All the Right Moves(47)
Cassie whipped up another piña colada while she filled two mugs, one for the new guy, one for John. Damn it, how had Lisa known they’d seen each other outside the bar just from looking at him? He’d smiled, that was all. Yes, he might’ve given her a heart-stopping look at the same time, but... Oh, God, had she been the one to give it away? She’d smiled back, nothing girlie, or sappy, just a plain ordinary smile she gave to every customer.
Or not. Oh, boy.
How could she possibly look at him without remembering his mouth on her breasts? Or how he used the tip of his tongue to make those tiny circles on the soft skin inside her thigh.
Snapping back to the present, she rescued the overflowing mugs, then grabbed a clean rag and wiped the beer off the handles. She picked them up, and made the mistake of looking over to see John watching her with those damn bedroom brown eyes and that ridiculously sexy smile of his. The heat still burned in her cheeks, and before she could think rationally, she gulped down half the ice cold beer from one of the mugs.
Lisa chose that moment to return, and let out a startled laugh. “What are you doing?”
Cassie shook her head, wiped her mouth with a cocktail napkin in case there was foam clinging to her lips and set the beer aside. “I couldn’t carry all of them, anyway,” she muttered, and picked up the piña colada and full mug.
Keeping her eyes averted, she carried the drinks to the two men. The younger guy was sitting on John’s usual stool, so he’d settled on another one closer to the wall. It was more private...if she ever got some time to talk. The men wanted to start a tab, and she tried to not look disappointed. A trio of regulars sat closer to her station, so really, what were a couple more customers sitting at the bar? Maybe she’d take home some decent tips for a change.
She filled out a slip for the newbies, then moved closer to John, but she didn’t dare look into his eyes. “Beer?”
He put his elbows on the bar and leaned forward, gazing at her. His lazy smile told Lisa everything she wanted to know. “Hey.”
Without her permission, her gaze went to his, and the sounds of the bar faded. Memories flooded her, all of them visceral enough that her next breath trembled. A snort of laughter from the left brought her back as if she’d been slapped. She cleared her throat and threw on a casual smile. “Going once, twice—”
Clearing his own throat, he straightened. “Yes. Please.”
Cassie spun around, and damn it, Lisa was waiting for her.
“Wow.” The word was out of her mouth before Cassie reached her, and she didn’t seem one bit cowed by a glare that should’ve singed her short hairs. “Wow.”
“Don’t.” Cassie put up her index finger. “Seriously.”
It was too late.
Gordon and his half of the room were already staring at her.
12
CASSIE LEANED AGAINST the storage closet door, head pressed against the cool wood. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a good cry. Not the kind where a couple of blinks made the tears go away. She was thinking more the real deal, like someone had turned on a faucet and no amount of self-recrimination or willpower could stop the flood.
She was seconds away from that cry right now.
This was her first moment alone after making a fool of herself in front of the whole bar. No one, aside from Lisa’s few words, had said a thing, but she’d gotten looks from the regulars that made her want to cringe.
This was why she didn’t date customers. She was a private person, and being behind the bar had literally and metaphorically given her distance from those she served. Becoming a pseudo Alex Trebek was another layer of protection, and that was how she liked it. And she’d folded like an old paper bag with one look into John’s eyes.
It would have been okay if they were something more than a fling, but they weren’t and now the word would spread, and life at the Gold Strike would become infinitely messier.
Tommy was still a no-show. She hadn’t so much as glanced at her textbook for two hours and she was scared to death she was going to totally screw up her exam tomorrow. She felt self-conscious in her home away from home, and she’d barely looked at John in the past half hour.
It wasn’t his fault. Part of it, yeah, because...God...that smile. He’d melted half the ice cubes in the joint. But she was to blame, as well. It hadn’t helped that Lisa kept poking for details. And that she’d seen Cassie down half a mug of beer.