Jesse caught her looking his way and the corners of his mouth turned up as he winked at her. She smirked back at him and tossed her head in her cool and unfazed Chloe way, but he knew better. She was just as affected by him as he was by her. He watched her from behind the bar as she bounced from table to table through the restaurant flashing her bubbly, effervescent smile.
Kyan had the wall of glass doors that led from the bar area to the sidewalk patio wide open. He took a seat at the end of the bar to catch the light mild breeze that came in from outside. Dillon took the stool next to his brother just as Jesse pushed the latest addition to their craft beer menu in front of him.
“Thanks, man. It’s a little early for me to start drinking, don’t you think?”
Jesse smirked. “Just thought you’d enjoy a sample, cuz. It’s a new fresh hop IPA from California that we got in this morning’s delivery.”
His cousin grinned, then swirled and sniffed the brew. Jesse watched as he took a long slow sip and swallowed. “That’s beautiful, man!”
Jesse nodded at Dillon. “Told you he’d like it.” But Dillon didn’t seem to hear him. He was watching his brother who was watching Linnea.
“So, brother, why’d you bail on us last night?”
Here we go.
Kyan and Dillon had both been mooning over the pretty little blonde since they opened up Charley’s. Neither one of them ever did anything about it. Instead, they paraded around with their flavor of the week and played at the club, but Jesse was able to observe a lot from behind the bar. He didn’t think Linnea had the slightest clue how either of his cousins felt. Kyan watched that girl from afar like the big bad wolf salivating for his dinner. Dillon’s affection was subtle, but obvious to Jesse nevertheless. He always went out of his way to do little things for her. Always seemed to look out for her.
Idiots.
Like he was any better? He wasn’t. Of the three of them, he was probably the biggest idiot of all. He’d been blatantly flirting with Chloe for months, leading her to believe…yeah.
You’re an asshole, Nolan!
That was going to change starting right now. Maybe he was conflicted, but Jesse had never lied to her. It was just…complicated. He was going to do everything in his power to uncomplicate it. He just wasn’t quite sure how.
Kyan set his beer down in front of him. “I just had something I needed to do. Sorry, bro.”
Sure you did, cousin.
“More like someone he needed to do,” Jesse deadpanned.
“Who was she?” Dillon chuckled.
“Linnie.”
Jesse snapped his head toward the sound of Chloe’s melodic voice. She strolled into the bar wearing an enigmatic smirk, rolled her eyes at him, and took a seat next to Dillon. “He didn’t do her though.”
Her announcement confirmed what he’d suspected all along.
Chloe was ginning at Kyan, tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the polished wood bar top. Jesse pressed his lips together to stifle a smirk. He was having a hard time keeping it to himself as he watched his cousin stare at Kyan with the oddest expression on his face. Dillon obviously wasn’t happy about Chloe’s revelation. At. All.
Sorry, Dill. You snooze, you lose, cousin.
Jesse was only starting to understand that adage. He didn’t lose. Ever. The word wasn’t in his vocabulary.
“I think he likes her.”
The smirk he’d been trying so hard to contain erupted at Chloe’s sing-songed proclamation of Kyan’s feelings for her best friend, and his cousin’s unmasked irritation with her for saying so. Chloe was genuine and bold. Free of artifice, she was open and honest—sometimes to a fault. She always told it exactly how she saw it. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, or her heart. It was one of the things he loved about her.
Chloe turned her attention to him. She playfully batted the voluminous black lashes that framed her stunning hazel eyes. They were predominantly green with flecks of copper and gold and blue—exquisite and rare. Like her.
“What does a girl have to do to get a Diet Coke around here, huh?”
Jesse leaned over the bar, pressed his lips up to her ear, and breathed, “I can think of a lot of things you could do.” Chloe raised her shoulder and leaned into him like his breath on her ear tickled. She smiled.
Kyan snickered, “I heard that, man.”
No snoozing, Nolan.
He ignored his cousin and handed Chloe her drink. “What you up to tonight, Chlo?”
He saw his cousins exchange an amused glance.
“I’m hanging out at Linn’s. We’re going to fire up the grill and drink a lot of wine.” She paused for a second to smirk at Kyan. “And talk about boys.”
Would she talk about him to her friend? Jesse wondered what she really thought about, what she really wanted, when it came to him. To the possibility of them.
Her attention was back on him. Chloe looked right into his eyes and exuberantly exclaimed, “You should come!” She nodded at his cousins. “And you should come too!” Then smugly added, “I think you know the address, Ky.”
Jesse grinned. This was an unexpected gift. He had planned to ask her to go with him to see a local band that was playing tonight at a small corner bar a few blocks away. An intimate gathering at Linnea’s would be a much more conducive setting. Kyan looked to his brother and then to him. Jesse gave him a subtle nod and Kyan answered for the three of them.
“Yeah, I do. We’ll see you tonight.”
A promising grin lit up her eyes as she looked into his. “See you tonight then.”
Linn is gonna kill me…or kiss me!
Chloe giggled to herself. So much for girls’ night, but wasn’t it better to actually talk to the boys in question than it was to paint your nails and talk about them? She just wanted Linnea to be happy. She just needed to open her eyes and see the possibilities that were right there in front of her. Jesse needed…well, what Jesse needed was yet to be determined. She saw an opportunity to get them all together in the same room away from work and she took it. Linnea would thank her for it one day, she was certain.
Still, this was going to take some doing on her part to successfully pull off. Chloe wanted them to make a good impression on the cousins. She and Linnea were pretty talented in the kitchen, and they often prepared delicious dinners together, but then her friend wasn’t expecting to feed three big, strapping, hungry men. She’d have to intervene. Chloe slipped into the break room, and knowing Linnea as well as she did, found the grocery list tucked inside the pocket of her tote.
Steak topped with crabmeat and béarnaise sauce. Grilled asparagus. Fucking perfect!
She was hoping burgers weren’t on the menu for tonight. Chloe pulled her cell from her apron pocket and opened up the grocery delivery service app. She ordered everything on Linnea’s list in the new larger quantity required, as well as some things that weren’t on the list, and arranged to have it delivered later at her row house. She smiled to herself because they wouldn’t have to stop, shop, and lug groceries for eight blocks. Bonus, they’d have plenty of time to get ready before the brood of Irish Vikings arrived too!
Chloe and Linnea finished their shift. Jesse winked at them as they passed through the bar to head out the door. Chloe blew him a kiss.