CHAPTER TWO
AVERY LOCKED HER teeth together and tried to ignore them. Impossible. The women hanging on Rowdy were pretty, sexy and on the make. If Rowdy started for his office with them, she’d...what? Quit? Not likely.
She could just throw cold water on them. She eyed the seltzer water under the bar. It had possibilities.
But as she waited on customers, Rowdy disengaged from the women and then had to dodge others who tried to cling to him. He was polite to them all, but only polite.
Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. Not to her.
He glanced up and caught her scowl. With a wink and a small smile, he went about greeting customers.
Since they’d opened a few weeks ago, Rowdy made a point of doing every job, overseeing every aspect of the operation and mingling with the crowd. The men enjoyed the casual setup of the bar, but Avery suspected the women came as much for Rowdy as for anything else the bar offered.
It had taken a while to get the interior refurbished. A lot of the equipment had to be repaired, and what couldn’t be fixed Rowdy had replaced with used. To save money, he’d done much of the work himself, putting fresh paint on the walls, scrubbing the floors and windows, making sure everything was as shiny and clean as he could make it.
Whenever possible, Avery had pitched in, working side by side with him...and falling harder every second.
She couldn’t pinpoint what it was about Rowdy, but from the day she’d met him, she’d been sinking under his rough-edged charm. Add his gorgeous face to that strong, honed body, and he made spectacular eye candy.
But it was so much more than his physical appeal. Rowdy smiled as if he knew all her secrets, looked at her as if they’d already been intimate. He had confidence down to a fine art, and faced each day with a fearless type of daring.
She knew he did his best to hide it, but there was something supersensitive and attentive in the way he treated life—his own and others.
When Rowdy’s sister had married Detective Logan Riske, Rowdy had inherited a cop as a brother-in-law. She smiled, thinking of how he’d reacted to that. Overall, he didn’t trust the police. But from what she’d seen, he got along well with Logan, and with Detective Reese Bareden, Logan’s partner.
The majority of Rowdy’s background remained a mystery to her, but it didn’t take a psychic to know he’d had a rough life, that he was street-smart and survival savvy. Odds were he’d spent some time on the wrong side of the law, and that accounted for his feelings toward police officers.
Busy washing glasses, Avery didn’t see Rowdy when he came around the back of the bar with her. She turned and ran into him.
Blast the man. “Why do you keep sneaking up on me?”
“Wasn’t sneaking.” Gaze dark with suggestion, he shifted past her. “I’m refilling drinks.”
“Oh. Thanks.” Using chitchat as a cover, Avery tried not to think about seeing him in such a compromising situation earlier. “It’s busy tonight.”
“We’re getting there.” He gave her a quick once-over. “How are you holding up?”
Avery froze. “What do you mean?”
“Like you said, it’s busy. You need any help?”
Oh. Get it together, Avery. Rowdy didn’t care that she had seen him in such a private situation, and that said a lot. “I can handle it. No problem.”
“Let me know if it gets to be too much.” He picked up the tray and started back out to the floor. “I’ll be over in a little while to give you a break.”
“Okay.” Seeing the shift of muscles as he walked away curled her toes in her shoes. Not an uncommon reaction to the sight of him.
A rush of customers kept her too busy to daydream. She liked when things got hopping because it put her in a zone. She found a rhythm and lost herself in the work. She felt...Zen.
When things eased up again, she spotted Rowdy at the back of the bar, inserting himself into an escalating argument between two men and a woman. A chair tipped over. Voices rose.
Before things got out of hand, Rowdy had it back under control. The men subsided. Rowdy had that type of “don’t mess with me” influence. The woman flounced off angrily, and neither of the men attempted to stop her.
Half smiling, Avery watched Rowdy right the chair, which had her recalling how he’d looked during off-hours while working on the bar. The way his biceps bulged when toting heavy equipment. How his thighs flexed when he bent. Those ripped abs when he’d lifted his T-shirt to wipe sweat from his brow.
The sheer pleasure on his face each time he completed a task.
Though Rowdy hadn’t been entirely comfortable with it, he’d gotten help from his new family and friends, too. Seeing them together had taken a little getting used to.
Standing six feet four inches tall, she considered Rowdy supersized. His brother-in-law, Logan, was a few inches shorter, their friend Reese a few inches taller and Logan’s brother, Dash, was a similar height to Rowdy. But physical differences aside, the men couldn’t be more different.
