Page 27 of It's Only Love

On the drive back to the bar she noticed Beau kept glancing over at her.

“Everything okay?” she asked when he did it for the fifth time.

“Just, that stuff Dean was saying, it’s not true. I don’t even know why he brought it up. I really don’t do this...go out with loads of women. I don’t have much experience. I mean, I am experienced, just not as much as he made out. God, I’m making this worse,” he groaned, and she laughed.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t bother me.” Why would she be bothered, she didn’t care how many women he’d been with as she wasn’t looking for anything serious. He seemed to relax a bit.

“I just don’t know why he would say that is all.”

I do, she thought. “Maybe he thought he was being funny or just teasing you.”

“Yeah, maybe. He is a funny guy, he’s a great guy actually, never met anyone better than Dean. I tried to pay for dinner, but he wouldn’t let me, he’s too kind sometimes. I can’t complain I guess, that’s paid off for me in the past, I honestly don’t know where I would be without him,” he gushed.

“What makes you say that?” she asked quizzically, suddenly desperate to hear the end of that story.

“Ah, we’re here. They beat us back,” he said, ignoring her question. Beau parked the car, and they went inside the bar. It was busy again, being a Saturday night, but she guessed that was no surprise. There were lots of couples sitting and chatting or dancing to the music blaring from the jukebox. She saw Taylor at the bar and led Beau over.

“Dean went to the bathroom, but he’s ordered you a root beer,” Taylor said to Beau and then turned away sharply, dismissing him.

“I’m gonna go choose some songs, anything you wanna hear?” Beau asked, she shook her head.

“I’m good with whatever you choose,” she replied, he smiled at her and walked off. She turned back to Taylor.

“Before I forget, how much do I owe you for yesterday?” she asked. Kayleigh put Taylor’s drink in front of her, Taylor snatched it and slurped noisily from the straw instead of answering. Christy stared at her until she finished.

“Don’t worry about it.” Taylor shrugged.

“I don’t think so Tay, I owe for the space, the food, and the bar staff at least. Let alone any money you lost not having your normal customers in!”

“Are you kidding? There were loads of people here, I didn’t lose money. Anyway, it’s fine, it’s been taken care of,” Taylor said, not meeting her eye.

“Well as sweet as that is, I’m not having you and Justine pay for it. It’s not your place to. So, tell me how much and I’ll split it between you, assuming you went halves?”

“Um, we didn’t pay for it. Not for all of it anyway, just some,” Taylor hedged. Christy had a sinking feeling inside and she already knew the answer to her question before she asked it.

“Well then who did?”

*

Dean dried his hands and wandered out of the bathroom whistling. He started walking down the narrow corridor back out to the bar, but stopped short when he saw Christy stomping towards him. She sure did look mad, her hands fisted at her side, glare on her face. Pretty pink lips pinched in anger, her little blond curls bouncing adorably with each furious step. Her lush breasts bounced, threatening to spill over the top of her sexy dress, like they had all damn evening. He flicked his eyes back to her face before he started drooling, and before she caught him and detonated.

“Hey Christy, what’s up?” he called, making sure his smile was wide enough to pop his dimples, he figured she liked them, he caught her staring at them before.

“You bastard!” she spat. Wait, what? He looked behind him in case there was someone else she was talking to. There was no one there, he turned back to face her, confused. Was she mad at him? He expected her to slow down the closer she got to him, but she didn’t, she kept going and backed him into the wall, the brick scraping his shoulders through his thin shirt.

“Whoa, what’s the matter darlin’?” he asked, holding up his hands in mock surrender. She stood on tiptoes, getting in his face and jabbed her finger into his chest.

“Don’t call me that! I didn’t need you to pay for yesterday. He was my father, my responsibility, and no one asked you to do that!” she shouted, her eyes flashing angrily.

“Damnit, Taylor,” he muttered. Christy poked his chest again, her sharp nail digging in. It wasn’t hurting but there was definite pressure there, not that he was complaining.

“Don’t blame her, I’m glad she mentioned it. I won’t be indebted to anyone, I’m not your charity case and I didn’t need you to pay for dinner either!”

“Look, I was just trying to be nice, alright? You’re having a tough time at the moment and I just wanted to help you, any way I could,” he said gently putting a hand on her shoulder, she shrugged him off.

“Oh, now you’re being nice to me? I’m surprised you know how!” she snapped.

“Hey! That hurts darlin’, how many times have I tried to apologize for being an idiot to you?” He smiled down at her, hoping to charm and disarm her. He grabbed hold of the hand that was still jabbing his chest and brought it down to her side but didn’t let go. He took a step towards her. She moved back, still fuming at him. He wondered how big her bluster really was and how quickly he could coax her out of it. He took another step forward, a bigger one and she stepped back again, frowning up at him. He did it again and this time when she moved back, she bumped into the wall on the other side. His torso now pressed up against hers, her softness giving way beneath the wall of his chest. She glared up at him.

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