AllFreeNovel
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It seems like the entire place is made of wood, but it’s designed in a way to make it look both warm and stylish at the same time. Old classic rock blasts through the speakers and everyone on the dance floor is dancing to Bryan Adam’s Summer Of ’69.
“Were you alive in 1969?” I ask him with a grin.
He laughs. “No, but I came close. I was born in 1970. You?”
I don’t want to tell him that I was born in 2001. It’s just going to remind him how young I am compared to him. “No, I wasn’t alive in ’69 either.”
He chuckles as he watches me. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
A big burly guy squeezes beside me to get a drink and Jack’s light brown eyes narrow on him. He drapes his arm on the back of my stool protectively until the guy is gone.
“So, you work in construction?” I ask him, wanting to know every detail about this man’s life. He mentioned it before but didn’t go into specifics. I’m so curious about him, but he doesn’t seem to volunteer much information. He’s a puzzle that I’m committed to solving.
“When I feel like it,” he says as the bartender returns with our drinks. Jack quickly pays him before I can even reach for my purse. “My buddy Stan has a construction company and I help him out from time to time when he’s short on guys. I don’t need the money, but it’s fun once in a while. I work outside, get some good exercise, and his crew has some funny guys on it that are always good for a laugh. I’m semi-retired, I guess.”
Semi-retired sounds like a dream.
“And what about you?” he asks. “You work in a diner?”
“Worked in a diner,” I say with a sad laugh. “I don’t think they’ll take me back, but the good thing about working in diners is that there’s always another one around the corner to apply to.”
“You don’t seem to like it…”
I sigh as I wrap my hands around the cold mug. “I’d rather be working on my business, but it’s okay.”
“What’s your business?”
I tell him all about my sticker company and how I saved up to buy all of the specialized equipment and how exciting it was when I got my first few orders. I ramble on about all of the platforms, my website, the orders, and everything else. He just calmly listens to everything I have to say, asking thoughtful questions and encouraging me to go on.
“I’m sorry,” I say when I catch myself. “I can go on about this forever. Just stop me next time when I get carried away talking about it. I don’t want to bore you.”
“You’re not boring me at all,” he says with a bit of fierceness in his tone. “I love hearing you talk about your passion. Your face lights up. It’s beautiful to watch. I could listen to you talk about it for hours.”
“Oh,” I say, looking down at my beer as my heart pounds a little harder. I wasn’t expecting that.
“Did all of your equipment get…?”
He doesn’t want to say the word. That’s okay, because I don’t want to hear it.
“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. “It’s all gone.”
He puts a comforting hand on my shoulder and his touch ignites something within me. Heated desire billows out from that hand and blossoms in my chest.
My crush on Mr. Jack Michaels is stronger than ever.
We talk for hours at the bar about everything and anything. By the time I’ve finished my second beer, we’re both turned on our stools and facing each other with my knees tucked between his long muscular legs.
“I can’t believe you haven’t seen Game of Thrones,” I say as I lean in extra close, getting a nice delicious whiff of his masculine scent. He smells like a foresty aftershave. The beer is making me a little braver than normal, so I put my hand on his muscular thigh as I lean in, using the loud music as an excuse to get in nice and close.
He doesn’t seem to mind.
“I barely watch any TV,” he says as he leans in close. “I prefer to read.”
“I love books,” I say with a flirty grin. “My favorite is Lolita. Ever heard of it?”
He inhales deeply as he looks at me with a hunger in those burning brown eyes. The air thickens all around us as our lustful eyes say what we’re unable to.
“Ruby, I—”
“Ruby!” some girl squeals, yanking me out of this beautiful little bubble I’m hiding out in with Jack. “I thought that was you!”
It’s a girl I went to high school with. We had some of the same friends but were never that close. Still, it’s good to see her even though this is horrible timing.
“Hey, Michele!” I say with a big smile. “What are you doing here?!”
