Page 27 of Living with Fire
The guy commands the attention of females with his good looks and buoyant personality. Women fawn over him, wanting to know his name, be on his arm, have his attention on them. None of us shame him for it, or hold it against him. That’s how he is, and we wouldn’t change him for the world, but it must be a humbling experience for me to show up with a woman, and for her to introduce herself to Brody without giving Liam a second look.
Finally, she puts him out of his misery. I watch as she tilts her head to the side and looks at Liam on the other side of Brody, giving him an appraising look. “Which makes you Liam.”
Now that he’s not floundering from being ignored, he pulls out the signature Liam charm, giving her a smile that has melted countless panties in this bar.
“The one and only,” he says, leaning towards us as he extends a hand across Brody.
Savanna takes it, but instead of a handshake, he takes her hand in his, his index finger resting beneath her palm.
“If I didn’t have the big lug between us, I’d be inclined to sweep my lips right here,” he says, and I don’t need to look at their hands to tell his thumb is running along her skin.
Rather than answer him, Savanna turns her head to me, forehead crinkled, gray eyes deadpan. “You made him seem like a ladies man. Do these moves actually work on most women?”
Brody damn near spits out his beer, and I crack up with laughter, while Liam looks too stunned to form an actual sentence. I’m thrilled Savanna is more than holding her own with my brothers, vanquishing all the worries I had about sitting with these two. Every layer that gets peeled back from her only encourages me to like her more.
“Girl got jokes,” he finally says, and nods with appreciation as he lets go of her hand. “Okay. I see you there.”
Savanna finally laughs, her forehead smoothing while her eyes light up as she looks between the three of us. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. Nate hasn’t told me a lot, but he’s told me enough.”
“That’s one sided. He hasn’t told us a thing about you,” Liam says, eyeing me. I can feel Brody’s eyes land on me as well, both wanting to know what’s going on.
“Why don’t you take a seat,” I say to Savanna, nodding towards the space next to Liam. “I’ll get us a drink.”
She does as I suggest, and I move behind the bar. As I do, my head bartender, Martin, makes his way over to me. We have a brief chat about the evening and how it’s going—steady for a Thursday night, but not so busy that he can’t handle it by himself for the time being—and then he’s gone, back to the other end of the bar.
I hear Liam mention Savanna’s shirt looks like something he’d seen Jordan wear; why the hell he remembers that, when he can hardly remember a girl from the night before, I don’t understand. I don’t question it, though. Mostly because I don’t want to know, but also because I trust the guy wholly.
“So,” I interrupt Liam and Savanna. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Uhm,” Savanna hums, chewing on the inside of her lip, drawing my attention to them. I’d rather it be me nibbling on that full bottom lip, but if all I can do is watch her do it, I won’t say no.
“Oh,” Liam pipes up in a calculating tone, “Something hard. He loves that.”
Sliding my gaze to his, I find a devious glint staring back at me. Christ. This bastard. My eyes narrow at him, and I have the sudden urge to punch him in the face. The guy loves to ride my ass about finding a date, but the second I show interest in a woman he’s all about trying to embarrass me.
Savanna doesn’t seem to catch Liam’s innuendo, her excitement evident as she asks, “Do you have something special you make? Something hard?”
I can see in her face that the only thing she’s thinking about is a drink, but Brody and Liam erupt in laughter before I have a chance to say a word. It’s only then that Savanna realizes what she said, and what Liam must have meant, and I watch as her face turns twenty shades of red right before my eyes. It’s fucking gorgeous on her, and despite her embarrassment, I might be a tad happy over Liam’s annoying behavior.
“To drink! I mean do you have some kind of special hard drink! You know, like bartenders make signature things!” she explains, gesturing with her hands wildly as the two men beside her continue to crack up.
“Savanna, ignore these two. Their brains stopped developing at the same time their dicks did when they were twelve. You two are cut off,” I tell them, turning towards Martin at the other end of the bar. “Liam and Brody are cut off!”
I get groans from both of them, but it does what it’s intended and sobers them up.
Liam turns on his stool towards Savanna, an apology etched into his facial features. “Savanna, I sincerely apologize. It’s just that, well, you see… the last time our friend Nate, here, brought a girl into a bar, it was six years ago.”
“Screw you, it was not.”
“Oh, so you bring girls into the bar often then?” he shoots back, eyebrows raised at me.
“No! Jesus. Savanna, I’m sorry, he gets carried away,” I say, turning to look strictly at her, ignoring the look of triumph Liam is sporting.
“You don’t need to apologize, Nate,” she says, chuckling. “You told me they were like family. Brothers. I have two of my own, so I know what it’s like.”
Then she leans across the bar towards me, arms folded in front of her, her breasts resting on top of them. The sweetest, most innocent smile blinds me as she practically hums, “So, do you have something hard for me?”
CHAPTER 11