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He’d considered it for all of five seconds. Thought that maybe a roll between the sheets would make him forget Honey. But the moment that thought crossed his mind, all he could picture was Honey on the bar, half-naked as he thrust inside her. He heard the noises she made. Remembered the way she felt.
All of it pissed him off and contributed to an even fouler mood.
“You planning on telling Jade you’re not interested, or are you going to let her sweat it out all night?” Cam tossed a dirty rag in the bar sink and rolled his shoulders.
Nash glanced at his brother and frowned. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to have him work here. His brother had always liked to poke his nose into Nash’s business, but he wasn’t ready to go back to the way things were. Maybe he never would.
“How’s that your business?”
“It’s not.” Cam shrugged. “Just seems like the right thing to do, though. It’s obvious to everyone you’re not interested.” He nodded to Honey. “At least, not anymore.”
Yeah. He wasn’t doing this with Cam. “You want to know what I think?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Not really,” Cam replied.
“I think you should get your shit together before you start handing out advice.”
Cam shook his head. “You always do that.”
“What?”
“Deflect when you know I’m right.”
Nash finished making Susie’s cocktail order and passed her the fruity beverage along with two Hei
nekens. Honey was busy with Tiny at the other end of the bar, the stools in front of them claimed by regulars, a lot of them sitting there because of Honey.
He didn’t want to do this, but Nash found himself turning back to Cam. Some old habits died hard. “What do you think of her?”
“Jade?” His brother quipped.
Nash glared at his brother. He was going to start throwing punches if Cam didn’t cut it out.
“I think Honey is complicated. Hard to get a read on. She doesn’t give a lot away.”
No shit.
“She’s also hot as hell, with a mind of her own. I don’t think many guys can handle her. I think she handles them, and she does that for a lot of reasons. She likes to be in control, and she sure as hell doesn’t like to get too close.”
Nash watched his brother closely, a slow burn that had no right to be there lighting his gut on fire. Was he missing something? “You seem to know a lot about a woman you just met.”
Something flickered in Cam’s eyes, and he looked away. “That’s where you’re wrong, brother. I don’t know Honey any better than you do. I just used to know someone like her. That’s all.” Cam didn’t offer up anything else. He headed to the kitchen to pick up an order. Nash watched him go, hating the distance between them. Hating what his brother had done—but thinking that maybe there was more to the story.
He shoved all of it aside and continued on with his night, successfully avoiding a scene with Jade, which was a big win. The girl liked attention. When she asked if he was stopping by her place later, he told her he’d be closing, so probably not.
“Will I see you tomorrow?”
He held her gaze because he couldn’t be anything other than honest. “I don’t think so.”
“Oh,” she replied, looking away quickly. She tried to hide it, but he knew he’d hurt her, and that made Nash feel like shit.
“Jade,” he said gently.
“I get it. I wasn’t the woman you’ve been eyeballing all night.” She looked pointedly at Honey.
“I haven’t been eyeballing her. She’s my employee.” He tried, but his protest sounded weak, even to himself.
“You keep telling yourself that, Nash.” She smiled, a sad sort of thing, grabbed her purse, and disappeared into the night.
