Page 46 of Forever & Always You
Austin stifles a laugh and crosses his arms on the bar as he gets comfortable. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Buck watching me from across the room, and that’s my reminder to keep myself in check and be nice to the customers before I slip into my old habits of losing my temper with them.
“Bear with me,” I mouth to Austin, because as much as I’d love to stand around and catch up, I’m in the middle of my busiest shift of the week and I can’t be caught slacking. I’m on thin ice already, and I doubt Buck would be keen to give me a third chance if I screw this up again.
The vodka is down to its final dregs, so I make my way down the bar to fetch a new bottle, squeezing past Carly. “That’s him,” I hiss under my breath. “That’s Austin.”
Carly looks up from the cash register, instantly spots the gorgeous man whose eyes are trained on me, and swoons. “Yeah, I’d let him throw it down with me on a desk, too.”
“Carly!” I whack her arm as I laugh.
“It’s quiet down this end of the bar. I’ve got you covered for five minutes,” she says, plucking the bottle of vodka from my hands and cracking open the seal. “Who are you taking care of?”
“Who do you think?”
Carly groans and I follow her back down the bar. She sees to the divorcee demanding her double vodka, and I see to Austin.
“Hi,” I say, pressing my hands to the edge of the bar, locking out my elbows and leaning forward. “I can talk for five.”
“I like watching you work,” Austin says, gaze smoldering so dreamily, my knees buckle. “You look cute with your little apron.”
“You’re so distracting,” I say with a quick roll of my eyes, but I’m blushing and there’s no hiding it.
The weekend I spent with Austin felt like such a fever dream, so surreal with a thousand different emotions at play, that I worried with some distance, he’d see clarity and decide he still does, in fact, despise me to the bone. But now he’s here in the dive bar where I work, flirting, and it’s like one giant sigh of relief.
“Is this weird?” Austin asks. “That I drove here just to see you? Because now I’m thinking maybe it’s weird.”
“It’s not weird,” I say.
“Obsessive?”
I smile. “Possibly.”
Austin groans and lowers his head onto his folded arms on the bar. “You see what you’re doing to me, Gabby? Turning me to fucking mush,” he mumbles. “How embarrassing.”
“Is this jackass having a mental breakdown?” the biker next to Austin mutters, eyeballing him in concern.
Austin lifts his head. “If I am, you can blame her,” he responds, playfully gesturing toward me.
“Come with me,” I say with a pointed nod to the end of the bar.
I leave the entire bar full of customers in the semi-capable hands of Carly and meet Austin down by the hatch. I dip underneath and straighten up in front of him. I glance at my watch. It’s nearing midnight.
“Last call’s at two, so I’ll probably be clear around three,” I explain. “If you want to hang out and have some drinks until then, you’re welcome to stay at my place tonight. There’s not much space, but I promise the plumbing is rock-solid.” A smile teeters onto my lips, hopeful that he’ll accept the invite.
“In that case,” Austin says, “can you grab me a beer?”
“My boss is currently watching us, soof course I’ll get you a beer, darling.”
“Darling,” Austin repeats, testing the word on his lips. “I like that.”
My cheeks heat up again, so I disappear under the hatch and resume working the bar with Carly. Austin slinks into the stool he left and I slide a beer over to him. He opens a tab and gets comfortable as I try my damn hardest to get back into a working rhythm, but it’s seriously difficult with such a gorgeous human watching my every move. Every time I pop open a new beer for him, he tips me ten dollars.
“Can you stop?”
Austin raises an eyebrow as he takes a swig of his beer. “Admiring you?”
“Tipping me so much,” I say, throwing his ten-dollar bill back at him. “A buck is fine. It’s just a beer. All I do is pop the cap.”
“But you do it so attractively,” he flirts, pushing the bill back toward me. “You’re working hard, and I’m enjoying watching you work hard, so let me tip you to show some appreciation.”
