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“Yeah, sweetheart?” Ryan answered with a fake Southern drawl and tipped his nonexistent cowboy hat.
Shaking my head, I looked at Nick, who watched with an amused grin.
“Can I get an Adios . . .” the woman called out, pausing.
A handful of women shouted “Pantalones!” in unison, finishing her order.
I groaned as my idiot brother removed his shirt and tossed it on the register behind him, then proceeded to make the drink.
Every.
Damn.
Night.
We really needed to stop this stupid tradition. I wasn’t even sure how it started in the first place, but I couldn’t remember a night it hadn’t happened. Maybe once Ryan got an actual girlfriend, he’d keep his damn clothes on. Or maybe I could convince him to only take his clothes off on the weekends instead of every single night?
After most of the customers had left, I was closing out the registers when I heard the sound of Claudia’s voice.
“It was nice to meet you, Frank.” She leaned against the wood railing and gave me a smile.
That smile, just for me, was fucking beautiful. She was beautiful. I wanted to hop across the bar that separated us and give her a hug good night, and I didn’t hug women I didn’t know.
Screw that. I wanted to pull her body against mine so I could feel every curve, every bit of her softness pressed against me.
Suddenly, I was torn between not wanting her to leave and needing her to get the hell out of my bar as soon as possible. It was a damn challenge keeping my body away from hers.
Jesus, Fisher, pull it together.
“It was nice to meet you too.” I smiled back at her and kept my distance. But as she and her friend neared the front door, I found myself shouting, “See you soon?”
Claudia stopped and turned around, her gaze locking on mine. “Couldn’t stay away if I tried.” Her lips curved into a mischievous grin, and I watched her ass as she disappeared from view.
“What the hell was that?” Ryan raised his brows at me as he locked the front doors behind the girls. They had been the last ones to leave, no doubt waiting for something.
I hid any reaction from him, remaining stoic. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit,” Nick said with a laugh, and I shot him a murderous glare that shut him up.
I continued going through the night’s receipts as I tried to ignore them, but my brothers were nothing if not persistent. And annoying. They were fucking annoying.
“What was that? Seriously, I’ve never seen you act like that before.” Ryan tossed a wet rag at my back, and I picked it up and fisted it before turning around to face him.
Twirling the rag quickly with one hand, I asked, “Like what, exactly?” before whipping it against his thigh with a loud snap.
“Fuck! That hurt!” Ryan hopped around on one foot like I’d shot him as he attempted to rub out the welt that was probably forming underneath his jeans.
I smiled, happy with my rag-swatting abilities as Nick chimed in.
“I haven’t worked here long, but even I’ve never seen you get all dopey around a chick before.”
My smile fell instantly. “I do not get dopey.”
“You were a little dopey,” Ryan bit out, still hopping around. When I pretended to ready the rag for action again, Ryan’s hands flew up in the air. “Fine, you were smitten. Or grumpy. Or whatever other dwarf names there are. Definitely not dopey.”
“There’s no dwarf named Smitten. What’s wrong with you?” Nick scowled at him as he unloaded a tray of dirty glasses.
“It’s not like we don’t get the appeal,” Ryan said before turning to Nick. “Right, Nick? Claudia was insanely hot.”
