Page 7 of Break for Me

“I’m sorry, Marcus. I was in a hurry. Wasn’t paying any attention,” I said, taking some of the paper towels from him. I freaked out internally all over again when I turned back to try to wipe the brightly colored mixed drinks from my victim’s perfectly pressed, very clean and crisp white button down shirt that had to have cost more money than I could ever hope to accrue over my whole lifetime. I hesitated before I even pressed the paper towels against him. Somehow the thought of touching him with disposable cloths felt like it would’ve made the whole situation that much worse. He reeked of wealth.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked again after I’d spent a very noticeable length of time frozen in mid-movement. I finally looked up at him and the heart-stopping smirk that sat across his face nearly blew my knees right out from under me. It was wholly unnatural and unfair to females across this country that a man’s face could look that good. Especially after you’d made an absolute fool out of yourself right in front of said man. His dark hair and the dark stubble all across his jaw provided ridiculous contrast for the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. I couldn’t recall a time that I was ever jealous of a male about anything. I’d never experienced penis envy a day in my life, but I was currently experiencing blue eye envy. Before, I was cool with my dark eyes because they matched my dark hair and my dark soul. Seeing this combination now, I’d never been more pissed that I was cheated out of deep blue eyes.

“Dakota,” Marcus said to force me back into reality.

My God. This was embarrassing on all fronts.

“Sorry,” I said quickly again to Marcus before turning back to the half smirk of doom. “Sorry,” I said to him, too. I swallowed hard before I finally fucking pressed the paper towels into his shirt. He let out the tiniest hiss when his hand immediately shot up over mine and closed around it to pull it back away from him.

I was about to be fired. Absolutely no doubt.

“Sorry,” he said and released my hand again. “It’s cold.”

He took the paper towels from my painfully shaky hand to dab at his own shirt while he held it out away from his body. I ripped the rest of the towels away from Marcus to try to clean up the floor around us, just to find that the very second that I was crouched down in front of him, Mr. Handsome-Wealthy-Stranger-Man knelt all the way to a knee to do the same thing directly across from me.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Marcus said quickly and dropped to the floor with us. “Here, let me —.”

“It’s fine, really,” my smirking nightmare drawled with a chuckle. “It was an accident. I shouldn’t have come up right behind someone knowing she was delivering drinks. I don’t mind helping.”

six

JERSEY

“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” Memphis said directly into my ear through the tiny radio inside it. She knew I couldn’t respond to her in these moments and she always took full advantage of such an opportunity to say whatever was on her mind without the risk of having to hear my rebuttals.

“You could’ve just waited until she was done and walked up to her and told her your name like a normal human,” she said. “You didn’t have to make it a point to embarrass her just to act like a nice guy right after.”

The little pin camera hooked to my collar was a mistake.

Why did I let her make me wear these things? She wasn’t even here to tell me what to do in person and I still listened.

“You’re not a nice guy,” she continued. “You’re the worst kind of guy. Stop smiling at her. I know you’re smiling at her. You’re making her nervous.”

I stood back up and held my hand out toward Trista while the owner of the bar disappeared in search of a mop. She stared at my hand for a second like she was certain it was somehow laced with a poison that would seep into her skin if she touched me another time.

“Quit being a psycho, Jersey Boy. You’re going to put her in the trunk of your car later.”

I smirked again and had to downright fight to keep the laughter in. Trista did take my hand but she made a noticeable point to get herself upright and didn’t actually let me pull her to her feet with that hand.

“Dakota, right?” I asked. “Pretty name. Hope I didn’t get you in trouble.”

“This is painful,” Memphis said in my ear. “I am in physical pain right now.”

“It’s fine,” Trista said quickly. “But I need to get back to work. Are you sure you’re okay? Can I get you something? I’ll cover it. Anything you want.”

“Anything I want,” I smiled. “How about a date?”

“You’re a demon,” Memphis said.

Trista laughed. It was easily the most nervous laugh I’d ever heard.

“Uh, no,” she choked out when she realized I wasn’t joking. “I meant anything by way of alcohol. But that was almost really smooth. Caught me a little off guard. Well played”

“Pffffft. Shot down by a lowly thief. How the mighty Jersey Boy has fallen,” Memphis said. “I’ve never been so happy to be electronically present for something.”

I cleared my throat while I stuck my pinky in my ear and shook it around like I was scratching at a ringing eardrum, hoping it would send some kind of annoying noise through her end of this little radio. Maybe even deafen her momentarily.

“Nice try, old man,” Memphis said. “I’ve got you coming through the computer speakers. Not an ear piece.”

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