I rolled my eyes and took another order before answering Cade. “Doesn’t surprise me. He seemed to think all he had to do was whistle, and the entire bar would come running.”
“You have no idea how true that is.”
Cade frowned at me, his brow furrowed, as if he had more to say. A server cut off our conversation when she came over, asking for something I couldn’t quite make out. He nodded and then turned back to me. “I’ve got to mix some drinks for table four. Can you take them over when I’m done? Lydia’s going on her break.”
“Of course,” I answered as I greeted a few more guests, getting their drinks while Cade worked behind me. By the time he passed me the tray of bright green shooters, Jace had faded into the back of mind, joining most of my other concerns.
After crawling under the bar, I grabbed the tray and made my way over to the table in the back. Luckily, it wasn’t the Hawks, so I could avoid Jace for the rest of the night.What even was that before? Did the filter slip off my brain?It had been a long time since my mouth got the best of me, but something about Jace brought it out. The teasing in his gaze made me want to play.
As I tried to push him out of my mind, someone collided into me, knocking into my side. My knees fumbled and my arms wobbled, the tray shifting right in front of my eyes. As much as I tried to right myself, the drinks tumbled off my tray and crashed onto the floor.
Well,fuck.
I groaned as I looked up at the ceiling, wondering what deity I’d pissed off to have this kind of night. The universe had already knocked me down enough; couldn’t tonight go smoothly? Was that too much to ask?
“I’m so fucking sorry.”
The words didn’t register as I shook my head. “It’s fine. Work at a bar long enough, and you’re bound to get some drinks spilled on you.”
But as I looked up and met Jace’s apologetic stare, the rest of my words died on my tongue. Sticky green liquid pooled on my fingers, but I didn’t dare to move, too focused on the grin on hisface. He leaned down, attempting to grab a shard of glass by my foot. As I told him to stop, he hissed under his breath. I reached out and grabbed his hand, checking it over.Shit.A sliver of glass had sliced through his palm, and the blood had begun to pool. I probed the cut, having no idea what to look for but hoping that something would miraculously pop into my brain. “Crap. This isn’t deep, but you might need stitches. Come around back with me, and we’ll get it cleaned up.”
Looking over my shoulder, I pressed my bar towel into the cut, hoping to slow some of the blood. Cade met my eyes, and I motioned to the glass scattered all around us. As he grabbed a broom, I lifted Jace’s hand and nodded behind me. He followed without complaint.Please, please tell me Mark put a first-aid kit somewhere up here.He’d shown me the one downstairs, but that would mean dragging Jace down to the office, and I’d have to tell Chelsea what happened.
And that was a conversation I did not want to have right now.
But as I pushed Jace into the storage area, I realized that might have been the better option. If I thought he’d affected me before? It was nothing compared to how it was now, with only inches separating us.
THREE
“Hold still.”
The bartender’s frown was fucking adorable. Never thought I’d say that about a woman, but this night had been a lot of firsts for me.
When the guys suggested coming out tonight, I wasn’t in the mood. I’d played like shit tonight—striking out in the fifth inning and missing several passes—and the night only got worse when Melanie, our team’s PR manager, forced me to give an interview afterward. Speaking to the press sucked on the best of days, but going out there, knowing the city hated you because you couldn’t do your damn job? That was worse than striking out at the end of an inning with all the bases loaded.
After the interview, Damien and the other guys had practically forced me out the door. Maybe they were right, and I needed to let off some steam. What I should have done was go to bed early and get my ass to the field at the crack of dawn. At least, that was what my dad barked at me. On his post-game phone call, he berated me, going over my strikeout and missed catches in excruciating detail. When I told him I was heading to the bar, he scoffed, one last reminder of how he never drowned his sorrows.
But then again, he didn’t need to wash away the bitter sting of failure.
It hadn’t worked, at least not until the woman in front of me snapped at me, breaking me out of my head. It should have pissed me off, the way she so easily listed off my flaws, but when so many people let me get away with my comments, she called me on it, and I had to admit, I liked it.
At least I did, before she started poking around my hand with a pair of tweezers.
“Fuck.” A shark prick hit a nerve, and I jerked my hand back. Her dark eyes met mine, chastising me without a word. “It hurts.”
“Would hurt less if you stayed still,” she muttered, holding my cut up to the light. “No offense, but looking for slivers of glass in a drunk guy’s hand wasn’t on my nightly bingo card.”
“I’m not that drunk,” I mumbled under my breath. At least, not anymore. Nothing like bleeding all over the bar floor to sober me up.
She arched her brow at me again. “Right. Did you forget I’ve been behind the bar all night?”
Not even if I wanted to.From the moment I spotted the curvaceous brunette, she’d been the center of my focus. But, despite what I said earlier, I did not like to shit where I ate. Fucking the servers at our usual spot was a big no-no. Besides, there were plenty of other options out in the club tonight, endless women who’d jump at the chance to warm my bed for the night.
But after the second—wait, third?—shot, it seemed like the brightest idea in the world to hit on her, to see if she’d fall at my feet. Instead, I got a snarky response and that little sly grin, which made my dick harder than it had any right to be.
When she wrapped my hand, I flinched again, and her stare lifted, those dark eyes assessing me. “Are all baseball players babies, or is it just you?”
“Keep going, new girl. Your attitude turns me on.”
