With one final, sweet kiss on my lips, he pulled back so he could stare down at me, still holding me to him, still keeping me wrapped in his strong, firm arms.
Looking up at him was like staring directly at the sun. He was too bright…too hot. His lids were only half-raised, droopy with lust and warmth. His pupils were dilated, nearly blocking out that heated gray. His smile was seductively crooked, promising wicked secrets I was desperate to know.
How could this gorgeous man be real?
He belonged in a romance novels and chick flicks.
I blinked, realizing that I didn’t. I wasn’t fiction worthy. I was bookish and awkward and neurotic. I also realized that we were standing in the middle of campus and that people had had to move around us while we made out on the sidewalk like two horn dogs.
I cleared my throat and stepped back. “I have to go to work.”
His hands grabbed mine, holding on loosely. “Me too.”
I licked my lips. “I’d rather keep doing that, though.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth. “Me too.”
I didn’t know what to say after that, so I took another step back, and our fingers reluctantly let go of each other.
“Bye, Beckett.”
Those heavy gray eyes lifted to mine. “I’ll text you later, Britte.”
I nodded, biting my lip to hide my smile. “I figured.”
His mouth kicked up in a half smile. “Good.”
I turned around quickly, afraid that if I stood there for a second longer with him staring at me like that, I would throw myself on top of him, wrap my legs around him like a spider monkey and attack his face with my mouth.
I shook my head at my own desperation. I had never felt like this about a guy before. Never. Not even Jameson could incite this kind of crazed lust in me. And Jameson was my top pick. He’d made the top of the list. Top one percent.
I should so feel this lusty for him.
Instead, I saved all my stripper emojis for Beckett Harris. A guy I was pretty sure would be tired of me in no less than three days.
My palm slapped my forehead as embarrassment washed over me. What was I even doing with my life?
Three hours later, I was well into my shift and ready to go home. Since it was a weeknight, I only had to work until around nine, but I had a massive load of homework waiting for me and the hours I’d been here already had not gone smoothly.
I looked down at my still damp uniform and cringed. I’d spilled a twenty-two ounce beer all over me and the guy it belonged to an hour ago. He’d gotten a new drink, his meal comped, the night off of tipping me and to go home where he could change into dry clothes. I’d gotten stiffed and a sopping wet uniform that smelled like yeast and cheap beer.
It had been the start of an epic evening.
But I’d at least been able to change out my apron. That had been a bonus since I’d needed a new one but hadn’t wanted to pay for it.
Ty, my manager, had turned a blind eye to my petty theft. I knew he felt sorry for me when the pockets of my old apron started foaming.
Ellie was here tonight too, so I had moral support. But in the last thirty minutes, even she had started to avoid me and my stench.
“You need to throw your shirt away,” Steve, one of the hosts commented when I walked over to replace some menus. We called him Creep-O Steve-O because he could be pretty creepy. He was just a high school kid, but more perverted than most. Or at least more upfront about his perverseness than most. “I can help with that,” he added. “Help you take it off, if you know what I mean.”
See?
Creepy.
“I know what you mean, Steve,” I sighed. “The entire restaurant knows what you mean.”
He grinned at me, and I wanted to take a shower for an entirely different reason now. “So that’s a yes?”
“That’s a hell no.”
He continued to grin at me.
“Hey, Creep-O, get away from my girl.”
I saw Steve’s eye roll even if Ellie didn’t. “I hate when you guys call me that. I’m not a creep.” His grin returned. “I’m an opportunist. You girls are fly. I gotta get in while you’re both still single.”
I quickly said, “She’s not single.”
At the same time, Ellie announced, “Neither of us are single.”
Steve turned so he could face us both. This time, he rolled his eyes for our benefit. “Eleanor, you’re not not single. That guy is just a phase. Eventually, you’ll see you need a real man. And that real man is me.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. Steve was adorable in his own, weird, really weird way, but he was still a lanky seventeen-year-old. Ellie was dating a former college track star in med school.
“Good luck with that fantasy, Steve-O.” I put my arm around Ellie. “But maybe she’ll invite you to the wedding.”
“We’re not getting married,” Ellie announced in a strangled squeak. “At least not yet. Not for a long time. Not, you know, until I graduate and he graduates…again. And we’re older. Much older. And we have some stability in our lives. And—”
I squeezed her shoulder to shut her up. “We get it, Els. You’re still afraid of commitment. You still love the man, though. Good grief.”
Her mouth melted into a dreamy smile. “I do love him.” She looked at Steve. “She’s right. I do love him.”
Undeterred, Steve turned to me. “What about you, B? Looking for some love for yourself?”
I wrinkled my nose and tried not to physically gag. “No, thank—”
“She’s taken,” Ellie announced.
“I’m not—”
“She’s dating my brother.”
“We’re not dating—”
“They’re basically in love too.”
Okay, it was time to put my foot down. “We are not in love.”
Ellie ignored me completely. “They’ve been on three dates. That’s the most I’ve ever seen her date anybody. Pretty sure they’re soulmates.”
