A Time To Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance) (5 page)

“And inside of this room?”

“I kind of like your cunning wit and spitfire personality, so give me your best shots inside this room,” he said with a wink and that dazzling dimpled smile of his. Trying not to grin herself, and show her obvious attraction to him in the process, she ducked under his arm and out into the bar.

***

Eva spent the next few days learning the ropes at O’Malley’s. Surprisingly, she was getting used to the regulars, and her tips were reasonably good. She gave a third of what she earned to Gracie, even though her sister didn’t seem to be any closer to trusting her or liking her.

She tried to stay out of Gracie’s way as much as possible, opting instead to show her she could be cordial and work hard. She figured she still had a good two and a half months to prove her new relationship to the attorney so she could get the money.

Brice had been busy all week with quarterly taxes and other business stuff, so he rarely came out of his office. That gave Eva the space she needed away from this man who was so wrong for her but attracted her in a way she’d never felt before.

As the bar closed down on Saturday night, she cleaned up her last tables and said goodbye to a couple of regulars. Staying open until one in the morning was tough as she’d always been one to go to bed early and get up with the sunrise, but she was learning to adapt - at least for a couple of months.

“Tired?” she heard Brice say from behind her as she wiped down the top of one of the tables.

“A little. Where’s Cara?” she asked looking around.

“I let her go home. She wasn’t feeling well. I hope she isn’t coming down with that flu that’s going around,” he said pushing in one of the barstools.

“Oh. Yeah. Hope she’s okay,” Eva said trying to stay busy once she realized she was alone, at night, with Brice.

She could hear the click of his cowboy boots as he slowly walked across the rough wooden floor toward the dance floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him messing with the DJ equipment in the corner before the song “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison started playing.

“What are you doing?” she asked with a laugh. He was dancing around on the floor, showing off his extensive collection of moves. She was a bit shocked that he was actually a good dancer.

“Working off my stress. Come on!” he said waving her over.

“No, thanks. I don’t dance…” she tried to say, but he pulled her arm until she was standing in front of him on the dance floor.

“At least move your hips. You need to work off your stress too,” he said smiling.

“What I need is sleep,” she said rubbing one of her eyes.

“Dancing gets the blood pumping,” he said continuing to thrust his hips around.

“I don’t need to wake up. I need to go home and get some sleep, Brice,” she said shaking her head. He stopped that song, but another one came on right behind it. “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton - one of her favorites. A slow song.

“May I have this dance?” he asked with his hand out.

“Brice…”

“It’s okay. No ulterior motive. Consider it a lullaby.” His smile made her want to say yes to anything he asked. Reluctantly, she took his hand and he pulled her close, swaying to the beat of the song. She said nothing, but took in the smell of his chiseled chest. It had been a long time since any man had held her in his arms, and she’d never had one hold her that felt as strong and masculine as him. “See? You can dance,” he whispered into her mound of blond hair that was swooped up into a ponytail.

As Eva swayed with him, she wondered what in the world she was doing at one in the morning at a small country bar in the middle of nowhere, pressing her body against her boss’s rock hard abs. Just two weeks ago, she was still living it up in Atlanta, enjoying her money before everything slipped through her fingers. The money, the apartment, her car. Everything was gone because of her own poor decisions. She’d tried to keep up with the Jones’, as they say. And now her punishment was waiting tables and stepping on peanut shells every night.

The only problem was she was enjoying it. She liked her job, the people, the area. How could that be?

As the song ended, Eva felt a wave of sadness pass through her ever so quickly. She hadn’t wanted the song to end. It had been so long since she felt included and wanted by anyone, especially a man. Instead of doing what she knew was right, and pulling away, she stood there in silence with her cheek still against his firm chest and her arms around his back. He continued swaying without saying a word either, and she lost track of just how long they moved together on the dance floor in the quiet of O’Malley’s.

“Eva?” he said softly after a few minutes.

“Yes?” she said without even opening her eyes.

“Are you asleep?”

Embarrassed he thought she was sleeping on his chest, she slowly pulled back being sure to check and see if she drooled on him or anything horrible like that. Thankful she’d managed to keep any stray spit in her own mouth, she adjusted her shirt and tightened her ponytail before looking up at him. The look in his eyes had changed from that of a smiling man to that of a man who had an obvious attraction to her. The smoldering look coming out of his eyes was enough to set fire to her soul.

“Sorry,” she said with a quirk of a smile.

“I wasn’t complaining,” he said as he continued looking at her. “Thanks for the dance.”

“You’re welcome,” she said as she started to back up toward the bar again. The quiet looming over the room was deafening, and Eva tried to do anything she could to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Brice turned off the DJ equipment as the two of them continued to clean up the bar and restaurant. No more words were spoken between them, but there was definitely a conversation going on anyway.

