Bryce glanced at his phone. Nicole was five minutes late. Maybe the bridal shower had run long. Maybe she was more casual about being on time than she had been the first couple of nights she’d performed here. And maybe he was so damned eager to see her he was counting the seconds until she walked through the door.

Then she did, looking amazing in a pale blue satin Western shirt and tight jeans. He no longer gave a damn about the time.

A crowd was already gathered and folks were seated around the bar, so he left Mike in charge, picked up the keys to the office and went to meet her. “Hey, there. You look great.”

“Thanks. Sorry I’m late.”

“No worries.” He started to reach for her canvas bag and guitar case.

“That’s okay. I’ll carry them.”

“All right.” She was on edge for some reason. He pivoted and fell into step beside her. “How was the party?”

“Great, absolutely great. I had a blast.”

“Good.” So that wasn’t it.

“I’ll tell you all about it later, but Deidre was hysterical. Kendra put her in charge of entertainment so she brought sex toys as prizes for the games she had us play.”

He grinned. “That sounds like her.” He unlocked the door and waited for her to go in. “Did you win anything?”

“Yes.”

That jacked up his pulse. “What’d you get?” Then he considered the topic and closed the door.

She began unpacking her canvas bag. “It’s a little vibrator that fits over your finger.”

“Did you bring it?”

She laughed. “No.”

“Why not?” He should drop the subject because it was making his privates ache, but he’d always wondered about that kind of thing. Never experienced it. Would love to with her.

“Would you have wanted me to?” She glanced over her shoulder. “You wouldn’t have been insulted?”

“I can’t imagine why.”

She turned toward him. “Don’t most guys think they’re equal to the task without adding battery-operated enhancements?”

“Could be. I’ve never taken a poll. Then again, I’m not most guys. I’m not saying I’d shop for something like that, but now that I know you have one, I’m curious. And more than a little turned on.”

She smiled. “Then I’m sorry I left it at home.”

“There’s always next time. For the record, I want to kiss you but I won’t. I’d mess up your lipstick and get myself even hotter than I already am.”

“Then we should go.” She tucked her purse in her guitar case and closed the latches.

He grabbed his chance before they’d be surrounded by people. “Were you upset when you first came in?”

She handed him her turtle and tip jar before picking up her guitar and her water bottle. “A little. It’s Jimi.”

“Is something wrong with him?”

“I love that you’re worried about that. But he’s fine.”

“Good.”

“He didn’t want me to leave, though. He’s used to having me around at night and I won’t be tonight.”

He forced himself to say the right thing. “Would you rather not stay?”

“I’m not that selfless.”

That made him smile. “Okay, but I don’t want to be the selfish bastard who convinces you to forget about the cat.”

“No, that would be Ray. You’re not anything like him.”

“Thanks.” He ushered her out the door.

The crowd applauded, whistled and stomped their feet when she came onstage. No Guzzling Grizzly act in recent history had drawn that reaction, not even his. Lou had given him a raise today based on his ability to attract a talent who worked for tips and made the bar lots of money. Lou had also asked outright if Bryce wanted to buy the bar. He’d responded with a chicken-shit I’m not sure. Let me think about it.

He hated when other people gave vague answers to a straightforward question, but he didn’t know what to do. He had some savings and Lou would give him a deal, but ownership was a different animal from managing. He wanted to stay in Eagles Nest but he wasn’t thrilled about being permanently tied to the bar now that he knew how much work went into it.

Nicole led off with Rocky Mountain High and once again had the customers singing along and loving it. If she kept this up, she’d become one of the town’s major attractions. Bus tours might start offering the standard visit to Eagles Nest and the enhanced one that involved catching Nicole’s act at the GG.

Bryce liked the idea. If he owned the bar, they’d have a partnership of sorts. If Lou sold to someone else, which he would eventually if Bryce didn’t step up, no telling what would happen. There was that to consider.

He and Mike kept busy, but Mike seemed to be handling the pressure better. Better even than he was. Eagerness for his after-hours date with Nicole had stretched his patience until it was ready to snap like the stem of a champagne flute.

In contrast, Mike hummed along with Nicole’s singing as he mixed drinks and filled mugs of beer.

Bryce glanced over at him. “You seem relaxed.”

“I think I’m finally getting the hang of this bartending gig. That pleases me.”

“Good. It pleases me, too.”

“You, on the other hand, have acted stressed lately.”

“Yeah, well…I may be coming out the other side of that tunnel.”

“And the reason is up on stage singing her heart out. Am I right?”

“Yep.”

“I’m happy for you, although clearly anticipation is making you twitchy.”

Bryce sighed. No point in denying it.

“You’ll get through this phase. Everything’s new and shiny. I get it.”

“Listen to you, the seasoned hand advising the greenhorn.”

