Jack surveyed the number of occupied tables and nodded in satisfaction. Steely J’s did a crushing party scene on Friday nights but Saturdays had always been date night. Half the dance floor was currently serving the extra tables for just that reason and he was happy to note that only a handful of tables were empty at just past six.
“I love Saturday nights,” Amrys crooned as she sidled up to the bar and hopped on a stool. Propping her chin on her hand, she gazed out over the hushed crowd of tables.
Sliding a coaster in front of his sister, Jack set a glass of water on it and purveyed the scene again for himself. “Me, too.” Turning back to Amrys, he studied her a moment, noting the dreamy expression and the sparkly dress that had replaced her earlier outfit. “You got a date tonight or something?”
Amrys perked up when the door opened but her shoulders fell when another couple came in and made their way to an empty table. “Or something.”
Jack didn’t ask what ‘something’ she was all dressed up for. Frankly there were some things he didn’t want to know about his sisters for fear of having to kill some people. Amrys was especially difficult to think about when it came to her and men. She was the baby. She shouldn’t be able to drive much less date.
“What?” she lifted an eyebrow as she idly strummed her fingers on the bar top. “I swear Jack, you are the most contrary man I know.”
“I doubt that, sugar,” Candy, a longtime waitress winked as she set her tray on the bar and placed her order. Jack gave her a wicked grin as he filled a couple of glasses of wine. As the cute blond sauntered off to deliver the drinks, Jack couldn’t help but admire the sway of her hips in her uniform. She was a damn fine looking woman and as fun as a kitten.
“Oh geeze, Jack, put it back in your pants,” Amrys feigned a gag. “Please tell me you’re not entertaining our waitresses these days.”
“Shut up, Am. At least I go after who I want instead of p*ssy footin’ around hoping they’ll notice me.”
“Oh, they notice you alright, Jack,” she rolled her eyes. “And it suits you because you’re a man. Men can sleep around with anything that’ll lay still and they get pats on the back and an ‘atta boy.’ Us women have to be a little more subtle. I’d rather not be known as the town slut.”
“I’d rather you not be known as the town slut. And for your information, I don’t sleep around with anything that’ll lay still. I have some standards.”
“Boobs, right? As in they hafta have them?”Amrys retorted with a smirk.
“Brat.”
Candy strolled back up to the bar and laughed. “I love it when you two bicker. Almost makes me wish I’d had a brother growing up.”
“I’ll sell him to you for a dollar,” Amrys offered with a wide grin.
Candy looked him over with open appreciation, her eyes lingering on the armband tattoo on his left arm before traveling further south. “Oh, honey, I don’t think being his sister is quite what I’d like from Jack.”
“I think I’m gonna hurl,” Amrys grimaced.
Candy laughed and gave Jack anther wink before heading back to check on her tables. “I think she likes me,” he teased Amrys.
“Ya think? Well, I think I’m gonna need something a little stronger than water if ya’ll are gonna subject me to any more of that.”
Jack laughed but mixed his sister a rum and Coke, suddenly wondering why he hadn’t ever taken Candy up on her blatant flirting. She truly was sexy as hell and she had a few years on him so she could probably teach him a thing or two. Shaking his head at the thought, he slid the drink to Amrys and looked up just in time to see trouble coming.
“Don’t look now but Blabbermouth Laurel just came in,” Amrys hissed and swiveled quickly to face away from the door.
“Too late, she’s already spotted you.”
Amrys groaned. “Lord help.”
Jack grinned as he watched Laurel Hathaway covertly soaking in the who’s who around the floor. He could almost hear her brain filing away which cowboy was dining with which rancher’s daughter and what they might be up to. She was a terrible gossip and he shouldn’t like her all that much, but damned if Jack didn’t find her to be vastly intriguing.
All that sinfully long red hair and that devious smile didn’t hurt.
“Evenin’, Ms. Hathaway. What can I get for you?”
Laurel slid onto the stool adjacent to Amrys and placed her small purse on the bar top. “Hi Jack. Good crowd tonight.”
“Always is,” he winked and reached for a water glass.
“Oh, no thanks. Just a glass of wine will be great.”
Without asking her preference, Jack slid a bottle of red from the cooler. It was dark and luscious and reminded him of her, cheesy as that sounded, even in his head.
“You always remember,” she smiled as she took the glass from him and took a sip.
“Mind like a steel trap,” Amrys added dryly before turning to Laurel. “So what’re you up to tonight? Got a hot date?”
Jack tried not to appear too interested. He’d never live it down if Amrys ever discovered his fascination. She liked Laurel and hated her all at once—as did most people. Jack simply liked her. He knew instinctively that her gossip was never intended to harm. She simply liked to entertain. And maybe, he suspected, she enjoyed the attention. The middle daughter in a family of eight had probably grown up a little neglected. At least that’s the vibe he’d always gotten.
Her bright smile drooped a little at Amrys’ question but she rallied with a dismissive shrug. “Nah, just hungry.”
Amrys sipped her drink and lifted an eyebrow. “In the mood for a thick juicy steak, then?”
“A steak sounds lovely.”
Drink in hand, Amrys slid from her stool and rounded the bar towards the kitchen. “I’ll just put that order in for you, then.”
Laurel’s smile slipped once more as she thanked Amrys but she covered it quickly by taking a sip from her glass. “This is really good,” she indicated the wine.
“It’s one of my favorites,” Jack replied, suddenly wanting to throttle his sister. That soft underbelly, he realized, was what intrigued him so much about Laurel Hathaway. Not many people noticed it, he’d bet. She normally hid it so well. But it was there in her eyes when she smiled at him gratefully.
Suddenly—and probably rather foolishly—he had the urge to entertain her for once. He knew she didn’t have any girlfriends to speak of and he couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen her with a date.
Glancing at his watch, he nodded to her, “Excuse me for a moment,” and strode to the kitchen where Carmen, the other bartender was chatting with Finn. She had more than likely clocked in an hour ago and normally that didn’t bother him during the supper hours. He liked being the master of his domain. But tonight it irked him.
“Carmen,” he barked to the tattooed and purple haired woman. She flicked her gaze to him and smiled.
“Yeah boss?”
“Do you intend on taking your shift anytime tonight or would you rather I switch you to dishwasher?”
She pushed languidly away from the counter she’d been braced against. “What crawled up your ass?”
“Nothing yet, but if you’d like to keep your job I suggest you get your ass behind the bar.”
“Geeze, Jack,” Amrys scolded.
Ignoring her, Jack waited until Carmen was through the swinging door before turning to Finn. “Make that two steaks, one rare, and send them out to table twelve,” he directed and stalked back to the bar.
He didn’t know what had possessed him. He never spoke to his staff like that. Steely J’s prided itself on taking care of its employees. Treating them like family. And hell, Carmen was practically a cousin or something. But he was a man on a mission and if he didn’t act right away he’d never again have the courage.
Stopping to grab the bottle of red and an extra glass, Jack rounded the bar again and tipped his head to Laurel. “It’s my supper break. Join me?”
The surprise on her face was almost comical but the incredulous gasp from Carmen kept him from laughing.
“Sure,” Laurel sputtered.
As she followed him across the floor to an empty table, Jack wondered where his good sense had gone and prayed he wouldn’t regret losing it.
1 comment:
Awesome!
~Amina~
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