Page 45 of Turn of the Tides
I was so sure.
“What about your day job?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “This place doesn’t close until ten on weeknights.” Being a small town, we catered to different hours than a bar you might find in a larger city. Truth was, we didn’t live in a place where people were cutting up until two or three in the morning. Weekdayswe were open from eleven to ten while weekends were noon to midnight. “Don’t you have to be up early?”
“I can manage, don’t worry about that.”
I wasn’t prepared to roll over and play dead. “And once the season starts? How do you think you’ll manage then?”
He lifted one massive shoulder. “We’ll adjust as necessary.” He patted Freddy on the back. “Right, Fred?”
Freddy nodded proudly, getting that same blush he had earlier when Romero told him they were best friends.
Son of a bitch! I’d lost Freddy to a couple football stars. So much for loyalty.
My head canted to the side as I took Beau in.Reallytook him in, trying to see if there was something deceitful or cruel motivating him. But I couldn’t find it. “You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”
His expression changed. The lightness went out and something hard and cold took its place as the muscle in his jaw ticked. “Senior year of college,” he ground out, and I knew in an instant what he was referring to. He was thinking back to those boys who’d scared me, who’d tried to do worse than that. “Got that goddamn night burned into my memory, especially the look on your face when you thought there was no way out. So no, Bubbles, I’m not letting this go. It was sheer luck I was there that night to make sure you didn’t get hurt. I’m not going to hope for luck this time. I’m making it my damn self.”
The argument died on my lips. “All right.”
His blue eyes flashed as they rounded in surprise. “All right?” he parroted back. “That’s it? You aren’t going to fight me on this?”
I went back to scrubbing, arching a brow at him. “Would it do me any good?”
“Not one damn bit.”
I didn’t think so.
I shrugged, blowing a strand of hair out of my face. “Then yeah. That’s it. It’s late and I’m tired. I just want to get this done so I can go home and climb into bed. So, no. I’m not going to fight you on this.”
I went back to helping my team close down for the night while he and Freddy kept each other company. He even surprised me by helping flip chairs over and place them on the tables so the floor was cleared for the morning cleaning crew. Once everything had been tidied, locked, and the lights shut off, he took up the rear as we headed out the back of the bar to the staff parking.
A tingle formed low on my back and traveled up my spine as he stayed a step behind me, his hand on the small of my back, even after I’d called out goodnight to everyone else and moved to my car. I pulled the keys from my purse, my hand trembling to the point it took me three tries to get the damn thing in the lock. I let out a breath of relief once the lock clicked, and quickly pulled the door open, stepping into the opening it created and using it as a sort of barrier between us. “Well, as you can see, I’m safely to my car. Thank you for walking me. Have a good night.”
“Jesus,” he grunted, his top lip curling up as he scanned the length of my car. “This thing is just as bad as the piece of shit you drove in college.”
I made a noise of affront, slamming my hands down on my hips as I scowled. “It’snota piece of shit.”
His jaw hinged open. “It looks totally unreliable! It doesn’t even have automatic locks, for Christ’s sake.”
“It’s a perfectly fine car,” I cried, feeling my ire rise again. I was cresting the top of that big drop, waiting for the feeling of free falling to hit and send my stomach up into my throat. “Excuse me for not wanting to blow money on a new one when this one is perfectly fine.”
I patted the top of the door and, as if on cue, the window that had been giving me trouble for the past few weeks slipped off the tracks and slid down, leaving a two-inch opening.
His look said it all. “Perfectly fine, my ass,” he grunted as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“This is nothing,” I declared, ignoring the heat in my cheeks as I mashed at the button to roll the window back up, even though it wouldn’t work until I turned the car on. Not that it would have mattered. The button had quit working some time ago. I had to brace my hands on either side of the glass and push it back up. I sent up a silent thank you to the universe when it actually stayed in place and didn’t slide back down.
“See?” I chirped. “Good as new.”
His expression remained hard, but I could tell by the way the corners of his mouth wobbled ever so slightly, he wanted to laugh.
I lifted my chin in an effort to look down my nose at him, an impossible feat, since the stupid man towered over me. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my bed is calling.”
I climbed into the car and slammed the door, letting out a stuttered breath at the nerves Beau had me feeling.
I jolted when the window slipped again, but it didn’t only drop a couple inches. Oh no, it crashed all the way down, the sound of glass shattering inside the door panel echoing through the dark night.
As if that wasn’t humiliating enough, Beau was still standing there, hands tucked in the pockets of his jeans like he was waiting for the opportunity to sayI told you so.