Page 84 of Boyfriend of the Hour
He sipped on his drink and just smiled wide enough to show two of his fillings.
I sighed. Tom was at the other end of the bar, clearly watching the whole episode and distinctly making sure I wasn’t about to comp his nicest liquor to one of my admirers. And I wasn’t, either. I made that mistake on my very first night. Ended up spending my whole paycheck in an hour.
“I—do you want to—it’s about?—”
God, I hated the way he made me stumble over my words, like I was ten again, struggling to read in front of my class. Ibarely did this anymore. Not even when customers had me check the math on their tab.
“Spit it out, Sunshine,” Shawn said with another knowing grin. “You know I hate it when you stutter.”
My face burned. “I?—”
“I don’t mind it.”
We both turned to Nathan, who was swirling his drink meditatively.
“A stutter,” he clarified. “It doesn’t bother me at all.”
His chocolatey eyes were so open and kind, and I wanted to dive into them just to escape this horrible bar. This horrible person beside him.
Again, however, I shook my head with a silent message.Don’t.
Nathan’s brow crinkled slightly, but he didn’t say anything more.
“The drink, Shawn,” I mumbled. “It’s—it’s expensive, so I can’t c-comp you. My, um, boss is right there, and he’ll dock my wages.”
Shawn looked over at Tom, then rolled his eyes. “Is that all? Fine, what do I owe you? Twenty?”
I sighed again. It was just like him. Play the nice guy but take advantage where he could. Shawn always loved a good “connection.”
“It’s a hundred dollars a pour,” Nathan supplied. “One twenty with tip.”
Shawn turned, and his gaze took in Nathan’s arms and shoulders, and I enjoyed the way it kept going up several inches as if he only just realized how big Nathan really was.
I took particular pleasure in the fact that, after their eyes met, Shawn looked away first.
“Thanks,” he said stiffly. “But Joni’s my girl. She’ll hook me up.”
Nathan turned back to me, his expression sharper now. “That’s right. He’s your boyfriend.”
“It’s complicated,” I murmured. I didn’t know what else to say.
“That’s one way to put it.” Shawn chuckled like I’d just said something funny.
Nathan looked like he wanted to take him by the collar and throw him out of the bar.
“The-the scotch?” I continued sputtering like a broken speed boat. “It is, um, actually really expensive, like Nathan said—so I can’t give you a discount, see, and?—?”
God, why was everything out of my mouth suddenly a question?
“Joni.”
I turned toward Nathan’s deep voice, calm and velvety. He nodded toward the card in my hand.
“Just add it to my tab,” he said. “I don’t want it to come out of your wages.”
I blinked. “How did you know that it would…”
“You just mentioned it,” he replied, then tapped a finger on the pocket of his scrubs, where he’d tucked the list. “And you told me before. ‘Listen, even if you think it doesn’t matter,’ right?”
