Page 33 of The Hometown Dilemma
At least I knew she’d said no to Austen. He’d told me what had happened on the night he should have taken her out. A part of me was disappointed in him for stringing her along in a professional capacity; she deserved more. But another part of me wasn’t disappointed things hadn’t worked out between them.
Whenever we worked together, a definite spark ignited. Shifts that would have dragged now flew by because she was there.
She brightened up my day simply by being around.
I hadn’t felt like that about her sister, or anyone else before.
The strength of my feelings surprised me. And, of course, I had no idea whether they were reciprocated.
“You and Wade make a good team, Jaime,” Mom said. “You always did back in college too.” Mom’s gaze darted between me and Jaime, a move that didn’t go unnoticed by me. It was almost as if she were willing us to be together.
Her smile grew. “Thanks, Violet, I think we do too.” She beamed at me. “So where do you want me?”
My mind went into overdrive.
Underneath me, coming apart as you cry out my name…
But I couldn’t let my personal thoughts intrude on such an important evening for my business life. No matter how much I wanted to.
* * *
When half time came,I couldn’t believe how much money we’d already taken. I’d done a quick till read, and our revenue so far easily outweighed what we had been doing on a good weekend. The beer and sides deal was a massive success and the kitchen could barely keep up. The two new servers rushed around the floor, taking orders and delivering food and drinks, while Jaime and I worked each end of the bar.
“Phew.” Jaime lifted the hair off the back of her neck, making me want to trail my fingertips along her collarbone. “I can’t believe how hot it is in here.” She rolled her head around, shaking out her shoulders. “I’ll sleep well tonight.”
“You’re doing an amazing job,” I said. “I can’t believe you managed to persuade that guy to buy a round of shots.”
She giggled and fluttered her eyelashes. “I have my ways.”
Jaime didn’t need to persuade me with her ways, I was already gone.
“How’s it going?” Austen’s voice cut into our conversation.
We both swiveled around. Jaime glared at him, then went to her section of the bar.
“Think that tells you all you need to know, buddy.” I popped the top off a bottle of beer and handed it to him. “Shouldn’t have lied to her.”
He took a long swig. “I’m over it. Clearly she isn’t.” He snorted.
“You shouldn’t have messed with her career like that though. Imagine if someone had done the same thing to you when you were starting out.” I glanced over at Jaime, where she and Dad were seemingly engrossed in a conversation, Dad pointing up at the nearest screen as the Panthers scored another touchdown. It looked like they might end the game with a win, which would be a fitting way to finish this evening.
“Not everything comes easy, Wade. You, of all people, should know that.” Austen grabbed one of the flyers, casting his eyes across this evening’s food offers. “Hit me with some sliders and another beer.”
I did as he said, any further discussion of what had happened between him and Jaime shut down.
Never had I known the second half of a game to last for so long. The game swung back and forth between the two sides, first the Panthers gaining a lead, then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The bar buzzed with every emotion around the game: loud cheers when the Panthers scored and sighs and boos when the Buccaneers did. Every high and low resonated through me as I served more and more drinks, keeping everyone happy.
When the whistle finally went for the end of the game, the Panthers had been victorious. I wanted to celebrate, letting everyone in the bar have a free drink, but I didn’t want to damage my profits. If we could replicate this every Monday – and maybe on some Sundays too – I could do it in the future.
During the course of the game, the weather had steadily been getting worse, but I hadn’t noticed given how busy we’d been.
By the end of the night, I watched everyone sheltering from the heavy rain as they left. Looked like Dad had been right after all. Eventually, the only ones of us left were me, Jaime, Dad, Mom, and two of the waitresses, Terri and Melinda. I made sure the girls had a safe way to get home, waiting until they had been picked up by their respective Ubers.
“Make sure you both get home safely,” Mom said, pulling on her overcoat. “I don’t want to have to come and visit you in the hospital because you’ve flipped the car on its roof.”
“Thanks, Mom. Good to know you’ve got faith in my driving.”
Jaime peered out of the window, a worried expression crossing her face. “I don’t like driving in this kind of weather. I’m scared of doing exactly what you said, Violet.”
