Chapter Three
What had Eric been thinking? Well, it was clear he hadn’t, or that shit would have never happened. But he couldn’t just ignore her looks. Hell, even Patrick seemed to notice.
He downed another shot. He’d lost count again, but what the fuck did it matter? With Patrick around, he was good.
He licked his lips and could still taste her sweet mouth. She’d seemed so dainty. He wanted nothing more than to mess that up, become a twist of hot sticky bodies, each pushing for their release. His cock throbbed in agreement. She was just what he wanted. Too bad there was no way he could take her.
Crystal slammed another shot on the table in front of him.
“You’re an ass,” the blonde woman said, and picked up his empty shot glass.
He really was. Too bad she didn’t know what an ass he really could be. Maybe then she’d just quit trying with him.
The leggy brunette walked in from the hall with all her curves and long brown hair that had been making him crazy for the past hour.
Her eyes went to his, and Eric felt the heat from before. He looked away. There was no way he was going down that road. He knew what would happen. The muscles in his jaw ticked as he thought it over.
Eric picked up the new shot and slammed it back. The harsh whiskey burned as it went down.
Patrick shook his head, and Eric squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn’t have to see the disdain written on his friend’s face from across the room.
What did Crystal and Patrick know? It wasn’t like he planned this. He’d had something else in mind for life, but that hadn’t seemed to matter. In the end he got fucked, and the world just seemed to move on around him. The world didn’t give a fuck, so why should he?
Eric opened his eyes and watched as the brunette sat down next to Patrick. Anger fueled by the whiskey coursed through him. She was supposed to leave. She’d been driving him crazy. All he wanted her to do was grab her stuff and walk out the door. One less temptation in his life.
Instead, she stared defiantly at him. Eric ground his teeth when she touched Patrick’s arm and laughed. Much longer watching this, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to handle it.
Eric caught Crystal staring at him from the bar. He raised his glass for another shot, and she frowned. Maybe if he just kept drinking, he’d actually dull the ache. It hadn’t worked thus far, but that didn’t mean he was willing to give up.
Jennifer saw him as she sat back in her chair. His face was hard and cold. Whatever had happened before now seemed so distant when looking at him.
A chill ran through her, and she wondered just what he had been thinking. Maybe he’d drank enough that anything sounded good. She pulled her attention from him and focused on Patrick. He was much nicer and easily understood.
“I’m sorry, but your ex sounds like a dick,” he said suddenly.
Jennifer snorted loudly.
And blunt. Patrick seemed blunt beyond words. The people she knew didn’t say things like that. Actually, they went out of their way not to say those sorts of things, even if it meant being a bigger ass.
“I think some people might disagree.” She smiled.
His grin dropped slightly as she spoke. “You aren’t one of those people, are you?”
Jennifer shook her head. She didn’t know what she was anymore. “Maybe.” She sighed and watched as he tried to hide his disappointment. “Up until a few hours ago I was calling him the love of my life.”
Her heart twisted a little. It hurt more now than it had before. Maybe there was more to it than she thought. Walking away from a relationship wasn’t something she was used to.
“Well,” Patrick said, and took her hand. “I think you deserve better.”
She gave a weak smile and shook her head.
“I think what I really need is a job,” she said quietly. “Need a marketer?”
A loud bang in the corner made her flinch. Jennifer slipped her hand from Patrick’s and looked around. Eric sat glaring at them from the corner, an empty shot glass still in hand.
Her pulse hammered in her ears, and she felt the blood rush to her face as a wave of heat came over her. This was not a man she wanted to get mixed up with.
“Maybe we could use some help here,” Patrick said.
Her head whipped around so fast the room spun for a moment. Jennifer grinned widely at him.
“Really?”
He was staring off behind her, and she felt her stomach twist.
“Eric is the one in charge of that sort of thing,” he said with a shrug.
“Eric?” The smile on her face slipped as she processed what he was saying.
Patrick nodded his head. The look of pity in his eyes was nearly too much, and she knew she wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“I’m really the silent partner,” he said with a nod toward Eric. “He’s the person you’d need to see if you want a job.”
“Thanks,” she said, and stood on shaky legs.
Jennifer looked over to Eric. He was sitting, still watching her. She didn’t need this drama right now. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had enough today.
She turned to the door. It would really be best if she just got her things together and walked away.
Uncertainty gnawed at her as she looked around. The bar really could use some marketing. It was nice inside, and yet on a Friday night, there wasn’t hardly a soul in the place.
Not really knowing what she was doing, her body turned, and she marched across the room to Eric.
She shook her head. This was a mistake, but what the hell else was she going to do? They needed her, and she needed a job. Especially with her parents coming in. Something was better than nothing. Although with them, it was only better by a very small margin.
When she reached the table, Jennifer waited for Eric to look up at her.
She stood in silence until, at last, he looked up.
“You need something?”
She could hear the smirk in his voice even if it didn’t translate over onto his face.
Jennifer straightened. “Actually, you need something,” she said. Number one rule in getting a job, confidence. Or in her case, fake it till you make it.
He raised a brow, and she tried not to study his strong features, especially his demanding lips. She licked her lips at the thought.
“Oh?” he said. His eyes were focused hard on her mouth.
Jennifer nodded and moved forward a little. “You need me to put this place on the map.”
He gave a dry laugh, and it was about as she had expected.
“Don’t think that’s what I need.”
She ignored his double entendre.
“Oh, I think it is,” she said. “Or you wouldn’t be fixing the place up.”
Eric stood, and she wondered if she’d said the wrong thing as he stared her down.