As cops, Logan and Reese were watchful, serious. But Rowdy had a vigilant, even expectant edge to his nature that made him more so. The detectives would relax; Rowdy never seemed to let down his guard.
Logan’s brother, Dash, owned a construction company. From what Avery could tell, he took pride in his work, but once the workday ended, he was all about pleasure. He charmed women with ease.
But again, Rowdy had him beat. An air of danger sharpened everything about Rowdy: his appeal, his looks, his attitude and his capability.
His success with women.
It seemed to her that Rowdy either worked or indulged in female company. Overall he seemed tireless, and very determined to make the bar a success. He stayed after she left, and was almost always there when she arrived.
Today... Well, he’d been there, all right. Really early. Did he often stay the night at the bar? Had he indulged in other liaisons in his office?
Ella approached for a drink order. “Crisis averted,” she quipped, talking about how Rowdy had defused the situation. “He’s the whole package, isn’t he?”
“He does a great job,” Avery agreed.
At thirty-four, Ella was eight years older than her. Unlike Avery, the waitress wore heeled shoes and a low-cut top, and she never stopped smiling. Forever flirting, she called everyone “sweetie” or “sugar,” and she liked to touch. Nothing too intimate, at least not while working. But she did like to get close.
On some women, that barhop personality might seem clichéd, but not on Ella, who was too sincere and far too caring to be anything other than original.
Twining a long lock of her dark brown hair around a finger, Ella leaned on the bar while Avery filled three whiskey shots. “What do you think the meeting is about tonight?”
Avery shrugged. “Rowdy didn’t say, so who knows?”
“Jones was hoping he’d finally get some help in the back. That poor baby works up a sweat every night.”
While Avery would never call the midsixties, lean-and-mean cook a “baby,” she agreed that he had his hands full. Jones, like Ella, was a happy guy. He wore his long graying hair in a ponytail, had more tats than Avery could count, and cursed while cooking—especially during the busier nights.
When possible, one of the waitresses lent him a hand, but those times were few and far between. Rowdy had hoped to keep three waitresses full-time, but only Ella had accepted. The other two, who enjoyed the tips they’d made while dancing the pole, hadn’t appreciated Rowdy’s decision to remove it. They’d dropped to part-time, their schedules rotating so they could pick up work at a club.
“I doubt it has anything to do with the kitchen since we’re getting together late.” With some remodeling still underway, Rowdy often called meetings. If it involved the cook, he’d have collected them before work because the kitchen closed at eleven.
“Well, no matter. He always pays us well when he keeps us over, so I don’t mind.” Ella picked up her tray. “Rowdy sure is something.”
Yeah, he was something all right. Big. Macho.
Oversexed.
Sashaying with each step, Ella strolled away.
Even without the pole, Ella made a killing in tips. But then, it was a busy night, so Avery didn’t do so badly, either.
At 1:00 a.m., when Rowdy gave the last call, Avery was more than ready to call it a night. Twice Rowdy had given her a break, but she’d yet to see him off his feet.
Finally, when the last guest was out the door and Rowdy had locked up, they gathered in the break room. As soon as Avery and Ella took a seat at the round table, Rowdy said, “Sorry, Ella, but we’re switching to a uniform.”
“Why are you sorry, sugar?” Ella crossed her long legs. “I’ve worn uniforms before. Some of them are real cute.”
“Not this kind.” Rowdy laid out the black, unisex, crew neck T-shirt with the bar name on the front in neon yellow. “Nothing sexy, Ella. I want everyone wearing the shirt with jeans.” He shook an apron from a bag. “And one of these.”
Avery eyed the black utilitarian aprons with the same logo as the T-shirts. “I like them.”
Ella looked horrified.
“You get three each. If I could, I’d pony up one for each day of the week, but hopefully, for now, these’ll get you through.”
“You’ll look incredible, Ella,” Avery told her. “It’ll be like a tease. All the men will wonder what they’re not seeing.”
“It’s not the same.” She located her size, hesitated, then put the shirts back and took a size smaller. “I better not lose tips because of this.”
“I doubt you will,” Rowdy said, “because the customers love you. But all the same, I’m giving you a raise. Additional buck an hour.”
That got her smiling again. “Really?”
“We’re doing better than I’d expected, and you’ve really given a hundred percent.”
