Gigi pulled into her parking lot with two brand new tires and an impressive hole in her bank balance. The mechanics had pulled six of those metal screws out of her tires. They rattled in the cup holder as she drove, strengthening her resolve to speak to the contractors the next time she saw them.

Just as her annoyance began to smolder anew, her mental review of the day's events put her back in Noah's truck, warm breeze in her hair as they rode through her neighborhood to her house. The memory of his body twisting beneath hers as she tickled him made her breathe easier. Maybe all was well that ended well. That thought would keep her warm long after he made his way to Florida.

She backed into an unfamiliar parking spot near the edge of the gravel lot. She'd need to deal with the screws somehow before Heather's party. She could block the space off with a cone or put the grill in that spot, if it wasn't too close to the Dumpster. Unless Noah had already come up with a way to get rid of them.

She was out of the car before she noticed his truck was not in its usual space. Very odd. His shift started with hers, and when she arrived a few minutes early, she typically found him here, already working.

She pulled the screen door open, shaking her head. He'd spoiled her. He wouldn't actually be late for some time yet. He was likely still running errands for his landlady. She'd have to stop holding him to these crazy standards.

She went down the hallway to the bar, greeting her regulars in their usual booth as she went. The contractors from next door sat together at the center of the bar. Just the men she wanted to see.

She shouldered in between two of them. "You gentlemen lose something in the parking lot the other day?"

They nodded sheepishly. One of them apologized. "Heather said you lost two tires," he said.

"Yes, I did. I said a lot of unpleasant words when I found out."

"Well, the person who dropped the box has been punished," he said, pointing at one of his colleagues.

Gigi looked at him. "Were you punished?"

He flushed red. "Yeah. I had to get on my hands and knees in the parking lot this morning and pick them up."

That hardly sounded like sufficient punishment to Gigi. She'd have made him use his teeth. But all the contractors erupted into peals of laughter.

"Good. I hope for your sake you got them all," she said.

"If he didn't, you know where to find me." The contractor winked at her, and Gigi nodded her approval. In another time, she might have flirted more with the guy; the sun had left him with a deep tan that made his blue eyes all the more striking.

But tonight, she was looking for Noah.

She went behind the bar to join Heather, who was shaking a Long Island iced tea for a customer at the end of the bar. A quick look around confirmed that Noah wasn't here; the supply of clean glasses on the back bar was shorter than usual.

Heather beat Gigi to the question. "You know where Noah is?" she asked, with just a trace of the mischief Gigi had started to expect.

"I was going to ask you."

Heather strained the drink into a glass full of ice and topped it with Coke until it attained the proper color. She glanced at her watch before reaching for a straw.

"I guess it's not late yet." Heather chuckled and delivered the drink. "Maybe he's sleepy, too."

Gigi pulled her usual glass of ice water a little more slowly than usual, shifting carefully around her friend as she reached for bottles, glasses and ice. Then she headed back to the office, where the last of the party phone calls and her usual paperwork awaited her. She knew she was stalling.

September will feel like this. Looking around for him all the time and not finding him.

Gigi settled into her office chair with her iPad and pulled up her list of phone numbers for the party. Heather's family was coming, along with a handful of regulars who had been there as long as she had. Her uncle's motorcycle club, the Red Rovers, would stop there in town for the night on the way back from Florida. She made her last round of preparatory calls, making sure everyone knew to bring their own beverages and something extra to go with the pig on the big grill they'd rented.

By the time she finished party planning, almost an hour had gone by. Now Noah was late. She headed back into the bar and found Heather hauling her own ice. She frowned at her day manager, who shrugged as best she could with her hands full.

How strange. He was probably in traffic or something. She couldn't imagine why he wouldn't call. It wasn't grounds for panic, but at the same time, she knew Heather was only still here to cover for him until the end of happy hour.

She went back to her office and pulled up the staff directory on her iPad. She'd dialed about half of his number when the screen door slammed.

