Her Dirty Bartenders (Men at Work #5) - Mika Lane Page 0,32

work. Dammit.

So I started wiping the bar anyway. Could never be too clean.

I looked down at the wood as if I could rub out some ancient sort of scratch and hide the heated blush that started at my neck, ran to my forehead, and was now causing sweaty drops on my temples.

“Hey, Stell, careful over there. You’ll wear out the bar,” Robbie said.

I looked up and damn if all three weren’t staring right at me with huge smiles.

Shit, shit, shit.

I took a deep breath. “Would you guys excuse me? I’m going to run to the ladies’ room before we get busy.”

“Do your thing, darlin’,” Robbie sang.

Was he kidding? Calling me darlin’?

I don’t think so.

I darted into the far bathroom stall and sat with my head in my hands while I composed myself. Or tried to compose myself. How in the hell was I supposed to work with three of the most beautiful men I’d ever seen in my life when every time they got close to me I started to shake and sweat?

All of whom I’d kissed.

But I wouldn't be working with them forever. I needed to keep that in mind.

I’d do my yoga teacher training and get to LA, hopefully sometime soon. Palm trees and beaches were just around the corner for me.

I forced myself to exit the bathroom stall and looked in the mirror to fix my lip gloss and hair.

Not that I cared how I looked. I mean, I cared. But it wasn’t for the guys.

Not at all.

Taking a deep breath, I yanked open the ladies’ room door to get back to work.

And as I did, I ran smack into Cab.

“Oh. Excuse me,” I said, trying to sidestep him.

But he sidestepped at the same time.

“Oops, sorry,” I said, trying again.

That’s when it occurred to me that I was cornered, and it wasn’t by accident.

I mean, I could certainly get away. Really. If I wanted to.

“Cab. You’re in my way.”

I hated to state the obvious, but I had to say something.

He held his hands up. “Wait. Stell. I just wanted a moment with you.”

I put my hands on my hips. “What? What do you want?” I demanded, hoping my shaking wasn’t obvious.

He took a step closer. “It’s just… it’s just so good to see you after all this time. You have no idea how much I—”

I didn’t want to hear any more. I ducked around him and ran down the stairs toward the bar.

Smartest thing I’d done all day.

22

Cab

Well, shit.

I’d thought I’d be immune to Stell. So much time had gone by. I was sure she wouldn’t mean a thing to me like she once had.

But the moment I touched her hand and moved closer, close enough to remember the gold flecks in her eyes and the little scar on her forehead from a long-ago bike wreck, all that had been alive in me way back when exploded. Like it had been waiting under the surface for an opportunity to tell me I’d fucked up the best thing in my life.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t known what I lost when I let my dad pressure me into leaving Philly. At first, I’d thought it would be easy to walk away. When I finally got my head out of my ass and realized I’d made a terrible mistake, it was too late to rectify the situation.

Plain and simple, my father did not want me to be with Estella Kline. He hated her congressman father and his politics, and I suspected had even more grievances against him that I was not aware of. That’s all there was to it. I let my father insert a wedge between us in a way that only a terrible, selfish man like he could conceive of, and an immature and intimidated kid like I was at the time, would allow.

There would be no going back. It was too late. Too much time had passed, and her heart was too full of hate for me.

I couldn’t blame her. Not one bit.

But I didn’t know how to let it go, especially now that she was more beautiful than ever, a mature version of the young girl whose virginity I’d taken.

And then disappeared the next day.

I’d had my eye on her half my life. Starting with the moment she began palling around with my little sister, I was barely able to take my eyes off her, even when I was a punky jerk who wouldn’t have given one of my sister’s friends the time of day. It