for a Monday, and as much as I need the money, I’m disappointed I haven’t had more time to talk to Jo. We’ve been slammed for the past few hours, and there just hasn’t been a chance to hang out. It’s finally starting to clear out, though, and there are only a few tables left and a few regulars sitting at the bar.
I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to ask her out, but so far, I can’t think of anything clever enough to say. I can’t even think of where I should take her if she actually happens to say yes. Nothing seems good enough for a girl like her.
My normal dinner and a movie or a walk on the beach won’t cut it. I need something really spectacular. Something totally wild and fun that will pull her completely out of work-mode. I want her to have the time of her life.
She deserves something like that.
“Earth to Colton,” she says, and I clear my throat.
“Sorry, what happened?” The back of my neck grows warm. Totally busted.
She laughs. “I asked you if you wanted to head home early tonight,” she says. “I know we were all exhausted after Saturday and it looks like it’s really slowing down now.”
My heart sinks. She’s sending me home?
“I don’t mind sticking around a little longer.”
She shrugs. “It’s your call,” she says. “I just thought you might have something else you wanted to do tonight.”
Normally, yes, but right now all I want to do is be with her. Does she have any idea how I’m feeling? I’m worried that it’s written all over my face. I’m not used to being nervous about asking someone out. It’s awkward, and I feel like I’m fifteen years old all over again.
“What did you end up doing yesterday?” she asks me.
“I slept like the dead,” I say with a laugh. “Didn’t get up until about noon, and then I went over to my sister Cammie’s house for a little while. She just had a new baby a few weeks ago, so I watched Emma while my sister got a little bit of sleep.”
Jo raises an eyebrow. “You were babysitting on your day off?”
I keep my hands busy washing glasses. Why am I so nervous around her tonight?
“When you have as many nieces and nephews as I do, you get used to babysitting here and there,” I say. “Don’t look so shocked.”
“I guess I just never pictured you as the babysitting type,” she says.
“What did you do?”
“I spent most of the day here at the bar doing inventory,” she says, twisting one of her braids around her finger and driving me out of my mind. “Dad put in a huge order this morning just to restock what we sold over the weekend. It was insane.”
“I bet,” I say. I cannot take my eyes off that finger. I suddenly want to pull her close and take those braids out of her hair. I want to kiss her and show her what it could be like to give in every once in a while.
Man, what is wrong with me?
I force my eyes away, glancing briefly at the door to the bar as it opens. Two guys walk in, laughing and leaning on each other. It’s obvious they had a few before they got here.
“Shit,” Jo mutters.
I assume she’s referring to their inebriated state, but when I look up, her entire face has gone sheet white.
“What?” I ask.
“Joey, long time, huh baby?” The taller of the two guys slaps his hand against the bar and Jo visibly jumps.
My hand tightens around a glass.
“Don’t call me that,” she says. “What are you doing here?”
“What? No welcome home?” the guy says, placing a hand on his chest and flashing a shocked look at his companion. “A guy can’t come back to his old stomping grounds and get a drink these days? Jesus, Joey, you don’t have to be so uptight. From what I remember, you used to know how to have a good time.”
At her sides, her hands are fists, and her jaw is so tight I’m afraid she’s going to break it. Are those tears welling up in her eyes?
Oh, hell no. I’m not going to let some jerk rattle her up like this.
“Jo, weren’t you about to go check in the back to see if we had more of that thing we needed?” I ask, touching her hand. Her skin is freezing cold.