Getting Rowdy

Out on the floor, a drinking game almost got out of hand. Rowdy sent two men home, thankfully with their designated driver. He cranked up the jukebox and a few couples chose to dance. Toward the back, laughter and the clanking of pool balls rounded out the din.

All in all, it was an upbeat night.

Just when she thought she’d drop, Rowdy came over with Cannon. “Take your break. Cannon can fill in.”

“Perfect timing.” More than ready, she pulled off her apron and wiped off her hands. After the chaos of yesterday, the sleepless night and the crush of customers today, she was so tired that she felt like she could curl up in a corner and doze off.

Not caring what anyone thought, Rowdy took her hand. “We’ll be in the break room for about fifteen minutes if anything comes up.”

Already zipping through drink orders, Cannon said, “Take your time.”

Once they had some privacy, Rowdy asked, “Coffee or a Coke?”

“Coffee. And maybe a Danish.” She went to her locker to get her purse but Rowdy waved her off to a chair.

“I’ve got it.” He dropped coins into the vending machine to collect her drink and snack, then set everything in front of her before taking the chair to her right and turning it around. He straddled the seat.

Around a jaw-breaking yawn, she mumbled, “Thank you.”

“Do you need something more to eat?”

She shook her head. “Jones gave me soup and a sandwich for my dinner break.”

“You know, you could run over to my place to grab real food if you wanted.”

Another yawn snuck in on her, hiding her surprise at the offer. “No, this is good.” She didn’t want to start overstepping herself, or take advantage of the nearness of his apartment. “Thanks anyway.”

He used his baby finger to tuck her hair back. “You need a nap.”

She most definitely did. “Unlike you, I’m mortal and require sleep.” She added an extra sugar packet to her coffee. “But I have a feeling that if I took a nap, it’d turn into a full eight hours.”

Half smiling, Rowdy touched the top of her cheek. “You have dark circles under your eyes.”

“Great. Good to know.” Around a bite of Danish, she added, “You’ll just have to put up with it because I don’t feel like fussing with makeup right now.”

“You’re still sexy as hell.”

She shook her head. “Your idea of sexy is warped.”

He hesitated, his expression too serious, before he said, “You know, if you need to cut out early tonight, we’ll manage.”

She burned her lip on the hot coffee, then almost dropped the cup.

She hadn’t had enough sleep, they’d been busier than usual and now Rowdy wanted to ditch her?

Grabbing up napkins, he asked, “You okay?”

That little tease in the office had only whet her appetite and made her want more, but had it satisfied him enough that he wanted a reason to avoid her? Well, too bad. She wasn’t ready to end things yet. She narrowed her eyes at him.

Rowdy sat back in his chair. “What did I do?”

She worked her jaw a moment before saying, “If you’d rather I not be at your place tonight, just say so. You don’t need to trump up concern over a few yawns.”

Now his jaw tightened. “I wasn’t suggesting you not come over.”

“So you thought I’d go home, sleep then get up in the middle of the night and come over when you got off work?” How in the world did he think that would be restful?

“I figured you could go right on next door to my place and catch a few hours’ sleep before I get in.”

Was that a joke? No, he definitely looked serious, and a little put out that she’d misunderstood. Her chat with Ella had left her brooding over Rowdy’s habit of one-night stands, so no way had she expected him to want her in his apartment when he wasn’t even there.

Suspicion got an ugly hold on her mood. “So you’re going from a ‘no women allowed’ policy at your apartment to me being there without you?”

“I trust you not to snoop too much.”

He looked like he meant it, and that just leveled her. “I will never understand you.”

“What’s to understand? I’m horny, and you look dead on your feet. Doesn’t bode well for my evening.”

She almost choked on her coffee. So he wasn’t appeased. Thank God. She hated to admit the level of her own relief, so she mustered up some censure instead. “We’ve been over this already. The doctor ordered three days of inactivity before we...” What? Take the big step? To Rowdy, it wasn’t a big step at all.

He caught her hand. “Before we shed our clothes and reenact what we already did in the office?”

She didn’t know what to say to that. “It would be different and you know it.”

“Yeah.” His voice went rough and deep. “I’d be inside you.”

Avery’s heart tripped.

“And you’d be all nice and wet.” He lifted her knuckles to his mouth, pressed a damp kiss there. “Squeezing me tight—”

“Rowdy,” she pleaded. If he didn’t stop, she’d be begging him for an encore and to hell with what the doctor ordered.

For the longest time, he searched her face. “I scare you a little?”

He scared her a lot, but probably not for the reasons he thought. “I’ve been celibate for over a year.” And you make me feel every minute of the wait. She bit off another big bite of her pastry.