AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, hello, handsome! What can I do for you?”
He grinned at the bartender, who was looking him over and making no secret of the fact that she liked what she saw. She was a good-looking woman, no question about it, but she wasn’t his type – and even if she were, he wouldn’t be interested. That thought hit him like a gut punch in the best possible way. He’d always been the kind of guy who was interested in the ladies – they tended to like him, and he was happy to oblige. Not anymore, though.
“I’ll take a beer, whatever you have on tap, and an apple juice for my lady, she’ll be right here.”
The bartender threw her head back and laughed – it was such a raucous laugh that Xander couldn’t help joining her.
She shook her head at him with a big smile. “And when she gets here, I’ll tell her just what a lucky lady she is.”
Xander wasn’t sure what to think about that. Tori had gone from being unsure about him to professing that she understood how much he cared about her. He might not know much about women in terms of relationships, but from what he’d observed over the years, they tended to get territorial.
The bartender shook her head. “Sorry, that must have sounded wrong. I didn’t mean that she’s lucky to have such a fine ass hottie as yourself. I meant that a lot of guys try to hit on the bartender – they don’t immediately make it clear that they’re not interested because they have a girlfriend.”
Xander smiled. “Thanks.” He wasn’t sure what else to say.
Tori arrived a few moments later and climbed up onto the bar stool beside him. The bartender came back and set an apple juice in front of her and a beer in front of Xander. He didn’t like the weird look she was giving Tori. Just as he was thinking that it might be best to go and sit at one of the high-top tables rather than here at the bar, Tori smiled.
“You’re Kenzie, aren’t you?”
The bartender grinned. “That’s me, sugar. And you… I couldn’t place you for a minute, but your Ria’s daughter, right?”
“I am. I’m Tori.”
“That’s right. You were here when Russ and Ria got engaged. I met your sister, Willow, a little while back.” She laughed. “And I’m proud to say that I was instrumental in getting your brother, Bentley, together with Alyssa.”
“Of course, Alyssa told me about it! All I can say about that is thank you! I love Alyssa. She’s so good for Bentley – did you know that they got engaged?”
“I did, Ria told me. I’m happy for them – you can just tell that they’re made for each other.”
“Aren’t they?” Tori shot a glance at him. “Sorry, I should introduce you, this is Xander. Xander meet Kenzie.”
Xander nodded and muttered, “Nice to meet you.”
Tori shot him a puzzled look, as if she thought he was being rude.
Kenzie laughed out loud as she reached across the bar to touch Tori’s arm. “Don’t worry, sweetie. He’s just a bit uncomfortable. He thought I was hitting on him while you were in the bathroom. I wasn’t.”
She raised her left hand and waggled her fingers to show off a wedding ring. “There’s only one man in my life, and he’s the only one I want. I can’t say that he’s the only one I have eyes for, though.” She looked Xander up and down again. “I like looking, and there’s no harm in it.”
She turned back to Tori. “I was going to tell you that you’ve got yourself a good-looking guy there, but more importantly you’ve got yourself a good guy. When he thought I was hitting on him, he cut me straight off and told me that he was waiting for his girlfriend.”
“Aww!” Tori turned to him with a big smile on her face. “Thank you!”
“Thank you? There’s nothing to thank me for.”
Kenzie laughed. “Oh, he just gets better and better. He’s such a good guy and he doesn’t even know it. You’ve got yourself a keeper there, Tori.” With that, she moved away down the bar to serve other customers.
Tori rested her hand on his knee. “Oh my gosh, this is so cool!”
“What is?” Xander was feeling a little thrown by the whole exchange.
She giggled. “It’s so freaking cool to see you looking unsure of yourself – I’m not sure it’s something I’ve ever seen before.”
He shifted in his seat. “I’m glad you think it’s cool, I’m not sure that I like it.”
“Aww!” She patted his cheek. “Don’t you worry about it. You’re still the big, tough guy. I love that you’re never out of your depth when it matters. This really is kind of cool, though.”
He gave her a rueful smile. “Fair enough. I don’t know what to say, but if you’re happy then I’m happy.”
