The Slot (Rochester Riot #1)(26)
Cole blinked, seemingly taken aback by her vehemence. Then a slow grin burgeoned on his face, bringing that beyond-cute dimple out to play.
Have mercy! If this man keeps boomeranging me, I might never recover.
“So you two never…” he waved a finger in the air in place of the completed sentence.
Eloise shivered in spite of the warm interior temperature. “No.”
Cole nodded, looking smug. Then he winked. “Well, you’re right,” he said. “I like a woman who has high standards. Especially in baked goods.”
Eloise smiled and relaxed her shoulders. His sense of humor was like a soothing balm, relieving the tension and making the world seem right again. Her world would be so right with him in it. “Ditto,” she said. “But before I was so rudely interrupted, I was trying to tell you something.”
He cocked his head, waiting for more.
She took in a deep breath to steel her quivering nerves. “I came to tell you that I feel some crazy connection between us and I want to explore where that leads. And I hope you do too. But if so, we’re going to have to make some compromises. I can apologize for my behavior, but I won’t apologize for my work ethic. Can we agree to keep work and dating separate?”
“Dating?” he asked, sounding dubious. “Are you saying you want to go out on another date? And then another, and another?”
She bit her lip, then nodded. “Yeah. I think I am. Willing to give it a try?”
The smile on his face could have lit up the Twin Cities in a power failure. He moved around to her side of the bar and plucked her up off her seat. He spun her in a three-sixty then set her down again. “Cool!”
“Okay, okay, hold on,” she said, laughing breathlessly. “We’ve got to set some ground rules.”
“Okay, shoot,” he said, his arms still around her waist.
“We won’t talk about work when we’re alone together, and we won’t talk directly to each other during any business meetings, fair enough? The last thing we need is to start rounds of gossip and make the media start sniffing around. I might not be able to PR my way out of my own negative PR.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed, his eyes meeting hers in a lustful visual embrace.
Eloise felt electricity shoot through her as he moved his body close, wedging his hips between her knees as she balanced on the tall stool. He slipped one hand to the nape of her neck, cupping her head beneath her thick mass of brunette curls and tipping her face upward. The kiss he gave her rivaled and exceeded the one from the Town Hall night, and Eloise could feel the exuberant passion of this man in the power of it; that he would love fully and freely and give it everything he had, just as he did on the ice. She reveled in the spicy scent of him, the touch of beard on her face and his lips on hers, their tongues exchanging wordless, magical promises.
When a few customers sent wolf whistles, they broke their heated kiss amid smiles and giggles. Eloise felt her face heat up.
“Hey, wanna know something?” Cole asked. “A lot of people liked your Riot for Rochester concept, and they’re organizing a talent showcase, a kind of ‘battle of the bands’ with local groups and artists. Congrats, PDL!”
“PDL?” she asked on a sigh of continued desire. She couldn’t think straight after that kiss.
“Pretty doughnut-lady,” he said with a grin. “Sorry, El, but your nickname has been sealed since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“I suppose it could be worse” Eloise smiled in relief. “It could stand for public display of lethargy. What about your friend Trey? Was that him with you at the meeting? Did he like the idea?”
Cole gave an ambiguous nod. “Yeah. Trey has his own agenda, but he’s thinking of doing a karaoke sing-off here at Blues. I’m going to ask some of the team to come out as celebrity guests. Will you come watch?”
Eloise beamed. “I’ll be here with doughnuts on.”
Chapter Ten
The phone on Sheehan Murphy’s desk rang in shrill warbling tones as multiple lines lit up. Kylie collected her notes and prepared to leave Murphy’s office where they’d been going over the bar’s opening night checklist. “Will that be all, Mr. Murphy?”
Sheehan looked across his desk as he reached for the handset. “Yeah… I gotta take this call. Tell your boss the TV promo looked great.”
Kylie nodded and turned toward the door, grateful the old goat had shit some goat pellets all over his trash pile and calmed the f*ck down. As she reached for the handle, the door opened from the other side, and Kristoff Helios breezed in. All she knew about the guy was that he’d done El a bad turn and for that, she didn’t like him.
“Kristoff,” she said, a bit startled. He stood aside as she exited.
“Close the door, will you?” Sheehan barked. Kylie did as he requested and as she walked away, heard the lock slip into place. What the hell would be so important a discussion that the two men would need the office door locked? Kristoff was in charge of sales, advertising, and merchandise. Seemed like something beneath Sheehan’s notice.
She continued down the hallway to her own office.
“Hey, El,” Kylie said, walking up to Eloise’s desk. “Here’s the checklist. Murphy says he liked your commercial spot.” Eloise sat with her eyes fixated on her computer screen and didn’t look up, seemingly lost in her own little world. “El?” She placed her notes on the desk and waved her hand in Eloise’s line of sight. Eloise jumped and pulled a set of earbuds from her ears.