my strong suit.
If I hadn’t overheard his brother and his men—which, how cool was that? A throuple—teasing him repeatedly through the night about how fast he went through women, I’d think maybe he’d stayed to hit on me. Since that didn’t seem to be likely, I had no idea why he patiently sat there, without actually speaking to me, playing on his phone. It seemed odd. I guessed him not staying to pick me up was actually a good thing. While Creed’s spectacular body next to most of his friends had been larger with muscle, my sheer body mass and height made me considerably bigger than him. In my experience, any man with a body that showed plenty of time spent in the gym, when they pursued me, they had only one thing in mind: get held down and fucked hard by the big tattooed guy. So not m—
“You okay over there? I’m pretty sure whatever spilled, you got it.”
Creed’s amused voice interrupted my ruminating, pulling me back into the present. I glanced up at him, confused.
He pointed to the broom in my hands. “You’ve been sweeping that same spot for about five minutes.”
“Oh.” My face heated with my embarrassment. “Sorry, I guess I got lost in my head.”
Creed set his phone down on the bartop. “Penny for your thoughts.”
To delay answering, I bent down to sweep the little bits on the floor into the dustpan. “Nothing you’d be interested in, trust me,” I said when I stood back up and saw him waiting for my response.
“I don’t know about that. Why don’t you try me? I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”
Shaking my head again, I let a self-deprecating moan escape. “Nah. Even my family says the way my brain bounces around is exhausting. I wouldn’t want to expose you to that.”
Creed snorted. “Okay, I’ll let you off the hook for now.” Then he grinned and picked his phone back up.
Instead of standing there like a big dummy, I bustled around finishing up so that we could both get out of here. Once I’d counted my money and checked in with Bobby, who was entertaining a crowd at the other end of the bar, I went back to Creed. “Um, we can go now if you want.”
“Great.” He jumped off the seat with a big smile and gestured toward the doorway. “After you.”
I waved to a couple of the waitresses and the night manager on our way out, and as soon as we were outside, I pointed toward the side lot where employees were required to park. “I’m this way. Thanks for waiting.” I guessed. I still had no idea why he didn’t leave.
“Do you want to go get something to eat?” he asked.
I peered at him suspiciously, crooking my thumb back toward the restaurant. “You just ate.”
“But you”—he pointed at me—“didn’t. So you want to grab something at a diner?”
Stepping back slowly in the direction of my truck, I said, “Uh, I don…I mean, I ate before I came in tonight.”
He followed me, a confident smirk on his face. “Cool. Then let’s go get coffee. I should probably soak up some of this alcohol, though. Can you drive?”
Torn between turning and running for my truck and curiosity why he seemed so determined to spend time with me, I stopped in my tracks. “How did you plan to get home before?”
“I’m calling an Uber once I head home, but it’s silly for us to go separately if we’re going to the same place. Don’t you think?”
“I really need to head home.”
Creed waved me off. “Nope. I heard you tell Bobby that you’re kid-free tonight, which, I want the story there by the way. And you still haven’t told me what you were thinking about when you zoned out sweeping, so you absolutely have to go with me for coffee. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“But why?”
“So we can get to know each other better.”
His gaze stayed focused on my face, his smile didn’t look like it belonged on a serial killer, but one never knew. “But why?”
He lifted his hands at his sides. “Well, Logan, to be friends, you have to spend time with someone and get to know them. You’ve been working all night and need to relax, I’ve been drinking and need to sober up, so if we go for a cup of coffee, it’s a win/win all the way around.”
I considered the man in front of me more seriously. In his designer jeans and baby-blue