ante. “My wrists are sore from wearing out my vibrator after you leave at night.”
He groaned, tipping his head toward the ceiling. “Woman…” He reached for his neck a second later and winced. “That’s a cruel thing to say to a man whose neck is sore from sleeping on the floor for three months.”
Jodi’s pulse picked up as she slowly smiled even wider. “You’ve been sleeping on the floor?” She had pictured a lot of scenarios ranging from a pillow row between him and Katia to that whiny woman plastering herself to his back in an attempt to seduce him. The floor had never entered her mind.
“Don’t look so pleased,” he joked. “I’m gonna need a chiropractor.”
“I’ll give you a long naked massage next week and take away all the aches and pains. Plus, you can spend your first night of freedom on a real mattress in my room. I won’t make you sleep on the floor.”
He scrunched up his face. “Your mattress. Here? In the same small apartment with your dad? Not a chance in hell.”
She groaned. “Come on. He’s a modern man.”
“Okay, then I’m not. Whatever. Not going to happen. I’ll get an apartment.”
“By Monday?”
“I’ll figure something out. We’re not sleeping in the same bed in your dad’s house. Not ever.”
She swatted his ass. “This is the twenty-first century, Tuck. He knows we’re going to get involved. I don’t think he expects us to remain chaste.”
Tuck shook his head, adamantly. It was cute. He was also going to have to get over himself. They sure couldn’t afford to stay in a hotel for several nights while he found a place. And no way was she sleeping without him starting Monday.
Jodi sighed. “We better get out there before some crazy bridesmaid from Cold Feet comes in and then reports back to Katia that we were fucking in the back room.”
“Don’t remind me. That’s exactly what she threatened just this morning.”
Jodi rose onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Well, she can bite me. She isn’t going to win this battle. My man is going to get the money and the better woman.” With that she reluctantly broke free of him and headed for the door. “Wait here a bit so we don’t look like we were making out in the office,” she tried to joke.
“Baby, after the way you’ve been plastered to my body, I’m going to need a few minutes to tame my hard-on.”
She smiled, feeling all warm inside at the way he called her “baby”. Then she glanced down at the erection indeed obvious through his jeans and flushed. “If you’re good, I promise to take care of that. Monday.” She hurried from the room before she could think about how boldly she’d put herself out there. Jodi had never been as forward as she’d been with Tuck today.
Of course, she’d also never been as desperate to make sure a man knew exactly what she was thinking about him. She was pretty sure she’d made herself perfectly clear. If he still had doubts, he was undeniably dense.
Chapter 14
Jodi was completely out of sorts the entire night. Between picking up the slack for her missing waitress and stealing heated glances at Tuck, it was a wonder she got most of her orders correct. Liz had to repeat herself more often than usual, and Stan did a fantastic job manning one end of the bar. With only one waitress, Jodi’s dad stepped up to the plate and took quite a few orders from tables himself.
They managed. By last call, Jodi was exhausted. Fifteen minutes later there were only two women left, sitting at a high table. Tuck was speaking to them. Jodi couldn’t hear what they were saying, but his brow was furrowed and he kept nodding as the skinny blond woman fidgeted and glanced at her friend several times.
“Dad, can you empty the last load from the dishwasher? I’m going to see what’s up over there.” She nodded toward the trio.
“Yep. I’ve got it.” He winked at her. “I don’t think you have to worry about those two though. They don’t seem like competition. But go insert yourself between them and your man. The jealousy will make his chest pump.”
“Dad,” she whispered. “My God. That’s not at all what I was thinking.” She wasn’t kidding. She was simply curious, and she wanted those ladies out of the bar as fast as possible so she could spend at least five damn minutes with “her man” before he had to