“I guess we were both wrong,” he said and captured my lips again.
He pulled away before I was ready and rested his forehead against mine. “As much as I’d like to stay and continue this, I have to get to the clubhouse for a meeting. Are you working tomorrow?”
“Yes,” I answered, still trying to catch my breath.
“Do you want to eat lunch together?”
“Yes, I’d like that,” I smiled and got up to walk him to the door.
When we stepped outside, there was a box sitting on my front porch. He picked it up and handed it to me. I glanced at the label and sighed. “Any chance you know who S.M. Gal is?”
“No, why?”
“This is the second delivery I’ve gotten for them. I was hoping maybe they were a neighbor and I could let them know whoever sent it has their address wrong.”
“They could be. I’ve met a few of the neighbors, but not all of them.”
“I guess I’ll drop it off at the post office on my way to work in the morning and let them figure out what to do with it.”
“That’s what I would do,” he said and leaned down to give me a quick kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
* * *
When I metCoal for lunch the next day, he invited me to a pool tournament the club was hosting at the bar they owned that weekend. After work on Friday, I rushed home and managed to have myself ready on time, despite changing outfits multiple times. He didn’t say it was a date, but it felt like one, so I was a little nervous.
Even though we arrived at the bar an hour before the tournament was supposed to begin, the place was packed. “Is it always like this?”
“It’s pretty busy on the weekends, but never like this.”
I wasn’t a huge fan of crowds and hoped the place was bigger inside than it looked from the outside. Being continuously bumped by strangers wasn’t my idea of a good time.
I soon realized I didn’t need to worry. The club had a designated VIP section for the members and their guests. Coal walked me over to a table where Game and Drew were sitting and went to the bar to get our drinks.
“Sorry it took so long,” Coal said when he finally returned. “They had a bartender call in sick, and Layla’s struggling to keep up with the crowd.”
“I was a bartender before I moved here. Do you think she’d want my help?” I asked.
“I’m sure she would. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I’ve been the only one behind the bar on a busy night before, and it sucked. I’m happy to help.”
Coal escorted me behind the bar and offered my help to Layla.
“Girl, if I wasn’t so busy, I’d hug you. Jump in whenever you’re ready,” she said.
“I’ll check on you in a bit,” Coal said and kissed me on the cheek before he went back to the table with Game.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him and started helping customers.
It took some time, but we managed to get caught up enough to have a steady flow of customers instead of a massive crowd surrounding the bar. Things were going smoothly, until they weren’t.
It started when I looked up to find the guy from the gym, Shane, standing in front of me. “Gin and tonic, sweetheart,” he said and tossed his card onto the bar. “Go ahead and make two. I’ll start a tab.”
I nodded and took his card, then quickly made his drinks. “Here you go.”
He picked up one of the glasses and drank the whole thing before he placed the glass on the counter and winked at me. “When you see me coming, start making another.”
“Yep,” I said and moved to the next customer.