“Aren’t you the sweetest ever?” Ella dropped the shirts and left her seat to give Rowdy an enthusiastic hug.
Clearly thankful for that reaction, Rowdy hugged her off her feet and kissed the top of her head.
He looked so relieved that Avery assumed he must have been expecting more of an argument.
Over the top of Ella’s head he met her gaze, and slowly eased the other waitress away.
Did he think she’d be jealous of Ella? No. She knew Rowdy valued Ella as an employee, nothing more.
Ella beamed up at him. “Is there anything else, sugar?”
“Nope. That’s it.” He put her shirts and aprons in a bag for her. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Ella gave him a loud kiss on the cheek, stroked his chest once and headed for the back door with her share of the new garments.
From her chair, Avery could see out the break room, through the kitchen to the back door. She watched Rowdy lock the door and then return to her. He dropped into a chair. “One down,” he muttered.
Grinning, Avery asked, “She had you worried?”
“A little.” He rolled his shoulders, rubbed the back of his neck. “I like Ella. She’s a hard worker with a great outlook. Never complains. Smiles at all the customers. But man, she does like to put it out there on display.”
“And here I thought you enjoyed that sort of thing.”
“Somewhere else, sure. But we’re trying to be a different type of bar, remember.”
Realization hit. “So the uniform shirts were your way of downplaying Ella’s assets without hurting her feelings?”
He shrugged. “It seemed better than telling her that she was showing too much boob.”
Avery laughed. “An ingenious move.” She picked up a shirt to better examine the logo. “And I like this. Casual but classy.”
“It’ll go with your jeans.”
Since that’s all she wore while working, she appreciated the effort. “Thanks for that. Just so you know, if you’d produced some cheesy uni that either looked ridiculous or like a fetish, I would have refused.”
“I figured.” Rowdy watched her as she gathered up three shirts and the aprons. “Looks like you’re doing the opposite of Ella.”
“How’s that?”
“A size larger than you need, versus her size smaller. You hide your figure. Ella flaunts hers. But I guess it balances out.”
“It’s not that I’m hiding anything.” Though she had stopped dressing to attract attention a while ago. “It can get pretty fast paced behind the bar. I need freedom of movement. Comfort is more important to me than anything else.”
“Avery?”
She folded the shirts. “Hmm?”
He didn’t move from his seat, didn’t change his tone, so it took her by surprise when he asked, “Why were you early today?”
Pausing, Avery felt the memories flood back in on her.
Rowdy’s deep, rough groan.
His taut expression while coming.
Flustered, she avoided his gaze while fussing with the garments. “I left my phone here last night.”
Slowly, Rowdy leaned forward in his seat and crossed his arms on the tabletop. “You could have gotten it when you got here.”
And instead she’d caught him getting his jollies in the office. “I needed to make a call before my shift started.”
“Yeah? Who did you call?”
No way would she tell him she’d planned to set a doctor’s appointment to get on the pill...because she’d wanted him to get his jollies with her.
But definitely not in the office. “It doesn’t matter now.”
He picked up that bad attitude again. “A boyfriend?”
Avery did a double take. “Where in the world did you come up with that?”
“You got a call from a man. Someone you’re seeing?”
“I... No. That was probably a wrong call or something.” She hoped. Waving off the question, she admitted, “I’m not seeing anyone.”
There was a heavy pause before Rowdy asked softly, “No?”
Refusing to admit it again, she checked the clock on the wall. “I need to go or I’ll miss the bus.”
His gaze searching her face, he came to his feet with her. “Bus?”
“Did you think I walked?”
“No, but I assumed...” He shook his head. “I’ll drive you home.”
“Nooo, you will not.” It was difficult enough being with him in a break room; a closed car would be too much temptation. “Thanks anyway.”
Irritation honed his tone. “Damn it, Avery, this is a tricky situation for me.”
For him? “That has to be a joke, right?”
The muscles of his jaw flexed. “I wish you hadn’t walked in on me today.”
“That makes two of us!”
“But you did,” he stated, “and I think we should talk about it.”
Oh, no, she would not let that intimate tone and determined expression win her over. “I’m not your keeper, Rowdy. And believe me, even without the peep show today, I wasn’t ignorant about your...overactive sex drive. I just hadn’t expected to trip over it at work.”
“It was before work, and an isolated incident.”
