Chapter Two
“Why are you in a shitty mood?” Peter asked.
Reese looked away from where Julia sat at one of the tables, her head once again in a book. She’d nearly finished the Coke she ordered. Her shift didn’t start for another hour, and at the moment everything was quiet.
“I’m fine.” That was a complete and total lie. He was pissed. Not at anyone but himself. When he’d watched her place the towel on his chair, he’d thought that she didn’t like to sit on his stuff. He’d gotten pissed. Of course, he didn’t follow her when she stormed out of his apartment. Yep, another lie. He’d pulled on his clothes and kept pace a distance away from her to make sure she made it to her apartment safely.
He’d been doing it for some time now. Whenever she thought he was asleep he’d wait for her to head toward his door. He’d quickly pull on some clothes and follow her, as he didn’t want her getting hurt.
Just because they were both used to these parts didn’t exactly make it safe.
“You don’t look fine. You look pissed about something.”
He stared at his friend. “What do you think of Julia?”
Peter glanced over at her. “She’s a nice girl, why?”
“You don’t think she’s too … bookish?”
“Dude, do you even know anything about her other than that she keeps on studying?”
Reese shook his head. “Nope.”
“You really need to get your head out of your ass. I asked her over a year ago, admittedly a little drunk, if she was going to save the world with all of her reading and studying.”
“And?”
“She failed.”
“What?”
“The classes she’s taken, she’s failed half of them, and she’s still trying.”
Reese glanced over at her, and with that little bit of information, he was able to read her better. She kept on frowning, and he saw that she kept on rubbing her forehead as if she couldn’t understand what was in front of her.
“Is there something going on between the two of you?”
“Nope. Just curious as to why she’s always got her head in a book. Figured she thought she was better than all of us.”
Peter burst out laughing. “You do realize she’s always getting stuck in and getting her hands dirty, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t even work here, and I’ve heard nothing but polite shit about her. She’s always willing to take another’s shift. She helps to clean the place up when it’s not necessary. Trudy was telling me that she even babysat for her when she needed to take another of her kids to the doctors.”
“I had no idea.”
“You’ve really read her wrong if you think that she thinks she’s too good for us.” Peter kept on chuckling. “I’ve got to take a leak.”
Reese ignored his friend, his gaze drifting back to Julia, and he felt like a total asshole. Seeing her Coke was done, he grabbed another bottle, pulled off the cap, and poured it into a glass, adding a straw.
He checked to make sure Lori was okay to work the bar, and then headed toward Julia. A couple of women tried to stop him, but he didn’t give them the time of day. Placing the glass on the table, he picked up her empty one. “It looked like you could use a refill.”
Julia jerked back, a little startled. “I’m so sorry.”
“Is it a good book?” he asked, giving a little chuckle. He lowered himself down into the seat opposite her.
“It’s supposed to be. I don’t know. It’s some kind of doomed romance, I think.” She shrugged.
He watched as she sat up, lifting her arms above her head and giving a stretch. Her notebook was spread open, and he saw all the scribbles and writing, along with stuff crossed out. He’d never taken the time to wander over to her when she was studying at the bar.
“So, what do you want to be?”
“Well, I had one day hoped to be an author, but there’s no way in hell that’s ever happening.” She placed a hand against her mouth, and he saw her yawn. “Then of course I was thinking of being a teacher, but I doubt that’s ever going to happen.”
“You’ll get there,” he said.
Seeing how she was struggling, he felt like the world’s biggest ass.
“Thanks.” She didn’t sound so convinced. “This is sweet.” She lifted the glass and took a sip. “And it’s cold. Lovely, thank you.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, blurting out the apology.
“For what?”
“For my outburst yesterday.”
“It’s already forgotten. You don’t need to worry about it.” She pushed some of her hair off her face. “We’re just having fun, remember?”
“Yeah, well, it’s not the first time that I’ve fucked up either.”
She giggled. “Don’t worry. It’s men’s prerogative to screw up. I didn’t help matters either. I just … did that.”
“Come on, I should have assumed that was what you’re doing. It’s me.” He patted his chest. “And I know how good I am.”
Her blush was the sweetest thing. “Okay. This is kind of scary. Are we having a conversation?”
“No. We’re not, and we’re not even being nice to each other.” He stood up. “Get back to studying, woman, and stop slacking off.” He gave her a wink.
“Thank you, Reese, really.”
She reached out, grabbing his hand. He didn’t pull away. Even though they were where they both worked, he held onto her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Anytime.”
