Page 50 of Mine For The Winter

“It is to Cole.” She ran her tongue along her bottom lip. “And me.”

The words hung there for a minute. Their eyes caught and he felt the connection deep in his chest.

“Good night!” one of the customers called, walking out of the tavern with their friends. Kris could see a bunch of bills on the table.

“Want me to get that?” he asked her.

“Please.”

“Give me a cloth and I’ll clean the table, too.”

Kelly lifted a brow but did as he asked, passing him the cleaning spray and a clean rag. Walking past the only other customers left – who looked like they were about to leave, too, he grabbed the cash, and cleaned the table, then carried the money back to Kelly.

She took it silently, pressing some buttons on the register that opened the cash drawer, putting all of the bills in except one. That last one she folded up and put in the tip jar.

“Thank you.”

Then the last customer left. Kris took the spray and cleaned their table, too. By the time he’d gotten back to the bar Kelly was turning off the main lights, one by one.

“We gonna talk in the dark?” he asked her.

She rolled her eyes. “We’re going to talk in the office. I just need to lock up.”

“I’ll do it.” He wasn’t sure if he was trying to keep himself busy or trying to get in her good grace. Either way, he flipped the locks and turned the key, pulling it out to join Kelly behind the bar. She’d already opened the door to the office and he bit down a smile when he saw how messy it was.

As though she could read his thoughts, Kelly lifted her gaze to his. “You want a drink?”

“Do I need one?”

“I don’t know.” She tipped her head to the side. “Do you?”

He chuckled softly. “I’ll take a whiskey.”

She disappeared out of the office, coming back a couple of minutes later with two glasses filled with ice cubes and a finger of whiskey. Passing him one, he felt the thrill of her fingers touching his.

Her eyes widened and she stepped back. “Take a seat.”

He sat on the chair in front of her desk, as she walked around and took the other.

“This feels like an interview. Do you want me to tell you why I’ve applied for this position?” He leaned forward, a smile playing at his lips.

“Why did you lend my dad so much money?”

There it was. The crux of it. Her question didn’t sound angry, though. Just confused. There were two little lines pinching her brow and he wanted to reach out to her and smooth them away.

“Because he needed it and I didn’t,” he answered truthfully.

“Do you go around giving money away like that all of the time?” She took a sip of the whiskey, her eyes on his.

“Nope. Just to people I like.”

“Yeah, well Dad always did have a soft spot for you.”

“Your dad liked both me and Lyle. He liked that we took care of you.”

“Until you didn’t.”

“Yeah.” His voice cracked. “Until we didn’t.” He picked up his whiskey glass and swallowed some down before looking her in the eye. “You want to talk about that now?” He was ready for it. Waiting for it even.

---