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There was a long pause, and I could see there was a lot working behind his eyes. Unfortunately, I had no idea what it was. A moment later, he asked, “What kind of work would you be looking to do?”
“Bartending.”
“What?”
“Bartending,” I repeated, assuming he hadn’t heard me.
He turned his head to the side slightly, but kept his eyes on me. “You’re a bartender,” he remarked.
“I am,” I confirmed.
If I thought I saw the tension leave his body before, I hadn’t realized just how anxious and stressed he was over this whole conversation. Barely a second later, I learned why.
“I thought you were a stripper,” he revealed.
I gasped. “Are you serious? Why would you think that?”
There was so much work happening behind his eyes. The longer he stared at me, the more desperate I became to have him say something. What had I done to give him the impression that I was a stripper?
When too much time had passed without an answer or explanation from him, I called, “Jesse?”
He shook his head as though trying to rid it of whatever thoughts had been plaguing his mind and lamented, “Sorry. I… well, I actually did a bit of research on Sweet Temptations the day after you showed up at Harper Security. It should come as no surprise that our encounter that day left me feeling a bit unsettled. Since I couldn’t get you out of my head, I decided to see what I might be able to figure out. That’s when I learned that Sweet Temptations was a strip club. I immediately assumed that you were a dancer.”
I shot him an incredulous look as I did my best to ignore the fact that he had mentioned not being able to get me out of his head. “I’ve been a lot of things in my life, Jesse. I’ve taken risks, and I certainly had a knack for adventure, but even stripping would be too much for me. I don’t have that in me.”
“I’m really sorry, Sawyer,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to insinuate anything or make you think I was judging you. It’s just that… well, never mind. It doesn’t matter, and you’ve set the record straight now. So, bartending?”
Clearly, Jesse wanted to change the topic. I was still curious about what he was going to say, but I was well aware of the fact that he wasn’t going to share. So, I decided it was best to just continue following the conversation where he was leading it.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I’ve been bartending for years…”
With that, I told Jesse about how it all came to be, where I’d worked, and how long I’d been there. Our entrees arrived somewhere in the middle of it all, and we wound up having a lovely dinner together.
Considering what I’d woken up that morning believing about my relationship with Jesse, it was a surprising and wonderful way to spend the evening. For the first time in years, I really started to think that perhaps there might be hope of Jesse not hating me forever.
NINE
Sawyer
“You can sleep in here.”
The words that had just come out of Jesse’s mouth offered a nice sentiment, but the sight before me did not.
After we had gotten back from dinner, Jesse and I had come back to his place, continued our conversation, and sat down in the living room watching television for a bit.
Eventually, he asked, “So, what’s it going to be?”
“What?” I returned, unsure what he was referring to.
He grinned a devious grin, which did not make me think this was going to be amusing at all, and answered, “Am I packing a bag, so we can head to your mom’s place, or are you staying here?”
There was not a chance I was going to bring this to my mom. No way would I show up on her doorstep the same night she thought I was heading back to Maryland and bring Jesse with me for a sleepover. I didn’t even want to think how my mother would react to that.
So, I replied, “You don’t need to pack a bag.”
“Good. I’m glad you’ll be staying here,” he said. “I should probably give you the full tour, so you can make yourself at home.”
The thought of making myself at home in Jesse’s home hit me with an overwhelming sense of longing. If only those words had the meaning I would have wanted for so long.
