Page 29 of The Hometown Dilemma
Jaime’s eyes sparkled. She rounded the bar to join me. Reaching for a glass, she went to the tap, tilted it, then turned on the pump. Slowly moving the glass back to an upright position, she placed it on the surface. A triumphant smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
“Looks like I still can.”
Austen reached over and swiped the glass. “I should probably test it to make sure it tastes okay.” He took a long swig, smacking his lips together. “Mmm, that’s good.” He glanced over at me. “On the house as it was part of the training session, right?”
“Prick,” I hissed.
He laughed, then turned to Jaime. “I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow night, Jaime? And if not, can I take you out for dinner? To make up for the Moira situation?”
She blinked and I almost did the same. Looked like I would be backing off, unless she turned him down…
“Gosh, um, yes, that would be lovely.”
Shit.
“Great.” Austen grinned, then slid a twenty across the bar towards her. “Here, this is your first tip.”
I was offended on her behalf. Seriously, how could he do that?
She smiled tightly. “Thanks. I guess I’ll put it towards dinner tomorrow night.”
“No need. It’s all on me.” He winked. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Sure, looking forward to it.”
Austen leaned across the bar and slapped my upper arm. “See you later, buddy. Have a good shift,” he directed towards Jaime.
After he left, I let out a hard exhale. Sure, he was my best friend, but he acted like a total dick at times. But if that’s who Jaime wanted to date, then who was I to stand in her way? Something rippled in my chest, making it tighten. After a moment, I realized it must be the green-eyed monster rearing its head.
The shift dragged, but with Jaime with me it seemed to be more tolerable. I watched her moving around the bar, going from table to table with ease as if her last shift there had been last week not some eight years ago. Since I’d realized it earlier, the thought of her going on a date with Austen still rankled me. Now that I’d recognized my feelings for her, I wasn’t sure how to take the next step. Usually, I had no issues in asking women out, but throw in my history with Cami and whatever might happen between Jaime and Austen, and I stalled. Given I was technically her boss, would that also make things between us difficult?
I huffed out a long, hard exhale.
“You okay?” Jaime came to a stop opposite me, the bar between us. She ran a hand over her ponytail, the glossy brown length slapping against her shoulder.
“Mmm.” I tapped the notebook in front of me. “Trying to think of some ideas for the reopening.”
She drew her bottom lip between her teeth, and I couldn’t help but stare. Suddenly, all I could think of was running my own lips over hers, wrapping her long hair around my hand and pulling her towards me. Thank God for the protection of the bar as the thoughts made my dick stir.
“I didn’t realize you were planning a full-on reopening.” She tilted her head to one side, as if trying to think of suggestions.
In doing so, all she was giving me was ideas. None of which had to do with the reopening.
“We should do something special. Like really make a big deal out of it. Otherwise, what’s the point? It’s a pretty radical change for the bar to show games, so I want to make sure we tell customers it’s a regular thing, not a one off.”
Jaime leaned over and rested her elbow on the bar before planting her chin on the upturned palm of her hand. “Every Monday will be game night, right? We can get posters and flyers made up, make sure they’re distributed around town. And do some teasers on your social media.”
I winced. Dempsey’s social media was deader than Myspace. In fact, I didn’t remember the last time I’d even posted anything on there. Probably something about welcoming in the New Year – about two years ago. But I guessed if I wanted to attract the college kids I had to move with the times and get more active on there. The other bars in town probably were. Seriously, I was acting more like my dad about this, rather than a thirtysomething who should have been more down with the kids.
“Maybe you can do a meal deal or something? You know, come watch the game and get a burger and a beer for five dollars.”
“Yeah, but Sonny would kill me if he had to cook a shit ton of burgers and only charged less than five dollars for them.” Sonny should probably be involved in this type of discussion, but it was his night off and he wouldn’t trust his second in command to make the decision on his behalf. I wouldn’t either.
“How about a beer and potato skins? Or wings? Then you could still charge normal price for the burgers?”
Jaime’s suggestions made complete sense. It was almost as if she’d been working in the restaurant industry her whole life rather than interior design. As if reading my thoughts, she went on.
“A few of the bars in New York did that. I spent many a Sunday and Monday night on dates debating whether to have loaded fries or chili wings.”
