Gin Fling (Bootleg Springs, #5)(55)

“Here you go,” Nicolette called, sliding the drinks across the bar to me. Cassidy appeared at my elbow and took half of the bottles and glasses. I followed her back to our table.

“Did we miss anything?” I asked as Cassidy and I passed out the beverages.

“Only twenty or thirty more pictures of potbelly Katherine,” Scarlett said with amusement.

June retrieved her phone from her pants pocket. “Would you like to see a timeline of Katherine’s first bath?” she asked, already flipping through photos.

“Hang on to those, June Bug,” Scarlett interjected. “I’ve got myself a few questions for Shelby here.”

“I’ve got a question for you too, Scarlett. Why haven’t you filled out my survey yet?” I asked, taking a sip of my fresh gin and tonic. My second and last of the night. Alcohol and inflammation were kissing cousins as Jonah had explained.

“Why haven’t you slept with my brother yet?” Scarlett countered. The music was loud, but not so loud that a couple of nearby tables took interest in our conversation.

I leaned back in my chair. “I’ve indicated my interest,” I told her.

“And?” Lula pressed.

“And nothing, yet,” I said with a dainty shrug. I kept the kisses to myself. Also the sharing a bed thing that we’d been doing since Billy Ray joined our little family. Sleeping next to Jonah hadn’t led to anything besides sexual frustration on my part.

Being in a man’s bed and still not having sex made me seem not very efficient.

Scarlett let out a groan.

“What was that for?” I laughed.

“You’ll have to forgive our Scarlett,” Cassidy said. “She’s a little impatient.”

“I put two people with tons of chemistry in close proximity, and you’re telling me that nothing’s happened yet?” Scarlett was incredulous.

“Sometimes it takes more than chemistry,” I pointed out.

Someone bumped my chair from behind. A young guy in a hurry to get his pretty girl on the dance floor. I watched his enthusiasm and envied the girl. The truth was, Jonah dragging his feet on my offer was starting to dent my pride a little. He hadn’t even tried to kiss me again.

“I just don’t understand it,” Scarlett complained. “You two like each other just fine. You’re attracted to each other. Consenting adults living in the same house, and you still haven’t gotten naked. This doesn’t make any sense!” She slammed her beer down on the table in frustration.

“Not everyone is as comfortable going after what they want as you are, Scarlett,” Lula reminded her.

I watched the young couple two-step their way across the dance floor with eyes only for each other. I didn’t need that. Not now. Maybe someday. But for right now, I was too busy for those yearning glances and the kind of affection that would eat into every waking hour of my day. But a little healthy sexual gratification? What was wrong with that?

“Maybe I came on too strong?” I hypothesized.

“Did he find you naked in his bed with a can of whipped cream?” Cassidy asked.

I shook my head.

“Then you didn’t come on strong enough,” Scarlett said, slapping the table.

“I don’t know. I don’t think that a physical relationship should be this difficult to initiate. Either we both want it, or one of us doesn’t, and in this case that would be Jonah.”

“Your hypothesis is flawed,” June said with a frown.

The band slowed it down with a ballad, and couples melted onto the dance floor and into each other’s arms.

“What’s so flawed about it?” I asked June.

“Just because an individual doesn’t rush into a sexual relationship does not indicate disinterest.”

“Juney’s right.” Scarlett nodded, patting her friend’s shoulder. “Is Rene the reason he’s not knocking around your bedroom door with his pants around his ankles?”

“Who’s Rene?” Lula asked, crossing her long, long legs.

Seeing as how half the town had already heard, I saw no harm in letting Scarlett repeat an abbreviated version of Jonah’s story about his former girlfriend.

“That’s just about the saddest damn thing I’ve heard all day,” Lula sniffled into her drink when Scarlett finished theatrically.

“And that is exactly the reason why he should be jumping into Shelby’s bed,” Scarlett insisted. “He needs to get past this quicksand and start opening himself up to new opportunities.”

“Perhaps Jonah is experiencing anxiety at the thought of entering into another physical relationship,” June mused.

“Well, sitting around thinking on things don’t get a damn thing done, now does it?” Scarlett complained. “He needs a good push.”

I thought about that for a minute. I thought about everything. I was a thinker, a data collector. I was not a doer by nature. I didn’t take action. I observed. And observing wasn’t getting me into Jonah Bodine’s bed.

I sucked on my straw, surprised when I came up dry.

I’d declared my interest. He’d reciprocated his. Maybe we both just needed a little nudge over thinking and into doing. I opened an app on my phone and typed up a bullet point to remember to research seduction techniques.