“Oh, my God, Ellie!”
Steve watched us intently, his head bouncing back and forth between us like he was front row at a tennis match. The door opened and customers ambled in, wrangling two small children. Steve had to leave us to deal with them. Ellie and I plastered smiles on our faces and started to back away slowly.
As former hostesses, the other hosts sometimes forgot that we didn’t seat people anymore and would try to hand off their work to us. Or maybe it wasn’t so much that they forgot and more like they were just lazy punks.
“Britte!” A voice boomed my name from behind me. I jumped, startled by the militaristic inflection in the tone and had to fight the urge to curl up into a ball.
Our boss, Ty, used to be a marine and consequently had the ability to scare the bejeezus out of me. He was also super sweet and understanding when he wanted to be.
Ellie and I pretty much loved him. At first, he had been super intimidating, and we’d avoided him as much as possible. Now I knew better.
Now, he was the one trying to avoid us. We’d recently decided that he should start dating and were on a mission to set him up with an online dating profile.
He had not been on board at first.
Or later.
Or even now.
But we were determined to help him find true love.
He should really thank us.
“Hey, Ty,” I said meekly. He was a little mad at me already today for spilling beer all over a customer, I was afraid of what else I’d done to upset him.
“My office,” he grunted.
I shared a terrified look with Ellie. She offered me a mild thumbs up, but it did little to boost my confidence. I weaved through tables, checking on one that had just gotten their food before I met Ty in the back office.
Gentle jazz music played from his iPod dock in the corner and contrasted drastically with the soft rock booming through the restaurant. Ty squeezed behind the narrow space of the walls and his super organized desk to sit in h
is worn, leather office chair. There was one other chair in the office. The rest of the small space was cluttered with wire bookshelves holding training manuals and videos and work shirts and aprons and a plethora of other odds and ends.
Ty kept it as clean as possible in here, but it was a losing battle against the constant clutter.
“Have a seat.” His deep voice resonated over the soft music as he swept his hand toward the one chair.
I pulled my shirt away from my stomach as I sat and waited for him to fire me.
Okay, I didn’t think he would fire me. Two weeks ago, one of the other servers spilled a plate of spaghetti on a child, and she didn’t get fired. So beer on a grownup had to be par for the course of restaurant living.
Beer on a child, however…I could see getting fired for that.
“You okay, Nichols?”
His question surprised me. I had expected him to yell at me for something, not ask if I was okay. “I’m fine, Ty. Why?”
Ty was of some Latino decent. He was big and bulky with terrifying muscles and too-tight dress shirts that accentuated every line and bulge. His skin was the color of my coffee with cream and his cropped dark hair matched the color of his equally dark eyes. Ty was a catch. He needed me to find him a woman.
Fact.
His eyes narrowed with concern. “Because you dumped a beer on some schmuck’s head and over-charged your last table by double. I’m used to these kinds of mistakes, Britte, but not from you.”
I swallowed nervously. I hadn’t realized I’d overcharged the last table. I did see Ty dealing with their bill, but I thought he’d just stopped by to help me out. Now I realized they’d asked for him.
“Sorry, Ty. I’m having an off night.”
His frown deepened. “Are you really dating Ellie’s brother?”
I nearly choked on my tongue. “What?”
“Is that why you’re all frazzled and tired looking?”
“Cheese and rice, Ty! You can’t say that! I don’t look tired!”
His lips twitched with a near smile. “You look a little tired, Britte.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and slumped back in my chair. “I don’t have to take this. I quit.”
He reached over to a box on the shelf next to him and fished out a fresh shirt. Tossing it at me, he chuckled and said, “No, you don’t. You love it here.”
I glared at him. “Love is a strong word. I usually don’t loathe it here. But tonight might be the exception.”
His smile was fatherly and warm. “Listen, you’re all messed up with a boy right now, and it’s making you act stupid. Boys will always make you act stupid. It’s the nature of the game. What I’m worried about is if everything else in your life is all right. How’s school? How’s your dad?”
I let out a small smile, but it had nothing to do with Ty and everything to do with his concern about my dad. I loved my dad. But not a lot of other people in the world would say that about him. He didn’t have siblings. My grandparents had died a while back. His friends would never admit to loving him or caring about him. So Ty’s concern meant something to me.
“He’s good,” I assured him. “He’s worried about me, but other than that he’s in good shape.”
“And school?” Ty pressed.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “I have a lot of it. But it’s good too.”
“So this is all about the Harris kid then?”
Oh, my God. I could have screamed! Ty’s power of deduction was more than a little annoying. “It’s not about anything, Ty. I’m just having an off night. I’m about to start my period. I drop things when I’m about to start my period.”
His face paled, and he floundered for something to say. I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling.
God, boys were so easy.
“Change your shirt, Britte,” Ty ordered. “And don’t drop anything else. I can’t afford for you to lose us anymore money tonight.”
I stood up and stuck my tongue out at him. “Aye, aye.”
I’d almost made it through the door when he called after me, “And Britte, be careful with the Harris kid.”
