Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
He stares at me for a long moment, picks his mug up and drinks. “Thanks,” he says hoarsely. “Like I said, you give good advice.”
For the next hour, I clean, restock, and refill his coffee until he switches over to a pint that he’ll end up nursing for an hour. I start on inventory, working top shelf down. Thanks to Elle, my inventory system is Liam-proof and there’s no way to mess it up. Unlike the time I lost a case of bourbon. I blamed the delivery driver, who was entirely too eager to show me that I signed for it. He was right. I owned it and apologized, and realized I put the bourbon under the bar, where it didn’t need to go.
I’m halfway through inventory when the front door opens and Nick Ashford steps in. We glare at each other, long and hard, neither of us blinking.
Actually, I don’t know if he’s blinking because the motherfucker left the door open and he’s letting all the cool air outside.
“Huh,” he says.
“Ashford.” My voice is even.
“Didn’t figure I’d find you back there pouring,” he says as he sits down at the bar. He could’ve sat anywhere and had table service, but no, he has to sit here, where I’m working. He likes to remind me that he used to date Josie.
“I own the building. I own the beer. I can manage to pour one.” I set the clipboard down. “What’ll it be?”
“Whatever’s coldest.”
I pull him a draft, slide it down and go back to my inventory. I’ve promised my family I’d be cordial to Nick, but that is as far as I’m willing to go. The deep-seated anger I feel—while isn’t his fault—is his fault. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but me. Even though his son, Mack, moved in with Josie and me temporarily while his parents were in South Africa, sorting their shit out . . . Nick’s still my frenemy.
Nick pushes his empty to the edge. I fill him another pint and this time set it in front of him. “Want something to eat?”
He shakes his head. I groan because I know there’s something wrong.
“Aubrey still in South Africa?” I ask, because Mack hasn’t mentioned his mom in a while.
“Far as I know.” He turns the glass a quarter turn on the bar. “Amelie hears from her more than I do.”
“How does that go?”
Nick let’s out an exaggerated sigh. “I want to interrupt or listen in, but don’t. Each time Amelie gets off the phone, she cries for an hour. Mack only talks to Aubrey for a minute, and then Aubrey whines to Amelie about how much she misses them and how Mack isn’t paying attention to her. Amelie knows Aubrey’s new husband is bad news, but she still wants to be with her mom. Talisa tries to comfort her. Nothing works. It takes a week for Amelie to be herself again, and then boom, Aubrey’s on the phone.”
“Shit.”
He nods and takes a long pull.
“When did Aubrey get married?”
“That’s the thing, she hasn’t told the kids she did. I only know because my health insurance sent a notice, asking if I was still covering her and her last name is different.”
“Shit,” I say again.” “They’re lucky to have you.”
Nick snorts into his beer. “They’re lucky to have Talisa, Elle, Josie,” he says. “Anyone but me. I pay the bills, set the rules, and I am the bad guy.”
I set a menu down in front of him. “Let me know when you’re ready to order.”
Nick says nothing. I leave him there and tend to the others at the bar, and I make sure the staff in back has everything they need. I do whatever I can to keep busy because I don’t want to be that person for Nick—the one he leans on. He had that kind of relationship with Mason, which is another reason I’m mad at Nick (and myself). I’m not there though and I doubt I ever will be.
“Mack made the list for the recruiting camp at State,” Nick says as I walk by. His voice full of pride. He should be proud. Mack’s an outstanding athlete and great kid. I’ll never forget the time when he was living with us and needed to talk to me about asking someone out. Little did I know, I was giving the kid advice on how to ask Paige out.
I don’t regret letting him come live with us. It was the right thing to do. Nick was there for Noah, raising my boy because I was off playing rock star. There was no way I’d let Noah down by not opening the door for Mack. They’re close, like brothers.
“Which State we talking about?”
The grin on Nick’s face tells all.
“Shit, really?”
He nods. “Penn, Ohio, Florida, Louisiana.”
“Wow. What kind of film did he send it?”