“Patrick is fixing the place up,” he said, and leaned forward until was just a foot from her face. “I think we both know what I need.”
Her back stiffened as his breath swept over her. She could feel her nipples tighten and cursed the need that pulled her to him. Jennifer clenched her fists as she reigned in her arousal. She leaned forward to match him, a smile on her face.
“I do know what you need,” she said sweetly. “You need about forty-eight hours to sober up.”
His eyes flashed with anger, and she knew she had struck a chord. He opened his mouth to say something back, but she hurried on.
“I can make something of this place.”
Eric glanced behind her, and she hoped that Patrick was behind her giving a thumbs up.
“I can’t say that I think we need marketing help,” he said, and she felt her heart fall. “But I could use a waitress.”
Jennifer tried not to wrinkle her nose, but all those years in school just to start waiting tables? It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it, but why get the degree if it was going to end this way?
Her stomach turned at what her parents would say over their daughter working in a place like this. Although the prospect of not having a job was even worse. She’d have to ask them for help, and at this point, she wasn’t ready to make those sorts of sacrifices.
“How about this?” Eric said. He sighed and sat back down. His voice was low, and she wondered if he was having trouble keeping up after all he’d had to drink. “You prove you are part of the team, and I’ll listen to your ideas.”
Jennifer weighed her options. At least this way offered a chance, and there was no way someone else was going to hire her after the way she was fired.
She stuck out her hand. “I’m Jennifer.” She offered the nicest smile she could muster.
He stared at her hand for a long while before she dropped it to her side. The smile on her face slid off, and she started to wonder if this was a good idea. He’d just cornered her in the hall, and now she was taking a job from someone who didn’t even want to shake her hand. Jennifer glanced over her shoulder and found Patrick watching them both anxiously.
She turned back and found Eric’s hard eyes on her again. He held her gaze, and she shifted uncomfortably. There was something about the way he looked at her that made her insides flutter in a way she had never felt before.
He raised a hand and waved the pretty blonde bartender over.
“This is Jen,” he said. The corners of his mouth twitched like he knew the nickname would piss her off. “Help her learn the ropes around here.”
The bartender looked at her like this was the last thing she wanted to be doing. Jennifer gave her a weak smile.
“It’s actually Jennifer,” she said.
The woman looked between the two of them and then snorted. “I’m sure it is,” she said, and turned back to Eric. “You’re joking right? This is not helping.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I asked you, Crystal.”
The woman seemed to wither under his harsh stare, and it only fueled the irritation inside Jennifer.
“I’m a hard worker,” she said to the woman. There was no reason to sell herself to this woman, but she needed an ally in all this, and Crystal looked to be it. “And I learn quickly.”
The blonde woman looked at her, and something softened in her eyes. Jennifer could only hope that whatever the woman was seeing didn’t suddenly go away. She wanted this job, but she wasn’t going to be browbeaten while on the clock. By anyone. Those days were over for her.
Crystal sighed, and some of her blond hair slipped forward over her face. The wavy tendrils seemed so retro in her eyes, and Jennifer wondered what the woman would look like without nearly as much product both in her hair and on her face.
“Fine,” Crystal said grudgingly. “Let’s get you something to cover up that dress. It looks like we just dragged you in off the street.”
She winced at the very accurate depiction.
Crystal made her way to the bar, but Jennifer paused. She turned and wasn’t surprised to find Eric watching her.
“In the end, you’re going to be sorry you weren’t using my brain from the beginning,” Jennifer said.
His gaze wandered from her face, and she shivered as it slipped down her body.
“It’s not really your brain that I’m interested in,” he said finally. His eyes smoldered with the desire they had both been feeling.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she backed up slightly. “Well,” she sputtered. Her mind was blanking. “That’s not an option.”
She spun around and hurried to the other side of the room as far away from his words as she could get. This really was about the worst decision she had ever made.
* * *
Eric wanted to toss the stupid shot glass across the room. What had he been thinking? He wasn’t in the position to be dealing with this shit, and there was no way in hell that this was going to end well. Not with the need that bubbled up whenever Jennifer was around.
“Fuck,” he said, and shoved the glass back hard.
“Well, that was surprising,” Patrick said.
Eric knew he was being watched, but it still hadn’t helped. For all he knew, she could be the key to keeping the bar open. They weren’t in distress yet, but it wouldn’t be long before they were. He needed a solution, and she might just be it.
“She’s smart,” Patrick said as if he could read Eric’s mind.
Eric grunted and turned his head. He didn’t want to talk about Jennifer. Actually, he didn’t even know why he’d hired her in the first place. It wasn’t like him, and he rarely deviated from routine. Lot of good it’d done him.
He sighed. That wasn’t true. He knew why he hired her.
“She’s an extra set of hands around here,” he said.
Patrick stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “That shit might work with everyone else, but you know it’s not going to fly with me.”
The other man was right. They had known each other for far too long for Eric’s act to work.
“Why did you push her toward me then?” Eric said. “Her being around isn’t going to be good.”
“She might be your chance to heal. Not only that, but she’ll be good for business. Came from a fancy school,” Patrick said. “Plus, she’s the first woman you’ve even looked at since—”
Eric’s eyes snapped to his friend who quickly stopped talking. Some things were never going to be on the table again. His gaze drifted to where Jennifer was behind the bar, and he couldn’t help but feel the need from earlier. Pain lanced through him, and he winced.
“I’ll give you that she might be good for business, but you’re kidding yourself if you think I’ll ever heal.”
Eric tore his attention away from her. It didn’t matter, he thought. Whatever she had, he only hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass.