Jackie took Bobby’s hand, her eyes catching his and yeah, she could see why he could have all the women. Those arms, those tattoos, those fuck me eyes and all topped with that ‘come hither’ smile; yeah, could totally see; and she wouldn’t fault the many women who would be throwing themselves at him. She wasn’t a fool either, she knew that could all be lethal; thank goodness she wasn’t some young, sexy thing or she would be falling for every little thing he did.
“Sorry, yes, I’m Bobby, but you….you can’t be Jackie.”
“I am. Welcome to my bar; my other baby. I’m sorry I was late.” Bobby shook his head, his eyes running over the woman before him and smiled.
“No, you’re really fine, I mean okay. Buzz here just got done telling me about the bar, my schedule and this wavier.” She perched on the corner of the desk and crossed her legs and Bobby had to suck in a breath. This woman was stunning and she had no clue about it.
“Yeah, I make a lot of specials, stuff I’ve played with over the years and they are quite popular; people have tried to steal them. But those drinks belong to this bar and I won’t have anyone using it, it’s really my only golden rule and I will fire anyone who gives it away.”
“Yeah, I can understand that.”
“Great. Do you have any questions?”
“Are you sure you own this bar?” Jackie laughed at that and Bobby had to adjust in the seat. What the actual fuck? No one had ever made him semi hard from laughing!
“Yes, I’m sure. I know, I’m not what you expected.” That was the fucking understatement of the God damn year. “But I wanted to own a bar since I was a teenager. Something like this has always been my dream and it’s all mine; I even designed it myself.”
“I’m impressed ma’am.”
“Oh, God, please don’t call me that, Jackie is fine. Ma’am makes me feel way older than I am.” And hell if she didn’t look a day over 30; there was no way she was 38. “Was that all of your questions?”
“No. Uh, the room upstairs…”
“Buzz talked to you about it?” Bobby nodded and Jackie smiled. “Come on and let me show you it before you say you want it.” She got off the desk and walked around it, opening a drawer and pulling out a key ring. “It’s not very big, a one bedroom place, but a kitchen with room for a dining room. The room has two twin beds and a small two seater dining room set. Anything else, sorry, you will have to get.”
“Why do you even have that?”
“Sometimes we get to tired and it’s easier to crash. Or when our patrons are way too drunk, I won’t let them drive or we have no taxis. But I don’t mind renting it either.” She walked up the stairs and he followed, his eyes trying to avoid the curve of the ass in front of him, and losing.
“Do you get a lot of people staying here?”
“Not really, which is why I don’t mind, the extra money won’t hurt.” She quickly unlocked the door and let them in. “Everything runs off the bar; the water, wifi and electric. If you want a bigger bed or table set, I can put these in storage, it’s no big deal.” Bobby stopped walking and leaned against the wall to look at the woman.
“You’re way too nice.”
“I’m not trying to scare you away, Bobby, but I do have my bitchy moments.” She walked around the place as she finished showing him everything. “I ask for five hundred a month.”
“That’s it?”
“It can get loud on your days off, and believe me, there could be other way nicer places around here. Um, you can change anything you’d like but please no big holes or anything that might cost me a shit ton to repair.”
“I maybe a lot of things, but I’m not that much of an asshole. I like it Jackie, thanks and I’ll take it.”
“Great. Come on, let’s wrap up and you can get settled. I know today is Thursday but if you rather not start today, I’m okay with that.”
“Yeah, you are way too nice.”
“Don’t tell Sam that, she will totally disagree with you on that.”
“Who is Sam?”
“She’s my…” Jackie stopped as Buzz called down from the bottom of the stairs.
“Jackie, I’m having issues printing out the specials for tonight.” Jackie sighed, gave Bobby a smile and shrugged.
“Let me take care of that and Buzz where show you where you will be tonight.”
-----
Bobby put the last of his things away and then changed his shirt to a black tee shirt and made his way downstairs, walking over to Jackie, who smiled at him.
“So, we usually do two or three specials a night, and since there are no games on tonight, it shouldn’t be too busy around here. Buzz is going to work the outside bar, although it’s all connected. I’m going to stay in here with you to help show you the ropes.” She paused, gave him a side eye which caused him to lift a brow and she laughed. “Also with me staying by you, you might not have every woman hitting on you.”
“Are you the only female bartender?”
“Now I am.”
“Don’t you have men hitting on you like crazy?” She walked by him, a sweet scent flowing off of her that wasn’t there before and he mentally groaned; not a good sign.
“Me? With all of this,” she said, waving her hand down her body, making it sound bad when it was anything but. “Not really.” Yeah, he was going to have to doubt that; she probably just didn’t see it.
“I doubt that.” She laughed again but shook her head, not buying it.
“Anyways, there are two registers; you can use any depending on how busy it is. There is a cheat sheet for prices,” she said, holding it up and he nodded. “The specials are here, along with the break down and prices. And anything else, feel free to ask till you learn it.”
“Sounds simple enough.” He took the sheet, looking over her specials and he had to give her a nod, some of this he would never thought would go together but she had obviously tried them and they sold really well. Sure, she had years on him and though he never once glanced an older woman, he sure as hell was glancing at her, in her Converse, her short shorts and her black shirt, towel flung over her shoulder. Hell yeah he was glancing, maybe even staring.
