’t have a problem keeping up.

She looked at the time, groaning. “We really should’ve closed at midnight instead of one-thirty.”

Fred laughed as he noticed it was almost midnight. They still had over an hour and a half to work, and the idiots in the bar all appeared to think drinking was an Olympic sport.

“Jinx, do you see that table in the corner over there?” Taeloree asked, pointing toward the section near the dart boards.

Blair filled a glass of draft beer from Taeloree’s order as she eyed the twelve-seater table. “Yeah, I see them. What’s up?”

“They want to know if you’re single. Specifically, the guy in the sweater vest who looks like a cross between Glenn Powell and Kellen Lutz.” Jamie stood on her tiptoes and leaned over the bar, whispering near Blair’s ear. “If you decide to give it a go, you gotta give me all the deets.”

She shook her head. “Sorry, Jamie, I will not be giving any of them a go. Tell them I’m in my lesbian era.”

Fred gasped. “Girl, that is like waving a red flag at a raging bull. They’ll be waging bets on who can turn you strictly dickly again.”

Blair finished with Jamie’s orders. “Here you go, hun. Tell them I’m with him.” She hiked her thumb toward Fred.

Fred, being the fool she loved, tossed his head back and laughed. “Right. I’m sure they’ll all believe that.”

She rolled her eyes but moved down the counter to wait on the next customer. There wasn’t time in her life for a man. Her mother had taught her well what needing one could and would do for a woman.

Over the next hour, she and Fred worked their asses off until finally they said last call. Taeloree and Jamie rushed to get their orders in and out, wanting to keep everyone happy.

“I can’t believe we made it through an entire evening without one fight,” Jamie exclaimed.

Blair and Fred froze. Taeloree dropped her tray. It was an unwritten, unspoken saying that you didn’t mention the word fight in a bar. You definitely didn’t say one didn’t happen, or you would invite said fight to occur.

“What? What did I say?” Jamie asked, spinning in a circle.

The music played at a low decibel as the DJ began shutting down for the night, ensuring those nearby heard her little announcement.

“You are not the brightest bulb in the pack, are you?” Cheryl, a regular, asked.

Jamie glared at her, then at Blair. “How rude. All I said was—”

Taeloree slapped her hand over the other girl’s lips before she could utter the same words again.

“Jamie, have you ever heard of jinxing? That is literally what you just did,” Fred muttered.

The girl’s eyes widened.

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