Page 5 of Of Course, Cutie
“Of course, cutie. Just this once.” I finished off her beer and tossed the bottle in the recycling bin near the back gate. “When do you turn twenty-one?”
“One year and two months.”
Ah. She was nineteen. Then I definitely shouldn’t have checked out her ass earlier. A thirty-five-year-old divorced dude had no business staring at that ass. It had a fantastic shape and looked like it could fill up a pair of hands nicely, but it was very much off-limits.
“How old are you, Burke?”
“Thirty-five.” I sat beside her on the steps. “So, how many of those beers did you drink before I came out here?”
Charlie scoffed and folded her arms. She really was a cute little thing — big, blue eyes, thick, dark lashes, and pouty, pink lips. She tapped her booted foot against the pavement for a moment before finally throwing her hands up and saying, “Three! Sue me!”
I laughed and shook my head. “Are you a little drunk, Charlie?”
“No. I’m not a fucking lightweight.”
I grinned at her and pinched my thumb and pointer finger together. “Maybe just a little bit drunk?”
“No!” Charlie glared at me, then bit her bottom lip. “Buzzed.”
“If boss-man Bingley sees you like this, he’s going to flip his lid.”
Charlie snorted into her hand. “Boss-man Bingley. I can’t even tell you how much I love that name for my brother.” She laughed again and leaned into me a little. Damn. Cute little Charlie smelled fantastic, like mint and coconut.
“He really will lose his shit, Charlie. He’s already in a terrible mood tonight.” My new boss hadn’t yelled at me or anything—not a lot of guys dared to get up in my face— but Evan was stalking around the bar with the broody facial expression of a teenaged vampire. It didn’t bode well for Charlie that she’d been sneaking drinks from his bar. It didn’t bode well for me either, as the bartender who didn’t notice her underaged theft.
“No shit Evan’s in a bad mood. Our dad died one year ago tomorrow.” Charlie stood and wobbled. I caught her elbow before she stumbled.
“Hence the drinking?”
Charlie grinned at me and tapped her nose. “You got it, Burke.” Then she laughed. “That’s such a tough, manly name. Burke.” She turned to head up the steps, still saying my name. “Burke. Burke. Burke.”
She was in worse shape than I thought. “Hold it, cutie. You can’t go back in there like that.”
Charlie frowned. “But I’m cold.”
I sighed and tugged off my jacket. I draped it over her shoulders and said, “Sit. I’ll go grab you a burger and some coffee.”
Charlie sank back onto the steps, wrapping my jacket around her. “Okie doke, Burke.”
I headed back inside and scanned the crowded bar for Evan. He was sulking by the stage, unaware of the hordes of women gawking at him. The clock behind the bar confirmed that I had five minutes left on my break, so I worked quickly to get the goods for Charlie, and slipped out the back door again.
Charlie sat on the stairs and smiled up at me, wrapping my jacket tightly around her body. “Your jacket smells good. It’s not like the Axe body spray that all the dumbass college boys wear. It smells like grown-up man.”
I laughed and set the plate of food and mug of coffee next to her on the stairs. “Well, I am a grown-up man, so I guess that makes sense.” I patted her shoulder. “This should help so you can come back in and at least pretend to be sober. Eat up. I gotta get back to work.”
As I turned to leave, she caught my hand in hers. “Thanks, Burke.”
“Of course, cutie.” I headed back inside, planning to check on her again in a few minutes, but as soon as I was through the door, I found myself face-to-face with Sienna.
Sienna smiled and folded her arms. “Are we feeding homeless people or kittens back there, Burke?”
I shrugged. “A homeless kitten?”
Sienna laughed and shook her head. “Is it Charlie?”
I sized up my new boss’s girl, tried to stare into her soul to see if she could be trusted.
While she waited for my response, Sienna unfolded her arms and glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll get her home. I’m about to send that one home, too.” She jabbed her thumb in Evan’s direction. “Their dad passed away a year ago. Needless to say, the whole family is really struggling.” Sienna patted my arm as she walked by me. “Thanks for taking care of her.”