“It’s kind of a word,” she muttered. Her face flushed and she looked down at the bar.
Damn, she was cute. Cute in a sexy, drop-me-on-my-ass kind of way. I smiled at her rosy cheeks and the way her shoulders crept up to her ears.
I liked that I had the ability to unsettle her a bit. It meant that somewhere in there, her crush on me wasn’t completely gone.
“Woogidy.” I leaned in closer. “I like it. I might have to use that one myself.”
She lifted her chin and gave me a shy smile.
“How about a Coke?”
“Please.” She nodded and I filled her a glass.
A table of three caught my attention, so I left her to bring them another round. I came back and checked in with Willa just as a table of two signaled for their check.
And that was how the evening went.
When I wasn’t filling a drink or waiting on someone, I’d stand at my post across from Willa. We chatted about nothing major, and while I worked, she watched the ballgame I had on the corner television.
I assumed after an hour of her sipping Coke and me being too busy to really talk much that she’d slip away.
But she stayed.
She sat quietly, taking the moments I had to spare until the place finally cleared out five hours later.
“Sorry.” I set down the last batch of dirty glasses I’d collected from the room. “I haven’t been good company tonight. But I’m glad you stayed.”
“It’s okay.” She slid over her empty glass. “And me too. It’s kind of fun watching you in action.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “You work fast. I’m not sure how you keep everything straight, always doing three things at once. It’s impressive.”
Now it was my turn to blush. I don’t think I’d ever been complimented on my bartending skills before. Other than the women who’d come in and compliment me on my body, I didn’t get a lot of praise, even from Hazel and Thea.
Those two loved me, but aside from the occasional hug, razzing me was how they expressed their affection.
Willa’s simple compliment made me feel ten feet tall.
“I like watching you work too,” I told her. “You’ve got a gift with those kids at the camp. You should have been a teacher.”
“That’s what I have my degree in.”
“But you didn’t get a job at the school?”
She shook her head. “There aren’t a lot of openings here. I probably could have moved to Kalispell and gotten a job there, but I wanted to live in Lark Cove. And the camp director position was open, so I took it instead. I figured it was a job I could keep until something else opened up, but then I just never wanted to leave.”
“Then it’s good that it all worked out.”
She smiled. “Exactly. Maybe when my dad retires, I’ll take his spot as the science teacher.”
It was good she had a long-term plan, unlike me. If the bar were to ever close down, I’d be without another skill to fall back on if I wanted to stay in Lark Cove.
“Did you go to college?” she asked.
“Nah. I was lucky to graduate high school.”
“Well, if you ever wanted to go, I’m sure you’d do great.”
I blinked, surprised for the second time in five minutes.
Willa had such confidence in her statement. It was way more than I deserved, especially from a woman who had every right to consider me a cocky ass. But she looked at me like I could do anything in the world.
It was unnerving. It was a rush.
“College isn’t for me,” I told her. “I don’t need anything other than my bar.”
“Have you ever wanted to do anything else?” Her voice was only full of curiosity, not an ounce of judgment. She wasn’t asking because she thought I could do better. She just wanted to know.
“Not really. I’ve been bartending ever since I turned eighteen. Liked it then. Still like it now. Someone has to serve pizza and beer, right?”
She smiled. “True.”
“I like my job,” I told her honestly. “I like working with Thea. I like that by working here, I can help fund Hazel’s retirement. And I don’t see myself living anywhere other than Lark Cove, so this all works.”
“I’m glad. There are a lot of people miserable in their daily lives, always wishing for something bigger and better. It’s nice to be around someone who just wants to enjoy a simple life.”
I nearly toppled over. Who was this woman? Was she for real?
Most women who sat across from me thought I could do better for myself. To them, I was just a good-looking bartender with no ambition.
I didn’t let it bother me. Hell, I capitalized on it. My occupation was the perfect way to get no-strings-attached sex because the rich women coming through town would only ever see me as a fling.
I wasn’t the guy you brought home to meet Daddy.
Except I already knew Willa’s dad. Her mom had practically ordered her to stay here with me tonight.
They didn’t think less of me because of my job and neither did Willa.
“Thanks,” I managed to choke out. “Not many people think like that.”
She nodded. “I know. But I do.”
Her smile was so warm and inviting, I leaned in a bit. God, I could kiss her. Her lips were such a pretty color. They were completely natural, free of heavy lipstick or thick gloss. They were just soft and pink.
And familiar.
Something in the back of my mind told me that if I kissed her right now, I’d taste peppermint lip balm. I’d bet the bar on it.
Weird.
That creepy déjà vu feeling was back. The one I still had whenever I looked at her staircase.
“Hey.” Willa waved a hand in front of my eyes. “Where’d you go?”
I blinked, standing straight and swiping up a bar rag. “Sorry. You have nice . . . lips.”
“Oh, um, thank you.” She blushed again, this time pulling at her long braid over her shoulder as she attempted to hide among all that hair.
Damn, but I wanted my fingers in her hair. I wanted to take that braid and unfasten all the loops until the golden waves hung loose. I knew it would be like touching silk, just like I knew what she tasted like.
Which was fucking crazy because until a week ago, I hadn’t known much about Willa Doon. I wanted to kick my own ass for being such a blind fool.
“I need to get things wiped down and cleaned up,” I told her, wiping the bar by her side. “I’m not going to stay open until two. We can call it a night. But would you stay? I don’t want you walking home in the dark.”
“Sure, but only if I can help clean up. My butt is sick of this stool.”
Willa stood and smoothed down her green shorts, running her hands over the tight globes of her ass. It wasn’t meant to be sexy, but damn, this woman hit all the right buttons. Her smooth skin, tanned for the summer, was begging to be licked. Her toned legs would feel incredible wrapped around my hips.
Underneath her tank, a yellow bra strap was peeking out. Did her panties match? Whether they did or not, yellow was my new favorite color.
Especially the yellow color of her hair.
The sight of her stretching out stiff muscles had my dick straining against my zipper. I was just glad she couldn’t see it from her side of the bar. I didn’t need to freak her out with a bulge behind my jeans.
I tossed her a rag, deciding to keep my lower half hidden until my cock settled back down. “Just wipe down the tables and then we’ll stack up the chairs.”
“Okay.” She smiled and got to work.
Willa made cleaning the bar more fun than it had ever been. A lot of bars had swampers, people who would come in during the early morning hours to scrub the place down. But Thea and I had always done the cleaning ourselves to save money.
Every night, we’d deep clean some part of the place. Once a month, the two of us would meet early on a Sunday morning and scour away built-up grime. It was a way we could afford to give Hazel a bigger cut each month.
Tonight, besides all the regular cleaning, I had to wash the windows. It normally took me over an hour to clean each night, but with Willa’s help, we left after thirty minutes, both of us smelling like bleach and ammonia.
I led her out the back, locking the back door behind us. After tossing the last bag of trash in the Dumpster, I escorted her around the side of the building.