Not wanting to push her further on the subject, I rock back on my heels and shove my hands in my pockets. “Okay. I’ll be here if you need me.”
She gives me a thankful smile before heading upstairs. She reappears at the top of the steps fifteen minutes later, and I rush to meet her to help carry her suitcases down. Once we load them into a storage bin on the boat, we head down the road to a waterfront diner for lunch.
“So how did you do it, Bexley?”
It’s so windy on the patio of the restaurant that I almost miss her question. “How did I do what?”
“Start your own company from scratch.” She smiles. “Without a college degree, no less.”
I chuckle. “Is that the rumor?”
She shrugs and plays with the straw of her water. “I don’t think anyone around here knows the specifics, so rumors are all we have.”
“Fair enough.” I smile, secretly thrilled by her curiosity. “But you know, I didn’t completely drop out of college. I deferred for the rest of the year and took some online classes. When I left here and moved to Seattle, I took a year to finish up my courses, got my degree, and hit the pavement running. I worked hard, and I surrounded myself with like-minded people.”
“That’s impressive, Jami. I’m proud of you. You never gave up.”
I tip my head in her direction. “Neither did you.”
She nods, but I can tell from the look in her eyes that she doubts her own accomplishments, and that saddens me. Violet has always had one dream and one dream only. To own her own dance studio where she could give others the space that she never felt like she had unless she traveled to LA every summer. And she’s doing just that. But I know she’d feel much better knowing the studio was hers and not still in Trevor’s greedy clutches.
When we make our way back to camp, it’s obvious the mood has shifted some. To add to the heaviness of the day, it starts pouring on our way back to our cabins. We take off running, only to part ways so we can both change for work, but the moment she walks into the saloon, wearing black tights, a short pink skirt, and her work shirt, with her hair drenched from the rain, I know the hour of separation was well worth it.
I can’t take my eyes off her from wherever I am in the restaurant, shadowing and continuing to train the new hires. Violet’s got bar duty covered in a way that makes it all look effortless. Even when I head into my office to crunch some numbers for my next meeting with Anderson, I find myself staring at Violet on the security monitor often.
It doesn’t make any sense. Violet doesn’t belong to me. She never has, no matter the desperation I once felt to make her mine. Yet here I am, back in my old neck of the woods, chasing after the ghost of my past like there’s a chance in hell to resurrect what we once shared.
I’m not sure how it’s even possible for me to be feeling these things for the woman who shredded my heart so many years ago. We haven’t had contact in over seven years. She chose my best friend and started a family, and I went on with my life too. So then why does it feel like all those feelings I once had for my best friend are crashing down around me like a tidal wave?
Like the night before, Violet stays past closing when the others head home. But tonight, I join her for cleanup. While she wipes down the bar, I start stacking chairs so I can mop. The jukebox is set to play anything and everything, but when a familiar tune begins to stream through the speakers, I make eye contact with Violet from across the room. It’s the same sultry tune that was playing when she gave me that first dance at Randall’s party. “LOUD” by Sofia Carson. I’d hunted the title and artist down after that night because I couldn’t get the entire performance out of my head.
Just thinking about Violet grinding her hips on my hard cock makes me groan under my breath. I didn’t even know who she was yet, and I still wanted her.
But she knew who you were.
That last thought causes me to pause. I didn’t want to overthink things before, but she clearly knew who I was the entire time she danced for me. Why would she do that after the way things ended between us?
Frustrated, I tear my gaze from hers and clench my jaw, focusing on the floor like its cleanliness is my number one priority.
Before I know it, the bar is immaculately clean, and Violet is strutting toward me with a smile. “How’d I do, boss?”
“You tell me. How were the tips?”
She grins. “Kinda shitty compared to the club.”
I wince from the shot of guilt that she injected with that comment. “I’m sorry. Tonight was pretty slow for a Saturday. You just never know what type of crowd we’re going to have here.”
She waves a hand like it doesn’t matter. “It was nice to have a slow Saturday. It was also nice to not have my ass grabbed fifty times a night.”
My chest puffs with anger. “Are you fucking serious?”
Violet laughs, and her palm presses against my chest. “I’m exaggerating a little. Bruiser and the other guards don’t let anyone get too handsy. As strange as it might sound, I felt safe working for Malik.”
I relax some, but her words still weigh on my mind. “We’ll work on getting more people in here on the weekends. Maybe we’ll promote parties like the one we had last night. That was nice, right?”
She nods. “Yes. And by the way, Anderson was far too generous with his tip at the end of the night. I can’t accept that.”
“You can, and you will. We had an agreement. Your tips are all yours to keep. Everyone else got theirs.”
Her smile comes back, making my chest swell. All I know is that I don’t want to part ways. Not yet. I point to the pool table in the corner of the room. “Still know how to play?”
She takes a few strides over to the table and lets her fingers glide along the royal blue fabric. “If you’re asking if I can still kick your ass, the answer is yes.”
I smirk and pull a cue from the wall and stomp the end down on the floor. “Let’s bet on it.”
She tilts her head. “You don’t want to do that, Jami. I think you’re forgetting who taught me how to play.”
I know fully well how great Violet is at pool. When we were teenagers, a bunch of us would hang out at a restaurant on the island and play all night long. Every now and then, another group would challenge us to a game, and Violet was always our secret weapon. She ran the table each and every time.
Ignoring her warning, I take a step closer. “What do you want if you win?”
She purses her lips while she thinks. “How about I tell you when I win? And if you win, you can name your stakes after too.”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “That’s hardly fair. What if you don’t like my terms?”
She shrugs. “Doesn’t matter since there’s no way in hell you’re going to win.”
With that, I grin and push the stick to her. “Rack ‘em.”
The way Violet works a pool table with the same effortless attitude that she has behind the bar is incredibly sexy. It doesn’t help that she knows exactly how to distract me. The way she slowly leans over the table, pressing her ass out behind her, sometimes right where I’m standing. The way she catches my eye right before she takes a shot and then gives me her sultry smile when the ball drops into the pocket. She’s a shark, confident in her skills, and I’ll happily be her prey.