“Count your change and move,” Cole commanded coldly from behind us.
I jumped at how close he was when I turned. “Jesus, personal space much?”
“Doesn’t seem like you and Drake need personal space from each other. I figured you were just as comfortable with him as you are with me.”
“Well, refigure. Drake’s offering me body shots. That puts us in a whole new category of friendly,” I joked as I straightened my shirt and pulled it in away from my body, fanning it a bit to get some air moving.
“You need to change,” Cole growled, but his eyes were on my cleavage and not my face.
Caught him.
“For what?” I asked, now frustrated with his sour mood. I knew what he was going to say and still wanted him to say it. Melanie’s shirt was tighter than mine, and Red had hers tied up.
“I can see your fucking bra, Zoey.” He leaned in close, and Drake chuckled at his ridiculousness before leaving us to bicker.
“And I can see all of Drake’s chest. So what? Everyone’s having a good time.” I stretched my arm out to the crowd across the bar. Two guys I’d been serving yelled a confirmation my way.
“I need everyone safe here. You’re not safe in those clothes.”
“Safe how?”
“Safe from guys hitting on you. Safe from being undressed with their eyes!”
“Get real, Cole. You’ve done that to me numerous times today. Are you going to deny that?” I crossed my arms over my chest and let my tits jut out as much as possible.
“You’re taunting me.” His voice rolled out like someone revving a chainsaw, ready to go off.
“So what if I am?” I stepped into his space this time and looked right up at him.
I felt the electricity, the tension, the energy between us. Cole and I pulled at each other enough that we would either snap and break or fit together and work.
“Cole!” The sultry voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me rang out.
Vivica stood in a red dress, the letters of her liquor brand scrawled across her chest and this time, she’d accented her lips with the red she wore.
When I looked up at Cole, I found him staring over me straight at her. The tension between us fell away, the electricity cut.
Cole’s lust for a woman that looked like that definitely outweighed our little friendship and whatever miniscule crush I may have been concocted in my head.
I tried to step past him, but he caught my elbow. “Don’t walk away like you’re not interested. Don’t leave me wanting anything to take the edge off of wanting you.”
I shook my head at him, embarrassed that he was calling me on my interest when his so easily strayed. “I’m not interested, Cole,” I lied. “I shouldn’t get mixed up with you anyway, right? Boss and all.”
“Does that mean you’re staying? You want the job?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I can’t figure out what you want.”
Neither could I. My body screamed at me to fight for him, but my mind still warred with caution, with letting go of my insecurities and embracing every single thing I wanted.
“I want to work, yeah. And enjoy the boys who enjoy me.” I pointed at the men who’d called my name a few times. Protecting myself was the smart thing to do here. My heart beat too fast around him, the butterflies in my stomach grew to astronomical sizes, and the goose bumps would barely leave my skin when he was around.
I needed to be practical and realize Cole was a man with tons of options, and I’d lived alone with Mr. Tabby for two years where I’d let my social and relationship skills become dormant.
Other men who elicited no butterflies were safe.
Cole wasn’t.
“Them over me?” He tried to hide the hurt in his eyes by wrinkling his nose and throwing out an insult. “They’ll be on to a new girl by the morning.”
“That’s probably best. I’m not prepared for much else. No commitment and all fun, right?”
“If that’s what you want, Ladybug,”—he dropped his hand from my arm—“then that’s what you’ll get.”
He left me and I watched him walk over to her. She smiled slow and held her hand out to him, her nails painted all red. I spun to the men at the bar and yelled out, “What can I get you? Ready for a body shot?”
One of them shoved the others out of the way and announced, “I’m the only single one here. I get dibs.”
I turned my back to the boys and put my hands up on the bar before I hoisted myself up onto it. Red cheered me on when she saw the show, and Drake came to stand right by me as I locked eyes with Cole. He was walking to the back room but still looking over his shoulder. He whispered something in his girl’s ear before stalking back to me and shoved Drake aside. He pushed himself between my legs and grabbed the guy that was leaning in close to me, ready for his shot.
I laid back, staring into Cole’s hazel gaze. He took the shot glass from my hand and poured it on my belly. I gasped at the cold liquid and rogue drops rolling down my side.
“Take one sip from her stomach,” he said through clenched teeth to the guy.
Single Guy didn’t look at all excited anymore. He struggled under Cole’s hold on him. “Are you going to let go of my collar?”
“Not until you finish sipping booze off my girl. You try anything, I’ll beat you to a pulp.”
I bit my lip as Cole glared at the man over me. When Single Guy’s lips touched my stomach, the tendons in Cole’s neck shifted, tensing at seeing another man’s lips on me. As fast as I felt them, they were gone. Cole yanked him back up by his collar. “Done. And so are you.” He swept his arm under my back and pulled me up from the bar. Suddenly, I was right up against him, chest to chest, body to body, heartbeat to heartbeat. “Don’t test me again, Ladybug.”
“It wasn’t a test,” I said as I stared at his lips.
“We Heathens protect what’s ours.”
“Am I yours?”
“I think you might be whether you want to be or not.” His words rolled out like whiskey, and it was in that moment I knew he’d taste like it too. Cole would be the only man I would end up drinking down and savoring for nights to come.
I hopped off the bar, and he took my hand, pulling me toward the back as he directed Drake to take over until we returned.
“Cole, we can’t leave Drake—”
“We can and we will. You and I, we’re coming to an agreement now.” He stopped in the middle of the hallway. The fluorescent lighting shined down on me like I was in an interrogation room and his stare was just as intense. “I can be just the boss if that’s what you want. I suggest keeping your ass off the bar tops though or I’ll be dragging guys out of here. I can be more than a boss too.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted a dark eyebrow. His jaw ticked and I hesitated, not answering right away.
He stepped forward as I stepped back. When my back hit the drywall, I knew he’d be on me before I could prepare myself. He devoured my lips, tasted like the expensive whiskey I knew he took a sip of here and there. I nudged him back. “Cole, I think I want fun … Like a few lemon drop shots before I taste the aged whiskey. Before I taste you and sour myself to anything else.”