****
Putting away her English Lit books actually felt good to Julia. Moments like this, she felt like she’d never get to live her dreams. She’d failed courses for some time now, and it wasn’t because of working either. No matter how much she studied, she just couldn’t seem to grasp everything.
Her professor at the night college had even suggested that she take a break and consider her options. If she couldn’t even pass her courses, teaching would be out of the question.
Life just seemed to suck.
She didn’t linger on everything she wouldn’t have though. At least she still had a job, and that was way more than most. She checked her hair and makeup, seeing that she looked ready to get to work.
Grabbing her tray, she headed out to the club. It was a little after seven, and it was already humming with activity. James’s Place was more than just a nightclub. He saw that bars and nightclubs could come and go. During the day, he accepted business meetings and lunches for working staff, and offered a dinner menu for families on certain nights.
He had a schedule that catered to everyone. Tonight was date night. This wasn’t with ordinary couples though. This was where couples got to meet other couples, and share.
James also had a night for speed dating, which was interesting. She’d never seen a room move so fast going from one person to another.
She went to one of the first tables and got their drink orders. Anyone could just go to the bar, but sometimes it interrupted the flow of conversation, and James hadn’t wanted that. He wanted to keep everything flowing, so people knew by word of mouth his club was the best. Now people would come here just to check the place out.
With a smile, she left the table and headed toward the bar. Reese was free. She ignored the rush that came to her at the sight of him.
“Who would have thought it? Swingers?” He gave her a wink.
She wrinkled her nose and glanced around the room. Men were eyeing up other men’s wives, and it just didn’t sit well with her. “I don’t think I could live like this. What about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Men are looking at other men’s wives. If you had someone else looking at your woman and wanting to screw her…”
“That wouldn’t happen,” he said.
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“She’d never want to be with anyone else.” He gave her a wink. “You’re not into swinging?”
“I have no problem with it really. Kind of like all lifestyles. I know they’re there, but they’re not for me.” She shrugged.
“Would you be the jealous type?”
“Possibly. I don’t know. I don’t think I’d be happy being with one man while knowing he’s with another woman, and it’s not even considered cheating.”
He chuckled. “James certainly saw a business opportunity and took it.” He finished her drinks. “Are you free later?”
“What?” They never usually asked this.
“I was wondering if you were free later. We could go and get a coffee or something.”
Most nights they stumbled together. Coffee was rarely drunk. The sex was always off the charts.
“Yes, I’m free.” She threw caution to the wind.
“Good.” He gave her another wink, and she refused to let that charm her.
Get a grip, Julia.
She delivered drinks, took orders, then stood and waited while either Lori or Reese finished her order before heading back out. She caught conversations along with flirtation from most of the couples. They were all really digging it.
James was there, like at all events, because he liked to make sure they ran smoothly. He was guiding his staff, pointing out areas that needed cleaning, or showing them who needed to be attended to.
He was a good boss.
By the end of the night though, she was tired. She finished cleaning up the bathrooms, and headed to grab her stuff from the back staffroom.
There was no sign of Reese, and when she came out she thought he’d ditched her.
But he waited by his car.
“I thought you’d left me. Sorry. I promised Andrea that I’d clean the toilets today. Her wrist was hurting her.”
Reese chuckled. “She was more than capable of lifting a tray earlier. You need to stand up for yourself, and tell them to fuck off. She was using you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “That bitch.”
“Don’t worry about it. Make sure you say no next time. Don’t let people walk all over you. Nice once and they’ll take it all.” He held out his hand. “Come on.”
“Is there even anywhere open this late at night for coffee? It’s two in the morning.”
“There’s always somewhere open.” He opened his car door, and she climbed in. Breathing in the scent of the car, she felt herself relax.
Reese joined her, and she watched as he pulled away from the curb, heading out of town.
“Is this place top secret?”
“Maybe. I’ve never taken anyone to it before. Let me tell you, they have the best coffee and cheeseburgers going. I mean, Sally, the owner, she cooks those burgers just right, and in bacon grease. Of course, there’s lots of bacon on the burgers.”
Her stomach chose that moment to rumble. “You’re really not helping right now.”
He laughed. “When you eat the food I’m about to share with you, you’ll be thanking me.”
This was the first time that they’d ever really carried on a conversation before. She liked it.
Staring out of the window, she ran her hands down her thighs and jerked as he touched her. Reese took hold of her hand and locked their fingers together. He didn’t say anything, but the closeness was there.
I hate him.
She didn’t hate him, and she had a feeling he didn’t hate her either.