Jackie took a step back to watch Bobby; he was a really good bartender. He mixed drinks effortlessly, offered out smiles and had even pulled a few tricks. The bar opened an hour ago and the crowd was slowly trickling in, a lot of the regulars sliding up to the bar and other than lending a hand on a few of the specials, Bobby had it under control. She was even willing to step up and help when he got an order for a round of six shots, three beer bottles, two specials, two small bottles of wine, and two rums and cokes, but he waved her off. She watched as he lined up the shot glasses on the left side, the bottles on the right and unscrewed the lids on the bottles with his right hand while his left poured the shots with his left hand and then he made the mixed drinks. She rang up the order and then handed the guy the receipt and card back before she turned and looked at Bobby. &nb
Bobby walked out of the building and kept an eye on the time as he walked down the street. He only needed a few things, everything was in the apartment; but he wanted a king size bed, a couch and his own sheets. And on top of that, he wanted a bike, which he knew that Harley store wasn’t that far away. And then on his first day off, he was going to take a drive down the coast and enjoy the most gorgeous beaches; and okay, maybe some bodies. Although, he had some gorgeous eye catches at the bar. That included his boss as well; something he still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around. She was single, that much he knew; well divorced but there still wasn’t a man in her life. And that he found out by over hearing a customer talking to her last night. Not that he meant to listen in, but they were talking right by where he was making the drinks.
Jackie watched Bobby for a moment while she had a slow stream of customers and really had to give him props; he knew his stuff. And yes, knew how to wow the crowd, in other words, how to flirt and be amazing eye candy. And damn, how she wished she was younger and had a body like those younger girls, for she could admit she wouldn’t mind catching his eye. She sighed to herself, though, knowing this was all a useless train of thought. “Hey hot stuff.” Her head snapped up and she smiled at the young man before her on the other side of the bar. Now, she knew she didn’t look her age, but never thought she’d see men in their 20’s hitting on her. “Hey, what can I get you?” &n
That night, after she locked up and counted the money and put it away to be deposited, she sat at her desk, hearing the man above her moving around. She couldn’t say the kiss felt wrong, because it didn’t. But it was, for a few reasons. For one, she was his boss. Not that that was a big thing in her book. She worked under the thought that as long as the atmosphere and work environment was okay, you could do whatever. But she didn’t know where he stood and what his thoughts were. Two, the 12 year age gap; he was sexy and good looking and why in the world would he even look at her? It was obvious many females were eyeing her new bartender and that was great, and she knew she held no candle to those young sexy lines and curves. Not that she looked ol
Well, shit, she walked out to talk to him, not to admire the new bike. But how could she not when the black and blue body paint was calling out to her? And the moment that her leg went over the side and she sat down, she had quite a few images come to mind, and none of them was about talking. That wasn’t good! So, she took what little will power she had, climbed off the bike and faced him. They needed to have this talk; okay, she needed to have this talk. “Can we talk?” His gaze narrowed slightly at her but he nodded. “About last night...” “That hot ass kiss?” She couldn’t help but blush, which made her only curse at herself. She wasn’t a fucking virgin or someone who didn’t know her way around. &n
Jackie cleaned up around her house, her thoughts focused on one man and for the first time, it wasn’t that jackass of an ex husband. No, maybe thinking of him would be easier, but nope, her thoughts were focused on Bobby. And she wanted to yell. She knew it wasn’t fair, but for the moment, she was going to dwell on it. To her, the funny part about all of it, in fact, was that she had already had this talk with herself. She knew she couldn’t get involved with that man, so why be upset? Jackie sighed as she put the last plate away. She wasn’t dumb, she knew the emotion. And as much as she hated to admit it, it was straight out jealousy. Bobby did things to her body that she had long forgotten. And the bad part about all of it was that she knew
Bobby wasn’t usually a pissed off type of guy, but Monday, when he woke up he was pissed and moody and needed to get laid. Or punch the shit out of something. And since he didn’t think he was going to get laid soon, thanks to the damn images, he thought punching would be best. So he slipped on some basketball shorts and a tank top and headed out to the gym he saw the other day. At least he should be thankful that he didn’t have to see her tonight, for she didn’t need to come in. And he liked that she was able to spend more time with those kids, although the thought angered him. He paused at that; okay, maybe he wanted it to. He didn’t want to think about her or those kids. He pulled into a spot with a huff and walked into the gym. Usually it wasn’
“Greg, what are you doing here?” Buzz asked as he moved between Bobby and Greg. “I’m looking for Jackie.” “She’s not here, but come with me.” Buzz started leading the man away but quickly glanced at Bobby and pointed to the beach. “Take a walk,” he told him. “Right.” Bobby finished his beer and tossed it into the trash can before he headed out on the beach. He let out a breath as he walked along for a few minutes before he finally plopped his ass down in the sand. He knew he had no claim to Jackie, but he couldn’t even being to describe why he had such a problem with her ex. And for all his bad ass ways, he wasn’t really the type to start trouble. Bu