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Colleen's stomach flipped and a nervous smile pulled at her lips. Oh my God, he's going to ask me out. What do I say?
Are you kidding me? You're staring at over six feet of gorgeous male. And not just any gorgeous male, a man who makes your blood rush to interesting places for the first time in eons. You say yes, dummy.
"I was just thinking, if you're looking to make extra money and all, well, we could use some help at the restaurant too. Tips probably won't be as good, but we'll pay you fifteen dollars an hour."
Colleen tried not to deflate like a balloon in front of him.
"You're probably already too busy, working at the hospital and here on top of it," he backpedaled.
She shook her head and pried her tongue from the roof of her mouth. "No, I've got time. I'm only working three shifts a week at the hospital, and two or three evenings here. And at this point, I'll take the work where I can get it."
"Great." He gave her a big friendly smile and said he'd call her tomorrow to figure out a schedule.
Chapter 6
Two evenings later, Colleen showed up for her first night of bartending at the ranch. From his office in the main lodge, JT saw her pull up in her silver Jeep Cherokee and park on the far side.
He got up from his desk to greet her on the front steps. She didn't see him as she rounded the corner and he took a moment to appreciate the view. Like the other night at Adele's, she was dressed in dark wash jeans and a sleeveless blue top with white embroidery around the collar. Like the other night, the way those jeans clung to her hips, thighs and butt made his blood pressure go up a few notches.
Cool it. This is all purely professional.
She paused for a moment and ran her hand over the thick brown waves that hung past her shoulders. His own fingers gave an involuntary twitch as he imagined running them through her hair.
Professional. Friendly. That's it.
"Hey," she called and waved when she saw him, quickening her step.
"All ready for your first time?"
She tilted her head to the side. "JT, surely you know this isn't my first time."
He let out a choking laugh and felt his face go up in flames as he realized what he'd said. "First night here, is what I meant."
"I'm just busting your chops. Just point me in the right direction and I'm ready to go."
He held the door open for her and followed her through the reception area, past his office and the small general store that sold Lazy Creek branded merchandise, snacks, and basic toiletries.
Past the store, another door led to a breezeway that connected his office and the reception area to the restaurant.
Like the rest of the ranch buildings, the restaurant was made of logs and had a pitched green roof. From the roof emerged a thick chimney made from rocks hauled in from the creek.
"I'm excited to see the bar. You guys hadn't built it the last time I was here." Colleen was walking in front of him and he had to force himself to keep his eyes pinned between her shoulder blades and not on the sway of her firm, round butt.
"It's not too exciting." He darted in front of her so he could hold open the door. "Just a bar we built into one end of the restaurant."
"Wow, the place looks great," she said as she walked in.
"When we put in the bar," he gestured to the massive carved wood bar built along the front wall to the left of the entrance, "we decided to make a few changes."
"Aw, you got rid of the carpet," she said as she scuffed her heel along the wide plank hardwood floor.
JT rolled his eyes. At some point back in the seventies, a decision had been made to carpet the dining room. Apparently it was a trend back then to install small pile carpet in kitchens and restaurants. Over the years it had accumulated an array of stains that even its dark green color couldn't conceal. Before it was removed, JT swore he could smell the faint odor of cigarettes emanating from it, even though smoking had been banned in the restaurant for fifteen years.
"Even though making changes around here is usually like pulling teeth, when I suggested that as long as we were yanking up part of the carpet to build the bar, we should just pull it all out, I got no argument from anyone."
Colleen flipped open the bar pass-through to let herself behind. "Looks pretty standard," she said, her blue eyes moving over the bottle filled shelves, taking inventory.
"Hopefully no problem with someone of your vast experience." He couldn't quite keep the flirtatious undercurrent out of his voice.