Of all the nerve! “You’re saying it’s never happened before?”
“Sure it has.”
Her stomach cramped—until he continued.
“But not here.”
Sputtering, Avery snapped, “Here is what I was talking about!”
“Yeah?”
He left her so disconcerted, she could barely find words. “I wasn’t suggesting that you had never...that you hadn’t...” No, she couldn’t spell it out for his amusement. She squared her shoulders. “I’ve never met a more uninhibited person.”
Male arrogance curled his mouth. “So it was just the location that upset you?”
“I’m not upset!”
At her raised voice, he lifted a brow.
Inhaling in a bid to regain control, Avery said more calmly, “What you do in your own time is your own business.”
“That was my own time—time I wanted to spend with you, but you weren’t interested.”
Dropping the shirts, Avery propped her hands on her hips. “That’s your excuse?”
He eased closer. “Sorry, honey, but I don’t need an excuse.” Oh-so-gently, he smoothed back a curl that had escaped her ponytail. “I’m a grown man, it’s my bar and I wasn’t expecting anyone to show up so early, especially not you.”
“Perfect!” She snatched up the shirts again, anxious to be on her way. “I guess that’s settled then.”
Rowdy caught her arm. “Hold up.” She started to jerk free, until he said, “Come on, Avery, give me a chance to explain.”
It wasn’t the smartest move, because every second with him chipped away at her resistance, but she paused anyway.
“All right, let’s hear it.” This ought to be good.
But then again, maybe not.
* * *
TO GIVE HIMSELF a moment to think, Rowdy took the garments from Avery and tossed them back on the table. With her looking so mulish—and so damned cute—he would have preferred backing her up to the wall and following his instincts instead of talking.
But he could just imagine how she’d react to that.
Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, he tried to figure out what to say, and how to say it.
Overflowing with belligerence, Avery crossed her arms. “Any day now.”
“Give me a second, will you?” He propped a hip on the tabletop and scrutinized her. “You might not know this, but I’ve never explained myself to a woman before. That is, a woman other than my sister. But even with Pepper, it was generalizations. Never anything detailed about when, where or with who I had sex.”
Avery bristled. “You don’t have to explain to me, either.”
“I think I do, but it’s complicated by the fact that you work for me.”
When he said no more, she lifted her chin. “How so?”
Rowdy had never had a problem with plain speaking. He saw no reason to start complicating things now. “I have a major jones for you, Avery. You know that.”
Her jaw loosened. “Oh, my God. You are so—”
“But as your employer,” he interrupted, “I could cross a line here if I’m not careful.”
She choked. “Seriously, Rowdy? This is you being careful?”
To hell with it. Brushing his knuckles over her cheek, down her throat, he said, “I want you. All the fucking time.” Even when I’m with other women. He opened his hand on her shoulder, urged her closer. “And it’s not going away anytime soon.”
She softened the tiniest bit, but still said, “Looked to me like it went away just fine this morning.”
Seeing the hurt she tried to hide with sarcasm, he shook his head. “No, honey, not even close.”
Her mouth tightened. “So your date was just—”
“You’re confusing things now. I don’t date. What you saw was sex, plain and simple.”
“Oh, my God.” She pressed her hands to his chest, but not with any real conviction at pushing him away. “I don’t want to hear this.”
“She knew what it was.” Rowdy easily held on to her. “I didn’t sugarcoat things, and she agreed one hundred percent.”
Anger darkened her blue eyes and lowered her voice to a rasp. “I can’t imagine why you’re telling me this.”
Because what you think of me matters. Rowdy slid his hand to the back of her neck, keeping her near. “I get the feeling you saw me with her and you took it personally.”
“Your ego is showing.”
Knowing he’d hit a nerve, Rowdy dipped his head, brushed his nose over her hair. “You think it was a rejection or something.” He inhaled her scent, and tightened all over. God Almighty, the way she stirred him...
“Honestly,” Avery whispered, “I don’t know what to think.”
“Think about saying yes instead of no.”
She drew back a small fist and punched his ribs.
Grinning, Rowdy hugged her. After the long day at work, it felt better than good to hold her. “I shouldn’t tease?”
“Definitely not.”
“Okay.” He kissed her temple and leaned her back so he could see her face. “Seriously then, I’m sorry if it hurt you in any way. Never my intent, believe me.”
