Heart Beats (Joker's Sin #3) - Davidson King Page 0,12

going on?” He rested his forearms on my booth, and I only had to narrow my gaze at him, and he removed them.

“Nothing is going on. Mind your business.”

“Snappy. But I deal with snappier on a daily basis, so I am immune to your sharp tongue.” He smiled, and I knew he wouldn’t leave unless I said something.

“Nothing is going on. He helped with stuff, we almost kissed. It was weird.”

Max furrowed his brow. “What was weird? The almost-kiss or the helping you?”

“Seriously, how do you function?” I asked. “The almost-kiss was weird, fucknut.”

“I see. Maybe if you’d kissed, it wouldn’t be weird now.” He shrugged. “Go on, go kiss him and see if you feel better.”

“Don’t ever have kids, Max. You suck at advice.”

“I’ll have you know I’m an amazing uncle with the best advice ever.”

“You lie. You forget I talk to your sisters. I know you’re a brain full of pudding when it comes to advice.”

“Fine. But know this.” He inched closer. “It’s only weird between you and Shane because you let it be.”

They were wise words, but I wasn’t letting him know that. “Right, okay, thanks.”

“I knew the second he came in to interview that you wanted him. It’s been a long time, and you watch him like you want to devour him. So, if it’s been this long and you still want him, you should just try.”

I knew Max was right. But I also didn’t want to fuck up the vibe of this place. Toby and Atlas worked together but were together early on. Sparkles didn’t really work here. He danced for the club sometimes, so it didn’t mess with things. Shane and I had been working together and would continue to work together. If us hooking up fucked anything up, Atlas would be pissed.

“Flower delivery,” Toby said, interrupting Max and me. “For you, Ledger.”

Me? “Who’s it from?” No one would send me flowers.

“There’s a card.” Toby gestured to the little piece of paper as he placed them on the bar. I went over to the edge of the stage. The bar was directly below me and bordered the entire stage. It worked as a great barrier, so people wouldn’t try to hop on.

“Can you read it?” The flowers were beautiful. I didn’t know flowers well, but the colors were yellow, purple, and red.

“Great seeing you at the con, can’t wait to see you soon.” Toby read the card, then flipped it over. “No name.”

“Probably Trinity,” Shane said as he closed the lid to the cut limes a little hard.

“Not really her style.” I chuckled, smirking. He was adorable when he was jealous. “No matter, they’re gorgeous. I’ll take them home. Can you store them in Atlas’s office until closing?”

“Sure no problem.”

Shane went about getting ready for the club opening. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me, and when I spotted Max, he was smiling. Yeah, the jerk was right—something had to give with Shane and me. But I had to work first. I’d have to think of what I wanted and what to say to him.

“Okay, everyone, it’s last call, get your final drink, and let’s slow things down,” I said into the microphone and mellowed the music. There was a rush to the bar, as always, and servers were trying to get last-minute orders in.

As I watched all the bartenders work, it was Shane that grabbed my attention. He didn’t seem frazzled or anything as people shouted drink orders at him. He listened, nodded, and mastered the orders. It was no wonder Max trusted him with the bar whenever he wasn’t there. The other bartenders weren’t as smooth and often had to ask people to repeat their orders. Not Shane. It was like watching an exotic dance. Who knew mixing drinks could be so sexy?

Ciro, the head of security for Joker’s Sin, came up to the stage. He was a big man; he shaved his head close to his scalp, but I noticed, even with a baseball cap on, that he had it growing out. It was dark, like his eyes. He was a huge guy, built, and if I hadn’t seen him smile before, I’d think it impossible. People generally moved out of his way when he walked through the club, and while his gaze was always searching for trouble, it never lingered on anyone. There was never a glimmer of interest in his eyes that he found anyone attractive. I knew he must, but he was a secretive man, and yet I