Page 33 of Kiss and Tell
I tried not to let panic overtake me. Did Jessie know? Did she suspect? Had Connor told her after all?
“We get along well,” was all I said.
The door to the back room swung open. A tall, barrel-chested man with bulging arm muscles walked out — Walt, I presumed — followed by Connor.
Walt saw me at the bar with Jessie and gave me a single, silent nod of acknowledgement. I nodded back with a friendly smile, but before I could introduce myself, he had already turned to the sink to wash dishes, relieving Jessie, who started to collect empty glasses from the tables.
Walt was a man of few words, it seemed.
When Connor caught sight of me he looked surprised, then wary. He wore his leather jacket, hiding his muscled upper arms. I forced myself to shove down the disappointment. Another part of me couldn’t help but whisper that Connor was just as attractive covered up in leather as he was in a plain t-shirt.
I remembered his comment about seeing him on stage in leather pants and eyeliner. I squirmed at the thought. That kind of pretty boy look had never been my thing, but I had a feeling Connor would be able to pull it off and look sexy as hell while doing so.
Connor was sexy as hell no matter what he wore.
I scolded myself for letting myself travel down that path yet again. Yes, Connor was attractive. He made my heart squeeze in my chest and made heat flare between my legs. None of that mattered. I could ignore it. I had to ignore it.
If only he didn’t make it so damn difficult by simply existing.
“Time for our meeting already?” Connor asked.
“Did you forget about it?” I replied.
“Got a lot on my mind,” he said.
When Connor took his seat, he made sure to leave an appropriate amount of space between us. No bumping our knees together. No leaning close enough for me to smell that spicy aftershave of his.
For a moment I contemplated scooting my own bar stool forward to catch a whiff of that leather and spice scent.
I had to get it together.
“You’ve got something more to show me?” he asked.
I pulled out more sketches from my bag and laid them out. The bar counter was sticky, but these were drafts so I didn’t mind getting the papers a little dirty.
“I took what you told me the other night and incorporated your thoughts into a new design,” I told him. “Take a look.”
Connor peeled one of the sketches from the bar, examining it closely.
“I like this,” he said. “It looks modern, but not in that pretentious art-house way. It’s got this kind of low-key rugged vibe, but it doesn’t look like a man cave or lumberjack’s cabin. And it’s cool in that sort of leather jacket and motorcycle kind of way but it doesn’t look like a biker bar. It’s… perfect.”
I couldn’t help the pleased smile from crossing my face.
“The light fixtures are great,” he continued. “I love the dark wood bar counter. You think we can find stuff that actually looks like this?”
I pulled out some pieces I’d torn out of a magazine catalogue.
“We can get them from this place,” I told him. “This company sells decor exactly like that.”
His eyes lit up in much the same way I’d been hoping for. My heart glowed in my chest, feeling squirming as joy flooding through me.
“You approve?” I asked.
“I do,” he said. “If the bar ends up looking similar to this, it’s going to be one awesome place.”
A sense of accomplishment rose in my chest as I suppressed the urge to wiggle in my seat with joy.
“You look happy,” Connor said. “Are you relieved I’ve finally chosen a design?”