She looked up at him, her blue eyes big and soft, her hands now curled into his shirt—holding on to him. “Then why did you do it?”
At least she wasn’t storming off, Rowdy told himself. She sounded far more reasonable than he could have hoped for. “I didn’t want her in my new place, and she didn’t have any privacy in hers.”
Eyes flaring, Avery finally shoved him away. “Ass!”
To be on the safe side, Rowdy moved to lean in the doorway, but she didn’t try to leave.
She only went to the other side of the table—out of his reach. “That’s not what I meant. Yes, I’m surprised you’d do such a thing here at work. But I was asking...” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
No, he wouldn’t let her do that. “Why was I with her in the first place?”
After a long hesitation, she gave one sharp nod.
He didn’t want to detail the extent of his own failings, but he also didn’t want to end the night with her pissed off. He considered making up a believable story, but he knew he wouldn’t lie to her.
What he saw in her beautiful eyes touched him.
She wanted him to have a good excuse because she wanted a reason to give in to him.
To chase off his personal demons, he’d spent the night in a sexual marathon. He should have been well spent, and he had been.
Before Avery.
But now, with her so close, being alone with her, seeing that particular look in her eyes, he instead felt like he’d spent a month being celibate.
He’d tell her the basics and it’d have to be enough. “Women have usually come easy to me.”
“There’s a newsflash.”
From the day they’d met, before he’d bought the bar, Avery had seen him picking up women. Not something he was proud of, but not really anything he’d try to hide, either. He was a grown man and he more than enjoyed sex.
Determined to stay on track, Rowdy ignored the gibe. “When I get turned down, it doesn’t matter.”
“Why would it?” Like an accusation, she said, “There’s always another woman waiting.”
He shrugged, accepting the inaccurate claim. “That’s not the point.” Once again, he moved toward her. He couldn’t seem to help himself. From day one, Avery had drawn him, not just physically but in other, more disturbing ways—ways he didn’t want to analyze too closely. “I’ll try to explain if you let me.”
She crossed her arms. “I’m all ears.”
No, she was all backbone and pride and, even when trying to conceal it, hot sensuality. “When I get turned down, and believe me, I do, it doesn’t matter because I don’t care enough for it to matter.”
She half turned away. “Guess I should remember that, huh?”
Rowdy brought her back around, and though it unnerved him, he admitted the truth. “With you, it matters.”
She searched his face, but wasn’t convinced. “That’d be easier to believe if I hadn’t busted you just this morning.”
He needed to get her past that. “I needed a distraction, that’s all.”
Dubious, she asked, “Sex?”
“Best distraction I’ve ever found.” He’d still been in his early teens when he’d learned that girls brought light to the darkest shadows. He’d always been big for his age, always looked older, and girls had taken his quiet, cautious nature as maturity.
While other boys were busy playing ball or...fuck, maybe G.I. Joe for all he knew, he’d been running interference for his little sister. He’d defended her verbally, and when that didn’t work, he’d protected her physically. For as long as he could remember, he’d done his best to shelter Pepper from the reality of their lives—which often meant accepting the brunt of the abuse himself. As a result, turmoil sometimes exploded inside him.
Thanks to a high school cheerleader, he’d lost his virginity at fifteen. What an eye-opener that had been. He’d learned that grinding release had a profound way of emptying his mind and body of pent-up tension. With sex as a stress reliever, he could cope with whatever life threw at him.
But none of that had anything to do with Avery.
“Rowdy?”
That gentler tone set him on edge. She’d watched him get lost in thought, and damn it, he never did that. Definitely not with women. “What?”
“Is something wrong with the bar?” Concern softened her expression. She touched his arm. “With you?”
“No.” Did she honestly think he’d go mewling to a woman if he did have a problem?
“Then why did you need a distraction?”
Damn it. He’d said too much. “It’s getting late.” He checked the time. “You’re going to miss that bus if we don’t get moving.”
“Oh, shoot!” Jumping away from him, she shrugged into her lightweight jacket and gathered the new shirts and aprons together. After slinging her purse strap over her shoulder, she rushed to the break room door and...hesitated. “Are you leaving now, too?”
Right behind her, Rowdy took the shirts from her. “I’ll walk you out.”
Her shoulders loosened. “Great. Thanks.”
Expecting an argument more than easy acceptance, Rowdy asked with suspicion, “How often do you take the bus?”
“Always.”