“Yeah, sorry. That was obnoxious. It’s just that from what I hear, you proposed to the first woman you fell for.”

“I kinda did.”

A rush of orders interrupted the conversation, but Bryce picked it up a little later. “Lou asked if I want to buy the bar.”

“Yeah? That would be awesome.”

“You think so?”

“Sure do. First off, you’d be exactly the right person because you wouldn’t muck it up. Secondly, you’d be the owner so you’d need a manager, which would be me.”

Bryce choked back a laugh and cleared his throat. “I see.”

“Took you by surprise, huh?”

“A little. I didn’t know you had ambitions in that direction.”

“For some time, now.”

Bryce stared at him. “But I’ve only had this job for six weeks.”

“I had my eye on the other manager’s job, too. When he left, I applied for it without telling anyone, which is a good thing because Lou hired you instead.”

“Damn, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I took it away from you.”

“Doesn’t matter. I wasn’t ready and Lou knew it. But if you buy the GG, odds are good you’d promote me, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I would.” At this very moment Mike was proving his competence. He’d continued to mix drinks during the discussion and hadn’t made a single mistake.

“I thought so.”

“But I don’t know if buying this place is the right move for me.”

“I don’t see how you can lose. It was a gold mine before and it just got a boost with Nicole playing here.”

“But owning a bar…I don’t know.”

“Co-owning, eventually.”

“What?” Bryce came to a full stop and focused all his attention on Mike.

“I want in.” He looked more animated and confident than he had in the entire time they’d worked together. “My buy-in would have to be gradual, but eventually I’d like to co-own it with you. This is a solid business and we’d make good partners.”

“How long have you been thinking this way?”

“A while. I don’t have enough to strike a deal with Lou, but I had a hunch he was getting sick of owning the GG. Then you took the manager’s job and I figured with your songwriting and your…previous plans that didn’t work out, you might have a little nest egg.”

“Like a down payment on a house for me and Charity?”

“Something like that. Sorry to bring it up.”

“Listen, don’t be. Like I said, I’m looking at things differently these days.”

Mike clapped him on the shoulder. “While you’re assessing the view, picture you and me running the best little bar in Montana. McGavin and Murphy.”

“I will.” Thanks to Mike’s startling idea, Bryce had a distraction from the gorgeous woman on stage. Good thing, because Mike was right about the twitchy factor. He wanted closing time to happen now.

Since no genie showed up to grant that wish, he’d follow Mike’s advice and imagine a future in which he co-owned the GG. He’d always assumed that if he ever had a business partner, Trev would be the guy. But his twin didn’t want to co-own a bar.

Mike’s enthusiasm was contagious, though. Looking at the deal through his eyes, Bryce saw opportunity instead of obligation. Someone else would share the decision making, and if he needed time off, Mike could handle the responsibility of the business for a little while.

Growing up at Wild Creek Ranch had meant watching his mother work twenty-four-seven keeping her business going. Zane had eventually become her partner and now Cody had pitched in. Until now, Bryce hadn’t recognized that having sole ownership of the bar had been the major sticking point. With a partner, he’d have wiggle room. He couldn’t say why he needed it. He just did.

An hour later, when closing time finally arrived, Nicole was less generous with her encores than she had been. Either she’d taken his advice or she was as impatient to get upstairs as he was. He didn’t care about the reason but he appreciated the hell out of the result.

He hustled the employees out and locked the front door while a smiling Nicole watched from a bar stool. As he walked back, he tossed her the keys. “I have to close out the register so if you want to take your stuff upstairs, I’ll be right there.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She headed for the office.

Moments later her footsteps on the stairs made him lose count of the change and he had to start over. Wow, was he jacked. Anyone would think he’d never had sex before.

If he screwed up the tally he’d be going through it again tomorrow and he hated doing the job twice. He forced himself to slow down. They had all night, for crying out loud, and he could behave like an adult and get the receipts reconciled.

Then she walked across the floor overhead. It startled him because he’d never been here when someone was upstairs. A soft thud followed by a second one could be her boots hitting the floor. She was undressing.

The figures blurred and he tossed everything aside. To hell with it. Nicole was getting naked and he was missing the show. He crossed the room, took the stairs two at a time and flung open the door.

She spun toward him as a frothy black nightgown slid down her body.

Sending his hat sailing toward the desk, he reached her in two strides, scooped her up and held her tight against his aching package. “You drive me insane.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. “You were supposed to take longer.”

“I left everything a mess.” He kneaded her bottom through the thin layer of filmy material. “Once your boots hit the floor, I was done.”

“Once your boots hit the stairs, so was I.” She gulped for air and wiggled against him. “Are we going to do something about it?”

“Yes, ma’am. We certainly are.”