“You’re a very good dancer.” I drank up the sway of her hips and thighs, the sensual-as-fuck yet classy way in which her ass arched up rhythmically. I had a very sudden and very clear vision of me holding those hips, pressing her against me. Jesus, I hadn’t felt such a pull toward a woman in years. I couldn’t tear myself away.
“Thanks. I typically dance the entire time they perform, but house rules forbid me leaving the bar. But there are no rules saying I’m not allowed to dance behind the bar.”
“What time does your shift end?”
“I’m closing, so three o’clock.”
“And you’re working on Val’s yard tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Coffee will be my best friend.”
“I’ll talk to Val. I’m sure she won’t mind if you take the day off.”
She shook her head. “No can do. I don’t like skipping work for personal reasons.”
Stubborn woman. I didn’t like the fact that she’d only get a few hours of sleep, but I respected her work ethic.
“My place is just five blocks away. I’ll be home in twenty minutes tops,” she continued.
“You’re walking?”
“Of course.” Motioning to my empty glass, she asked, “Another bourbon?”
“No.” I wanted to keep a clear head, so I glanced at the menu, choosing the first nonalcoholic drink that caught my eye. “I’ll have a mint lemonade with ginger and strawberry.”
“You must be very secure in your masculinity. Women usually order that.”
“I’m very secure in my masculinity, Maddie.”
Her lips parted, forming a small, delicious O. I was affecting her, in the same way she was affecting me. I didn’t take my eyes off her as she prepared my drink. She glanced up at me every few seconds, and I enjoyed immensely the way she bit into her bottom lip after every glance.
“Here is your drink!” She sounded breathless.
I stuck to the bar for the next few hours, listening to the band, ordering almost everything from the nonalcoholic side of the menu, and fending off any men who came on too strong on Maddie.
“Stop scaring away the customers,” Maddie admonished me after I caused the third male customer to cower away.
“He was more interested in you than the drink.”
“I know, but you still can’t scare off customers.”
“But you can put them off from the house specialty?" I challenged.
“I don’t put everyone off. Just the people I like.” She winked at me and continued to dance while mixing cocktails, pouring drinks. She was an unquenchable well of energy and sinful moves. The more I watched her, the more I wanted to know how she’d feel against me. I wanted to dance with her—another new impulse for me.
She chitchatted with other patrons too, and annoyance twanged inside me whenever a man asked her for her number. She declined every time, which was when it dawned on me that she might be seeing someone. Why hadn’t that occurred to me before? Surely a woman like her wasn’t single. She was smart, sassy, and hardworking. She’d mentioned an ex, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have someone in her life at the moment. Fuck, that thought bothered me. Even though I didn’t have a right to be bothered.
As three o’clock neared, the patrons shuffled out one by one, even though the band kept playing as if they had a full house. Fifteen minutes before closing time, there were just two other people besides us. Maddie had dismissed the servers on the shift, saying she could close up by herself.
I watched her dance become wilder, more passionate, and I couldn’t take it any longer. I leaned over the bar and said, “Come out here and dance.”
She jutted out her lower lip. “Can’t. House rules.”
“Come out here.”
“Landon—”
“Break the rules with me, Maddie. Dance with me.”