Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I wait for the door to slam and then the sound of his car door before I let out a huge deep breath. “That your boyfriend?” He points at the door with the fork in his hand.
“Shut up.” I turn, walking back to the stool and slipping back on it. “He’s as much my boyfriend as Melody is your girlfriend.” Now he throws his head back and laughs out loud. I have the sudden urge to lean over and just kiss him. But instead, I look down at my food and take another bite. “It’s going to be the first time since I bought this bar that I’m not open on a Saturday night.”
“It’s definitely going to be strange for a lot of people,” he says while chewing. “It’s the local watering hole.”
I nod. “It is,” I say proudly.
“You really did an amazing job of turning your dreams into reality.” I look over at him. “I mean, remember when we cleaned out this place after you bought it?” He shakes his head. “You moved a crate from over there.” He points at the corner of the bar. “And found a family of rats living there.”
I shiver now, thinking about it. “It was a mother and all fifteen of her kids.” He just laughs. “It was so gross,” I say, eating another bite. “I couldn’t have done this without you.” I look over at him. “You were by my side the whole time. Cheering me on when I would get into my head and tell myself that I couldn’t do it.”
“If there is anything that I know.” He looks over at me, grabbing a bottle of Coke and taking a drink. “It’s that if you set your mind to it, you will do it.”
“You really mean that?” I ask, looking back at my food before I get lost in his eyes.
“I do,” he says. The sting of tears threatens to fall, and I blink them away. I pick at the food and finally give up trying to eat. Standing up, I put away everything.
Beau finishes his food and stands to start cleaning up in front of him. He puts everything in the bag and places it to the side. Then he walks over to the stage where the bands perform and begins to pick up some of the debris from there. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I know,” he says, “but if I help, that means you can open sooner.” He shrugs. “I don’t know what I would do with my nights if I wasn’t sitting on that stool.”
With a laugh, I continue picking up the stools and wiping them off. “You always were in my way.” I side-eye him. “Always coming behind the bar and trying to lure the ladies with your talk of pouring drinks.”
He shakes his head. “I wasn’t trying to lure anyone.” He steps off the stage. “I was trying to help you.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “You liar.” Shrieking, I say, “You asked both Becky Johnson and Ashley Walker out while pretending to help me.”
“Hey.” He points at me, walking over. “They asked me out. I didn’t want you to lose business, so I took them out on one date.” He puts the box on the bar. “So technically, I was doing you a favor.”
I roll my eyes and prop up the last stool. “That is such bullshit.” Walking over, I put the rag down next to the box with the trash and prop my hand on my hip. “I owe you a lot, Beau.” My voice goes low when he steps toward me.
His hand reaches out to wipe my cheek right under my eye. “You owe me nothing, Savannah,” he says. His voice goes a touch low, and we just look at each other. “You’ve already given me so much.” My hands go to his hips, and I swear that my heart is going to beat out of my chest. “Besides, who else is going to help you fend off all the men?”
Chapter Nine
Beau
Her blue eyes gloss over to a dark blue, the same blue as when she gets nervous. The same blue that I’ve fallen in love with. “Besides, who else is going to help you fend off all the men?”
She laughs, breaking the moment. I was so close to kissing her, and I thought this was going to be it. I was going to take the leap and just do it, but then she laughed and the moment was broken. Her hands on my hips now push me away, so my hand falls from her warm cheek. “Fend off what men?”
“All of them,” I say, turning and grabbing the box with the debris that I picked up from the stage. “Literally all the single ones who wait by the bar to see if you will pick them.”