So night after night she left on her own? At two in the morning? And here he’d always thought her so sensible. Had he known, he’d have been walking her out every night.
They weren’t in the best area, and even though the street never completely emptied of passersby, it could still be dangerous for a woman alone. There were a lot of alleyways, parked cars and deserted buildings where a woman could disappear.
Since he’d locked up earlier, Rowdy turned off the remaining lights as they went to the back door. He couldn’t quite keep the irritation out of his tone when he asked, “Is there a reason you take the bus?”
“Yup.”
While waiting for her to expound on that, he opened the door, stepped out with her and then locked it up again. When she said nothing more, he prompted, “Care to share?”
“Sure.” Already striding ahead, she said over her shoulder, “Soon as you tell me why you needed a distraction.”
So he hadn’t thrown her off the track at all, huh? Avery wasn’t like other women. She wouldn’t take a hint, and she sure as hell didn’t defer to his wishes.
Taking several long steps, Rowdy reached her as she headed to the bus stop at the front of the bar. Unfortunately, at least from her point of view, the bus had just turned a corner and was disappearing from sight.
“Great.” She glanced around in what looked like worry, then dropped onto a bench, opened her purse and started digging around.
Rowdy stood over her. “What are you doing?”
“Finding my phone so I can call a cab.”
Not happening. “Why don’t you be reasonable instead and let me drive you home?”
She found her phone and lifted it out.
“Avery.” Crouching down in front of her, Rowdy took her small hands in his. She was so petite, so fine-boned and feminine.
“What?” Something showed in her eyes, maybe anxiety. Possibly even fear.
Protective instincts jumped to the forefront of his brain. “You don’t trust me?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
Slumping back, she gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “If you have to know, I’m not sure I trust myself.”
Now, that was interesting. “You mean with me?”
Grudgingly, she muttered, “You are a temptation.”
Still? Even after she’d busted him getting head from a one-night stand? That surprised Rowdy, and sent a rush of lust through his bloodstream. “Then...”
She got huffy. “Get real, Rowdy. All the women want you.”
Her perceptions of him were a bit skewed, but why disillusion her? “Not all.”
Chin up, she stated, “I won’t be just another body in a long line of one-night stands.”
Like one night would even come close to taking the edge off. And yeah, that was unusual. One night was normally more than enough...with other women.
Apparently not with Avery.
As independent as she might be, his little bartender had a very old-fashioned way of looking at things. “Why not look at it as mutual fun?” He gave her his most wolfish smile. “We both know eventually you’ll be in my bed.”
“Really?” Never one to disappoint, Avery said, “Why don’t you hold your breath waiting for that to happen?”
He laughed, kissed her knuckles and said, “Just for that, I’m going to make you ask real pretty.”
“That,” she said, “isn’t going to happen. The other... Well, I have enough common sense to know I don’t want to go there.” Her gaze dipped to his mouth, and she sighed. “Not yet.”
Not yet? Meaning... “Maybe soon?”
She shrugged.
Well, that had his dick perking up. In some instances, a shrug was as good as a resounding affirmation. His shoulders knotted with restraint, but he managed to say, “Okay, then,” without too much satisfaction.
He’d sort through things, figure out her reasons for waiting and find a way around them. But until then, he didn’t want to scare her off. “Let’s agree that there’s no reason for you to splurge on a cab. I made you miss the bus, so I’ll see you home.”
She studied the moon shadows lurking between buildings, frowned at a few dark cars parked near the curb. A stranger walked up the street, head down, hands in his pockets.
On a deep breath, Avery checked her watch—and bit her lip.
Taking that as another sign of agreement, Rowdy rose to his feet again. “It’s late. No way will I leave you out here alone, so run up to my apartment with me, okay? I’ll grab my car keys.” He took one step off the curb, ready to cross the street—and realized that Avery hadn’t moved. He turned back to her. “Coming?”
Clutching her purse, she stared at him with confusion. “I don’t understand.”
With anticipation surging, he turned to face her. “About?”
“So many things...” She looked up and down the street again, at a few people loitering on the corner, back at the bar. After palpable hesitation, she rose from the bench and approached him.
“Like?” He watched her eyes and saw her sort through a dozen issues before settling on one.
“Where exactly is your apartment?”
“Right here.” Rowdy indicated the big brick building on the opposite side of the street from the bar. “I just moved in a week ago.”