Blame It on the Bikini - By Natalie Anderson Page 0,16

heat in nothing but a kiss in for ever. The chemistry between them had kept him awake and rock hard all hours. He’d never felt the thrill of the chase like this. Then again, he hadn’t had to chase like this. He watched closely to see her reaction when she saw him but her face remained an expressionless mask—too expressionless. Now, that took effort.

Good. If she had to work hard to hide her reaction to him, that meant her reaction was extreme. As was his to her. But he wasn’t going to hide it. No, he was all about having fun and being up front.

‘Hi, darling,’ he called, hoping to raise a spark.

She didn’t answer until she’d reached the bar and then it was with a mocking coo. ‘Have you forgotten my name? I’m Mya.’

‘I can’t call you “darling”?’ He propped an elbow on the broad expanse of highly polished wood.

‘I’m suspicious of men who rely on pet names.’ She moved to put the bar between them. ‘I wonder if it’s because they can’t remember the name of the woman they’re with.’

He smiled, enjoying the way she was so determined to put him in his place.

‘You’ve been guilty of it, haven’t you?’ She raised her brows and said it as a statement of fact, not a question.

He always remembered a woman’s name at the time, but a few months later? Yeah, he’d better plead the fifth. With growing disappointment he watched her wind the apron round her waist, hiding how well her thighs were shown off in the spray-on jeans.

‘We’re not open yet.’ She turned to face him. ‘So I can’t serve you.’

‘It’s all right.’ Brad nodded at his half-empty glass. ‘Your boss already has. I’ve been talking with him about the party. Saturday after next. That okay for you?’

Her teeth worried her lower lip as a frown creased her forehead. ‘I’ll need to talk to Drew. I’m rostered to work that night.’

‘Not any more. It’s already sorted. You’re there as a guest, not a bartender.’

That little frown didn’t lighten. ‘Yes, but—’

‘You work every night,’ he interrupted. ‘You’re not going to take a night off for your best friend’s surprise party?’

‘Of course I am.’

‘Then there’s no problem, is there?’

‘No, but you didn’t need to arrange that for me.’ Her vibrant green eyes rested on him, still frustratingly cool.

Was that what bothered her? Him interfering? Fair enough. ‘I thought it would help,’ he explained honestly. ‘I wanted your boss to understand that he couldn’t call on you at all that night and that I was willing to pay for extra staff.’

‘And that’s wonderful of you,’ she said through a smile that couldn’t be more fake. ‘But I can handle my own requests for a night off.’ She suddenly looked concerned more than cross. ‘But it’s very soon and very close to Christmas. You’ll have to work quick to make sure people are free that night.’

‘They’ll be free.’ Where the food and drink were free, people turned up.

‘You’ll need to get invitations out.’ She pulled a rack of glasses from a dish-drawer beneath the counter and began stacking them onto another shelf.

He grinned, happy that she was being overly efficient. He hoped it meant he was under her skin. ‘Can’t I just send a text?’

‘You want the whole world and his dog to turn up and drink the place dry?’ She turned and gave him a pointed look. ‘You’ll need to have a list of bona fide invitees on the door at the very least. But you should do proper invitations.’

‘Right, okay.’ He nodded as if her every word were law. ‘And personalised, right?’

‘Right.’

Actually she was right. Lauren wasn’t a store-bought-stationery kind of woman. Mya wasn’t either. Brad had spent all last night wondering just what kind of woman Mya was.

‘Maybe you should do the actual invitations?’ he suggested. ‘You’re good at taking photos and stuff. You have a real eye for composition.’

She sent him a withering look before turning back to stack the glasses. ‘I don’t have time. I can come up with the guest list and get you some contact details, but you’re going to have to put it all together.’

‘Okay, I can do that.’ He sighed. ‘What are you thinking of? Gilt-edged cardboard things?’ Never in a million years.

She flattened him with another killer cool stare. ‘I think Lauren would prefer something a little more original than that.’

‘I’ll get to thinking, then,’ he answered mock meekly.

She eyed him suspiciously this time before her gaze lifted to something behind him