Gigi looked up in time to see Noah charge into her office. To his credit, he didn't quite slam the door, but the firm way he shut it and the tinge of red that stained his cheekbones got her attention quick. She opened her mouth to ask what had gotten him tied up and say that she was glad to see him.

"You saw the note," he said.

She needed a second to make the connection. "Yeah. Tha—"

"And so you didn't call?" His voice was taut.

"Well, no." She knitted her fingers together. "I got a ride with Heather."

He was silent for a moment. She watched the muscle in his jaw work, and he looked down at the floor beside her desk. She noticed her own fingers flexing against each other and forced herself to stop. She didn't know what had set him off, but she was sure she'd had nothing to do with it.

"So that's it?" he asked.

She frowned. "What's it?"

He came toward the desk in two long strides. Then he backed away, grabbing his hips. "Gigi, what am I to you?"

At least she wasn't confused about his tone.

She resorted to a de-escalation technique her father had taught her as a trainee bartender and repeated his question, slowly. "What are you to me?"

He nodded sharply. "Yeah. What am I? Employee? Barback with benefits?"

So much for de-escalation. "What the fuck are you talking about? The note said to call if I needed a ride. I didn't. I came in with Heather." Her face prickled. "You weren't waiting around for that, were you?"

"You were supposed to call me. I went home to mow the lawn, which turned into God knows how many other things, but when I finally went back to bed, I knew you would call later and wake me up."

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry." She sighed. "I went and called Heather instead. But look, it's no big deal. It's not like you blew off the whole shift."

His back stiffened. "No, see, it is a big deal. You were supposed to call me."

Gigi tightened her grip on her own fingers, partly to keep from getting up. She took a deep breath.

"I want to be sure I'm hearing you correctly. You're not mad because I didn't wake you up. You're mad because I called someone other than you. Is that really what you're saying?"

He folded his arms across his chest. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

She stared at him for a moment. "Because of last night? You can't be serious." She waved off his reply. "Last night doesn't entitle you to anything."

"So what am I to you, Gigi? What does last night make me?"

She looked him in the eye, trying to make this just another conversation with just another employee. "The very first time anything happened between us, you said that night was that night. It doesn't change anything. Didn't you say that?"

"So I'm just your employee who happens to be a good lay?"

She did stand up then. She put her hands on the desk, her palms flat on the surface, feeling like she could shove it through the floor and straight to hell.

"You are exactly what you said you were the very first time I met you. You are a man passing through on the way to another job." She let the silence hang between them for long seconds, and their proximity generated a different kind of electricity. "Now, if you're going to let this get in the way, if you need time to get straight with this, you let me know. I can sure arrange that for you. We can manage without you until you get yourself right."

His eyes stayed locked to hers. "Don't worry, boss. I'm good."

"Good." She sat back down. "They're waiting for you out there."

He turned around, looked over his shoulder for a second, and then walked out.

Her office felt cooler immediately, either because of the air coming through the hall or because he'd taken all that rage outside.

Did he really think last night made them a thing?

She scoffed at the iPad. Its screen still showed his contact info. She swiped it away, angry at the thought of him.

This isn't really on him, though. Is it?

The trouble had started the first time she'd acted on her attraction to him. She'd surrendered to the magnetic forces that existed between them, and she'd known it would end badly, and of course, it had. She hadn't predicted this particular ending for their story, but here it was anyway. It hadn't even taken very long.

Shit. What if he walked out? People had walked out for less than this.

That wasn't like Noah. He wasn't a quitter. That wasn't really what worried her.

She already missed the sizzle that used to light the air between them. She hated to lose the man who met her needs so well in bed. He even ignited desires she hadn't known about.

Worse yet, she found herself thinking more often of the moments they shared sitting next to each other, in a matched pair of Adirondack chairs or on the vintage couch in her living room.

She wouldn't lose a barback, but she'd already lost a lover. Someone who might have been more.

She put her hands over her face. She hadn't lost that. He hadn't ever been hers.

Now she had to come to grips with the same reality she'd tried to push on Heather.

Noah wasn't here to stay. Becoming more attached to him at this point would be a mistake.