With the final cleaning up tasks done, Eva grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

“Goodnight, Eva,” Brice said with a smile.

“Goodnight, boss,” she said smiling back as she walked out the door.

As Eva arrived at work the next night, the place was bustling for a Sunday. Even though alcohol wasn’t served on Sundays in the small Georgia town, regulars still came by in droves to play darts, eat and hang out. There wasn’t a heck of a lot to do in Mill Creek Crossing on any day of the week, but Sundays there was even less.

“Hey, Eva!” Cara called to her from behind the bar where she was mixing up margaritas for a group of women having a bachelorette party.

“Hey,” Eva said putting her purse and coat behind the bar.

“Listen, Brice wants to see you in his office.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I was just told to pass along that message,” she said smiling as she poured a glass of wine for another patron.

Reluctant as always, Eva made her way to Brice’s office door. He was on the phone having an animated conversation with someone, but he waved her in anyway. Pointing to a chair, he asked her to sit down and wait for a few minutes.

“Don, I know how my father did things, but I’m running O’Malley’s now… Yes, we all hope he’ll come back one day… Look, just get it done, okay?” Eva wondered what the other person was saying to Brice that had him all up in arms, but she wasn’t about to ask. Finally, he hung up the phone, ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and then looked up at Eva. Slowly, a smile crept across his face.

“What?” she asked looking down at her shirt to see if she had a stain or something that was causing him to smile at her.

“Nothing. It’s just nice to see a friendly face. Not a great day,” he said.

“You think I’m a friendly face? Most people would not agree,” she said allowing a grin to escape.

“Maybe those people don’t get who you are… really.”

“And you do? You barely know me, Brice.”

“I think I know you better than you’d like to believe,” he said tapping his pen on the desk. Eva squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “Anyway, I called you in here to ask a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. My father, as you know, is ill with a relapse of multiple sclerosis. He isn’t able to work at all, but he is constantly asking me questions about the place, how things are running…”

“I can imagine. He owned it for a long time,” she said.

“Yes, and he still does legally. Anyway, I promised him I would ride up there this evening and bring him some of the financial reports I’ve been working on. Of course, when I told him about you being a new hire and helping us bring the place up to the twenty-first century, he wanted to meet you too.”

“So you want me to go with you to see your father?” she asked barely able to contain her shock and nervousness.

“If you don’t mind. I’m glad to pay you a bonus…”

“It’s okay. I’d love to go with you,” she said with a smile as she surprised herself.

“Great. We’d better head out now since it’ll be getting dark in a couple of hours.”

With that, he grabbed his coat while Eva got her purse and coat from behind the bar. As they walked into the parking lot, Brice pointed to the back of the building.

“I’m parked back here. I don’t like to take up a parking space,” he said with a small smile.

Walking up to a large Harley Davidson motorcycle, he removed one of the helmets and handed it to Eva.

“You’ll need to put this on,” he said.

“Are you kidding me?”

“No…”

“I’m not riding a motorcycle! These things are dangerous!” she said backing up with her hands in the air.

“Eva, I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was a kid. Trust me, I am a great driver. I don’t take chances. I’ll protect you, I promise,” he said with more sincerity than she’d heard in a while. His eyes were calming to her, and she didn’t know why she was about to agree to this.

She took the helmet from his outstretched hand and looked at it. “It’s going to mess up my hair.”

Brice laughed and said, “You will still look beautiful, Eva.”

Her heart flip flopped in her chest at his statement. Nervous, she slid the helmet on and tried to fasten it under her chin, but couldn’t get it to work. Brice reached over and touched her chin as he fastened the clip. The moment he touched her again, she knew she was in deep trouble with this guy. The faster she could make amends with Gracie and get out of town, the better off she’d be.

After putting on his helmet, he sat on the bike and started it. The noise was deafening to her, but Eva liked the ruggedness of seeing him sitting on the big Harley. Something surged within her she didn’t even know was there. Maybe she had a fetish for country boys or rednecks?

“Come on. Sit back here,” he yelled over the engine. She slowly slid one leg over the seat. “Put your arms around my waist and hold on,” he said loudly. With no other choice, she slid her arms around his strong waist and moved closer to him. With her hips holding tight around him, she felt overcome with the desire to yank his helmet off and kiss him right there. Maybe her libido was out of whack since she hadn’t been with any man in over a year, she thought to herself. Maybe it was the scent of his masculine cologne that smelled like lust in a bottle.

As they zipped out of the parking lot and down to the main road that ran through town, Eva couldn’t remember ever feeling more free in her life. The wind was whipping her ponytail as she held onto Brice for dear life. He turned on the microphone system that linked the two helmets so she could hear him and talk back to him.