Just Want Somebody to Love. Keri Ford

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ people weren’t known for being good drinkers. She could verify that theory from experience, and she didn’t put on enough holiday weight to give the liquor more places to go. Whitney nursed her drink. “How long do you think all these people will be here?”

      “It’s Saturday night.” Tasha leaned over. “How long did you two used to stay in here?”

      “Uh.”

      Kara scratched the side of her head. “Later than I want to think about.”

      Whitney leaned around Tasha. “Did you hear how long he’ll be in town?”

      “All I know is what I told you.”

      That was not nearly enough information. She did a little adjusting of her shirt as he pulled a rag off his shoulder and wiped over the countertop before he returned. A man who cleaned? My goodness, if he got any better, she’d combust right here on this stool. The corner of his lips tipped up, and her internal temperature inched higher a few more degrees. “The three of you look to be plotting.”

      Tasha already had her shirt tugged down while Kara steadily sucked on her drink. Whitney wasn’t leaving this up to either of them. “We were wondering how long you’d be in town.”

      The corner of his lips pulled a little higher, and bam, there it was. Dimple. Can vaginas sigh? “Tomorrow. Maybe as far as Monday morning. If the three of you are plotting to kidnap me, tonight is your best option.”

      “Tonight?” She tried wincing, but doubted she stopped the grin to pull it off. “That’s a tight timeline. Didn’t you just get here?”

      “Just a quick trip this time.”

      “That sounds like you might be back.” She found herself leaning closer, but not as close as she’d like. Curse this high bar. “We could plan it for your next visit. Can you give us a heads up to make it easier?”

      “You want me to help plot my own kidnapping?”

      “If you’re up to it.”

      He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. I’m not against three beautiful women taking me as their prisoner.”

      More smiling. “What’s your name?”

      His hands were clasped and rested just before hers on the bar. They looked just right to reach out and touch her. “Justin. Yours?”

      “Whitney.”

      A group of women at the far end of the bar laughed and erupted in cheers. Glasses hit the bar top. “Justin!” sounded out.

      “Be right back,” he whispered.

      “I’ll be here.” She smiled until he was gone and let out a breath. ”Damn.”

      Kara shook her head. “When Kent got the information from her, you should have known she was going to be here.”

      “I’m not losing this to her.” She adjusted her shirt.

      “That’s my girl.” Tasha clapped her hands, then rubbed them. “We need a plan.”

      “That’s why I fixed my shirt.” Whitney made a few more adjustments she could manage without digging down the front of her top. Going to have to be a fast plan since the guy was leaving tomorrow. Not that Whitney had a problem with moving fast. Bonus, since that fit well with her schedule too.

      “Better plan than that. Maddy has better boobs than you.”

      “Hey.”

      Kara nodded. “It’s true. Finish your drink and get him back down here. Business 101 is?”

      Don’t mix business and pleasure? Except Kara married her business partner. “Have a good product?”

      Tasha slumped and shook her head. “Customers first.”

      Whitney laughed, then finished her drink. The burn stripped the air from her throat, and she smacked the glass on the old wooden top. “I don’t know how often I’ll be able to do that before it strips my esophagus.”

      Kara flicked her wrist. “I got the next one for you. He made my drink light.”

      Tasha clicked her tongue. “I’m not sure drinking is necessary. Talk him into leaving. Or to take a break. Ask him to dance. Brandon usually manages all this on his own anyway, so it’s not like Justin’s required to keep things going.”

      Dance? Ha. No thanks. She started to say that, but Justin was back, and her options were limited. His good looks and swagger did away with any chance she had of coming up with a different idea.

      “Another?”

      If she had another drink on her empty stomach, she’d be a walking social embarrassment. She grasped for something to say, and all she had was Tasha’s idea, but it was a terrible plan. “What does it take to get you out from behind that bar?”

      He rested on his side of the polished wood and leaned in close. “You could always ask me to dance.”

      A groan rumbled through her gut. Fine, damn it. “Dance with me.”

      “Not a question, but a demand.” His eyes narrowed just a touch. “I like it.” He looked to Brandon at the opposite end. “You got this?”

      Brandon just nodded and kept working.

      Cha-ching! Basketball wasn’t her thing, but she’d count that as a slam dunk. She looked to her friends while Justin walked to the end of the bar. “Time to make a fool of myself.”

      “Maybe not. You’ll know in a minute based on where he puts his hands.”

      “His hands?”

      Tasha sipped and nodded. “If they’re on your shoulders, you need to try harder. Waist, you’re getting there. Butt, he likes it.”

      She laughed and then he was at her side, hand out, and waiting. “Are you coming?”

      Oh, yes. Yes she was.

      Chapter 2

      Justin Rawlings hadn’t worked behind a bar like this in, gosh, ages. He became a waiter as soon as the law said he could have a job. When he turned twenty-one, he stepped behind the bar with his brother, Brandon, but they didn’t stay there for long. He finished his business degree, they got the financial backing they needed to open their own place, and they started.

      That was years ago, and they’d gone to the top from there. Somehow they were back at the bottom, slinging bottles behind a bar again. A little bit of nostalgia was good for the soul, but when the Marilyn Monroe look-a-like sat in front of him, he’d been itching to get out from behind the counter. He had a poster on his wall of Marilyn when he was a kid. The beach had been behind her, hair had been wild, eyes bright, and when Whitney sat in front of him, that’s where his mind went. He was about to ask her to dance or get out of there or whatever she might be up for, but she beat him to it. Which suited him just fine.

      Women СКАЧАТЬ