“No need.” I grinned. “I think you’re doing a fine job.”
Before I could tell her what else she could do for me, she turned and darted off toward the bar for my beers.
“She’s hot,” Joe said, slapping my back as he walked up behind me.
He caught me staring through her clothes as if I had X-ray vision.
“No shit,” I snorted. I wanted him to know I had first dibs on her.
He turned the chair next to me, straddling it. “You asshole. You always get the best ones," he said, punching my shoulder. I grinned and nodded, knowing it was true.
Maybe the guys deferred because I was the quarterback, or maybe it was because I had established how things worked on the team. I really didn’t care as long as they understood the system. I always walked out of here with the girl I wanted.
“Sorry, man. Did you see those fucking tits?” I shrugged my shoulders.
“You’d have to be blind to miss them,” he replied, studying her ass while she cleaned the table next to ours. “How’d you beat me here?”
My attention was on the girl. She was flustered. She knocked over a chair on her way back to the bar. The bartender scowled at her and said something out of the corner of his mouth. I didn’t like the fucking way he talked to the girls here. And something about this one pissed me off even more.
“Kane? Man, did you hear me?”
“Yeah. Yeah. I took a cab.” I didn’t look at him.
She quickly came back with our drinks. I could tell she was concentrating on the tray so she didn’t spill them. As soon as the frosted mugs were out of her hands, I grabbed her wrist, pulling her onto my lap. It was instinct. Need. Drive to touch her that overtook me.
Her eyes widened with alarm. “W-what are you doing?”
I wrapped my arms around her waist. She smelled like fucking heaven. Everything about her was subtle and intoxicating.
“Seriously, I can't afford to get fired. Please let me get back to work.” She wrestled my arm away from her hips and took a step back.
“Just a moment, darlin’,” I replied. I wanted to pull her back into my lap. Inhale her. Kiss her.
“If it’s about the order, then tell me.” She set her eyes on me. I saw the resolve there. The strength to stand up for herself.
“Damn,” I muttered to myself, but I wasn’t entirely sure she didn’t hear me. Another vice of mine—I said whatever was on my mind. And right now it was this girl.
“No, the beers are fine.” I picked mine up and took a swallow to prove a point. It wasn’t the beer I wanted. It was her.
“Ok, then I’ll check back with you soon.” She turned to go.
“Wait, you have a name?”
She swiveled on her heels, then pinched her lips together as if she were deciding what name to give me. “Julie.”
“Nice to meet you Julie.” I held out my hand to touch hers. “Kane. And this is my buddy Joe.”
Joe grimaced. “Don’t buy his lines, darlin’. We call him Hawk for a reason.”
I gritted my teeth. “You call me Hawk because my last name is Hawkins.”
“Oh, ok, so which is it? Kane or Hawk?” she asked.
I grinned. “I’ll let you choose.”
Her eyes fell to the floor again. “I’ll be back to check on your beers.”
Before I could keep her at the table for another round of sparring she wedged herself between an oncoming party and disappeared.