gorgeous? Or someone?” The sound of that deep timbre voice, that I was quickly addicted to now I had heard it, startling me into a girlie shriek. Which set Nixx off laughing and that sound was even better than his growling.
“Good grief, Nixx. Warn a woman when you sneak up on her,” I admonished, clutching at my chest.
“And miss out on hearing you call me a bastard. Not on your life.”
“How do you know I was talking about you?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could while filling up another glass, this time with raspberry lemonade and adding it to the tray. My waitress for the night came over and took the drink order, giving Nixx a wink and a huge smile.
“Hey there Hottie 3, fancy seeing you in here,” Macy joked good-naturally. Her easy nature was the main reason I hired Macy, that and her knowledge of the locals. Now I was wondering just how far her knowledge went with Fenixx Hott. Had they … did they ever … jealousy flared in the pit of my belly. I couldn’t understand the wild feeling of wanting to rip Macy’s strawberry blonde ponytail out of her hair from the roots, but there it was anyway.
“Hey, Spacy Macy, how is your granddad doing these days?” Nixx asked her, accepting a peck on the cheek from her.
“Same as usual. Stubborn and annoying. Last week we found him in the shearing shed crutching sheep. Dad threatened to put him in a retirement village in the city,” she laughed and I felt another green streak of envy pass through me. It was obvious Nixx and Macy had history, a history he and I would never have.
“As if darlin’, your granddad was born in Cattle Ridge, and he will be here till his last day on earth.” The two spoke so easily with each other I couldn’t help feeling like a third wheel. I knew nothing about Nixx, not really. And after three years of having Macy as an employee, I never knew she had a grandpa, let alone that he was ill.
Ducking my head to hide my emotions, I moved away from the two friends and headed over to the antique jukebox. The whole restaurant was decorated like an old-time Aussie pub. The previous owners made a start but had to sell due to bad health and a desire to move closer to their kids in another state. Deciding to keep the theme going, I added some rustic fence palings on the walls instead of painting them and polished reclaimed wood floorboards from the front door to the back. Intimate seating for two and family tables littered the place strategically around the area I set up as a dance floor. I wasn’t sure that the residents of Cattle Ridge wanted a place to go and dance, and honestly, at first, they didn’t. The expensive jukebox played every night, selections of music from the eighties and nineties, the music I loved to listen to, and not one person got up for six months. It wasn’t until one of the older regulars suggested I program in some country music as well, and low and behold, all it took was a Garth Brooks CD and Friday and Saturday nights became legendary. Farmhands and cowboys came from all over the district to enjoy a night of beer, pizza and boot scootin’, bringing with them their wives, significant others, or ones they just wanted to spend a few special hours with relaxing. Whatever they were to each other, country was the theme, and dancing and having fun their goal. I certainly hit the jackpot when it came to changing my business plan, men–I had yet to get lucky with, though.
Behind me I could hear Nixx saying good-bye to Macy, expressing his interest in visiting her grandfather one day soon.
Damn, he is so nice, genuinely a nice person. Perfect, in fact. The thought entered my head as I chose a song from the selection. I recently changed the program list to keep it fresh and interesting for my patrons.
Pressing the two buttons, I leaned my hands on the domed glass of the antique unit and closed my eyes when the first bars of one of my favourite songs started to play. Involuntarily my body swayed to the beat, and I locked out all the background noise and concentrated on Garth’s soothing voice.
“I never pegged you for a Garth Brooks fan, gorgeous,” Nixx spoke softly from behind me, close behind me. So