Kenny looked like he wanted to object but seemed to think better of it.
Oliver ran a hand through his hair before turning back to me. I scanned his face.
“That was interesting,” I said.
“What do you mean?” he asked, his jaw still tight despite the smile.
“You scared off Kenny.”
“Yeah, well. He’s a nice kid but he can’t take a hint.”
His slight look of discomfort was egging me on.
“Kenny was fine,” I said. “And I’m surprised you noticed anything other than the blonde in front of you.” I nodded my head in the direction of the table of girls he’d done shots with.
Oliver raised his eyebrows at that. “Well, I didn’t want him bothering you,” he added, a line creasing his forehead.
“He wasn’t,” I said, only the partial truth. “Seemed like you were jealous or something.” I kept my voice nonchalant, almost teasing. I was testing the waters, but I had no intention of jumping right into the deep end.
Oliver scoffed at that. “I don’t do jealousy, Frankie. And wasIreally the jealous one? You seemed to beveryaware of the table I was sitting at.” I wished I could wipe that smirk clean off his face.
“It was right in front of me,” I added, stuffing any defensiveness deep down. “It was impossible not to notice.”
Oliver’s smirk grew. “Right.”
“I wasn’t jealous,” I insisted, narrowing my eyes.
We stared at each other for a moment, waiting to see who would break first. Finally, Oliver said, “For your information, I was just being a wingman for the rest of the guys. See?” He pointed behind him to the two tables of guys and girls who were now intermixed.
“Good for you.” I tapped my fingers on the bar top. “Can I get back to work or do you want anything else?” I asked in a flat tone.
He ran his thumb and forefinger along his chin, a devilish glint in his eyes. “There is one more thing I want. You. This Friday. Seven a.m. with a snowboard strapped to your feet. I had a lesson cancel so I finally have a free day.”
“Not gonna happen.” I crossed my arms.
“Why?” he pressed.
“I’m busy.”
He snickered at my defiance. “I know you only work nights at Marie’s.”
“I have jobs to apply for.”
“You’ve been applying constantly. It’s all you talk about.”
I winced at that. Did he think I was boring?
“Are there really that many new applications that open on a daily basis?” he continued.
That gave me pause. I hadn’t expected him to push me on this. The past few times he’d been in Marie’s, he’d made the same attempt to get me out there. But he’d let me reject his previous efforts to get me on a snowboard without anything more than a fake pout. I figured he’d let me do the same this time, but there was a fire in his eyes.
“No, but?—”
“And this will only be for a few hours. You can do whatever job hunting you need to do when you get home.”
“I don’t have a snowboard,” I pointed out.
“Got you covered.” He leaned over the bar to take in my full height. His eyes combing over every inch of me did ridiculous things to my imagination. I held steady though. “What are you. Five-foot-six? I can get you a board. And let me guess. Size eight for the boots?”