Struggling to swallow, I left Ty’s office without another word. My heart had been an erratic time bomb since Beckett kissed me on campus tonight. I hadn’t been able to think about anything else since.
Ty’s words couldn’t have come at a more poignant time. I wanted to be careful with Beckett. I wanted to keep my distance and protect my heart.
But then he just showed up and started kissing me. After I had been a completely irrational bitch to him.
He had apologized to me!
And he’d been adorable about it.
I wanted to be careful. More than anything.
But I was starting to learn that when it came to Beckett Harris, I never got what I wanted.
And maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
Chapter Thirteen
Beckett
Please tell me you’re coming to family dinner.
I smiled when she texted back immediately, Why would I come to family dinner? I’m not family.
I let out an audible sigh and knocked my head against the smooth leather seat of my Charger. Family dinner was usually rough, but I’d been hoping Ellie would drag Britte along this time so I could see her.
It had been a week and a half since I’d kissed her on campus. Since then we’d both been so busy there hadn’t been time for a date or any alone time. Although she had started responding to my texts on a regular basis.
So I was calling that a win.
I pushed the right buttons, and her text turned into a phone call. She answered on the third ring. “Hello?” she sounded so confused.
I realized this was the first time we’d talked on the phone, but I didn’t have time for pleasantries. “You should just come,” I cajoled. “It will be fun. You’ll love it.”
Her voice lifted with her smile, and I found myself smiling back. “I’m not crashing your family dinner,” she insisted.
“I don’t know why Ellie didn’t invite you in the first place,” I huffed. “She’s not a very good friend.”
This time her laugh carried through, and my chest did this thing in response. I rubbed at the spot over my heart, trying to ignore the nervous beating.
“Fin drove down to meet her tonight,” Britte explained. “I think Ellie’s only allowed to bring one guest at a time.”
I didn’t even think about it, I just said, “Then be my guest.”
Her voice sounded more serious when she replied, “Show up at family dinner as your guest? Also known as your date? I’m pretty sure you’re nowhere close to introducing me to mom and dad yet.”
I frowned and sat up straighter. That wasn’t what I had intended. I wasn’t trying to make this a serious step in our relationship. I just wanted to have someone I liked sit with me around the table, so I didn’t have to tell my parents every little nuance about my life and deal with my brothers’ shit for three hours.
I wanted a buffer.
A Harris family buffer.
But it rubbed me the wrong way how she immediately assumed I wasn’t ready for this step. I was ready. I might not have known it until this second, but now that she’d said it out loud, I realized I didn’t mind if my parents and family knew Britte and I were a more permanent thing.
“How do you know what I’m close to doing and not doing?” I challenged her. “Besides, my parents already know you.”
“Yeah, but they don’t know about you and me. How awkward would that be for me? They think I’m Ellie’s roommate, and I show up as your date? No, Beckett, it’s weird.”
“It’s only weird because you’re making it weird.”
She sighed into the phone. “You love your family. Stop pretending this is a big deal and go spend time with them.”
“You can get out of it this time, Nichols,” I allowed. “But only because I know you have a statistics test coming up, and you’re embarrassingly unprepared.?
?? She snorted indignantly into the phone, and I found myself smiling again. “But next family dinner, you’re coming with me. As my date. I’ll introduce you all over again if I have to. But I’m not afraid of my family knowing we’re dating.”
“You’re out of control, Harris.”
“And you’re afraid, Britte. I can hear it in your voice. You’re shaking.”
“I’m not afraid,” she snapped. “I’m just unsure about whether I’m ready to make this family-official.”
“So you’re afraid.”
Her voice dropped to a frustrated growl, “I’m not afraid.”
“It’s okay if you’re afraid. My brothers can be complete assholes. And I have this one sister that I’m pretty sure you’ll hate. She’s already told me she can’t stand you. So…”
“You’re goading me.”
My blood buzzed with the impending win. “I’m just telling the truth. I’m a truth teller.”
“I’m still not coming tonight.”
“Fine,” I agreed. “But next time.”
“We’ll see.”
“Victory!” I fist pumped obnoxiously, even though she couldn’t see me.
She ignored me, “Now go be with your family you pretend to hate so much.”
“I’ll call you later,” I told her. “Have fun studying with Jameson. Remind him that we make out all the time.”
“I’ll be sure to do that,” she laughed.
“I’m serious!”
“Bye, Beckett.”
I dropped my voice to remind her about all those times we did make out. “Bye, Britte.”
Just as I hung up my phone, a fist pounded on my driver’s side window, and my car started shaking like it was riding ocean waves.
“What the hell?” I exclaimed, pushing my door open and Lennox out of the way. He had been the one to pound my window, while my other idiot brother, Grayson, stood on my bumper jumping up and down. “Get off my car, asshole!”
He grinned at me and continued to jump. “It’s so tiny. I thought it was a toy.”
I looked at Lennox, and he smiled. “That’s what she said,” we said in unison.
Grayson stopped smiling and jumped down. “What is that? Water cooler humor? You two suits should work on your timing before you perform that in front of a client.”