Just One Night (Black Alcove #2) (22 page)

Another piece keeping
me happy: the fact my cheating ex-boyfriend lives on the other side
of town. And thank god for that because I throw up just a little in
mouth every time I lay eyes on him. All summer he’s been finding
reasons to “bump” into me. He feels like he needs to explain
himself, but I understood the girl underneath him just fine. I’m
ready for space to focus on me and what I want. To finish college and
find a job writing before I find one in accounting.

The last and best part
of my plans, there’s still one more month to enjoy weekends
sunbathing at the lake. In all honesty, I probably won’t make it
out there, but knowing I have the option is nice.

That’s the plan.
Plain and simple with no room for errors. Those details might not be
the ones written down, but they are engraved inside my head and they
aren’t going anywhere. This final five months of college should be
something I look forward to with a positive attitude. It’s the time
in my life when everything is finally coming together. I should be
shouting and celebrating.

Unfortunately at this
moment, I’m anything but positive.

“Well, maybe I can
teach him to do what I say, too.” We laugh at my joke even though a
part of me really isn’t joking. “Which cousin is it?” I ask,
leaning my hip against the bar and glancing at the cooler behind me.

It should have been
stocked last night, but Sara and Logan were closing. This is the
third time in two weeks she’s asked me to come in and help open
after the two of them shut the place down. After her announcement,
I’m starting to think it’s her way of getting in some extra
friend time. Either that, or she and Logan aren’t actually working
when they’re together. I’m going with option B, but if I say that
out loud, they will both deny it.

“Umm, Ethan,” she
says.

Ethan.

I freeze, resting my
forearms against the counter.

“He was the cousin
who used to stay with us over the summers. The same cousin you dumped
a bucket of paint on when my dad was redoing the floor in this
place.” She pauses to look down. “I’m so glad he decided to go
with the whole tie-dye floor thing. It gives this place some color.”

I smirk. I only dumped
the paint because Ethan was trying to remind me about our so- called
“kiss.” We got lucky when Sara’s dad actually liked the mess I
made. He went out and bought buckets of assorted colors, letting us
kids go wild coating the cement floor. I aimed for Ethan with every
bucket I touched.

“Anyway, his dad and
my dad are brothers, so he’s used to the whole owning your own
business thing. Plus, he just got a business degree and wants to add
this to his experience,” she continues. “He’s only a year older
than us; you have to remember him.”

Oh, I remember him. How
could I forget? Still to this day no one knows what happened, not
even Sara. I should have known geeks were the worst.

“You know he had that
stupid mushroom haircut thing going on and glasses.” Sara laughs,
but then the giggles fade and she stares off at something behind me.
I follow her gaze to find nothing important, and when I look back at
her she’s again focused on her papers. “That’s the one problem
with this plan. I haven’t seen him in years. I hate to be shallow,
but I can’t have a nerd running this place. We have a reputation to
uphold and he could ruin it.”

She glances up. “Come
on, Kelsey, you have to remember him.”

Oh right, she’s
refreshing my memory. I give my head a slight nod as I pretend to
remember.

“Yeah, he was the one
who was always following us around. I bet we could still make him
wait on us hand and foot.” We both begin to laugh again but are
quickly cut off.

“I don’t think
that’s going to happen this time.”

I jump at the deep
voice that echoes inside the empty bar. In the doorway stands the
most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. Tall, dark, and handsome doesn’t
even begin to describe him.
Is
that…Ethan?

Sara hops off the stool
with a giant smile on her face and quickly rushes to give him a hug.
The veins that appear in his toned arms as he gives her a tight
squeeze send a flutter through my entire stomach.
Holy
crap, he’s huge.
This is not the nerdy boy I remember.
His body looks so firm and sexy.

When Sara lets go of
him, she turns to me. Her movement grabs my attention, snapping my
eyes to hers before he can catch me checking him out.

“Kelsey, you remember
Ethan,” she says, and I can tell she’s happy with her decision to
leave him in charge.
Looks like
her bar’s reputation is going to survive.
“I was just
telling Kelsey how you’re going to take over for me while I’m
gone,” she says to Ethan. Although I don’t think he heard her.
His eyes are focused solely on me.

Ethan takes a step
forward in his black shirt and blue jeans, and I watch him cautiously
until he’s standing in front of me. My fingers grip tighter onto
the counter, trying to keep myself standing. He’s even more
gorgeous now than he was before.

His green eyes are
bright against his short, black hair, and when he smiles, I know
instantly that I don’t stand a chance at holding my damn plan into
place.
Not that I ever did
.
He extends his hand to me, but I just stand there. I don’t move. I
don’t do anything. Not even blink.

He lets out a deep
chuckle, and my heart races so fast and loud, I swear he can hear it.
“You haven’t changed a bit.” He raises an eyebrow, never taking
his gaze off mine. “Still keeping quiet, I see.”

I swallow and then
break our eye contact.
Holy
crap.
When I look up again, Ethan is glancing over to
Sara, who’s standing next to him, leaning against the counter.

“Is she this quiet
with the customers too?” he jokes.
I
think.

“No, she isn’t,”
Sara says then looks at me with both eyebrows raised. She’s trying
to tell me something. She tilts her head toward Ethan and her eyes
grow even bigger as they flicker toward Ethan and back to me.

I return my attention
to Ethan and open my mouth.

Crap.
What am I supposed to say?
Think,
Kelsey, think
.
Either
speak or close your mouth. You haven’t spoken to him since that
unfortunate summer. It was just one kiss, nothing to get worked up
about. Don’t embarrass yourself.

I nod. “Hey,” I
say, wiggling my fingers and cringing at the pitch of my voice.
“How’s it going?”

Sara erupts into a fit
of laughter I’ve never heard before, and I can feel my cheeks as
they begin to blush. I look away the moment I feel the tears trying
to fight their way forward.
Ohmygod!
Ohmygod! Ohmygod
! So much for not embarrassing myself. How
high did my voice seriously just go?

I stare at the
countertop, pretending to be deeply distracted by a divot in the
wood. I trace my finger over it and silently hope they’ll leave
soon, when Ethan’s calming voice grabs my attention.

“Things are going
good, just got to town. The wind here is annoying as hell, but I can
get used to it,” he says with a half grin. He winks at me then
turns to Sara, who is staring at us with a satisfied smile on her
face.

“Do you want go over
my responsibilities out here or in your office?’ he asks, getting
right to the point of his visit.

“I’ll meet you in
there.” She points her office.

“Cool,” he says.
“I’ll see you around, Kelsey.”

Ethan flashes a
heart-stopping smile my way before he turns for Sara’s office and
disappears.

The moment he’s out
of sight, my breathing returns, and it feels like I just finished
running a marathon.

“You are totally into
him,” she says, pointing behind her with her thumb and walking
backward toward her office. “You were blushing a deep red just now.
I can’t believe I’m going to miss everything. Now, get out of
here, and thanks again. I don’t know why I get so on edge about the
way Logan cleans at night. I promise one day I won’t call you in to
help last minute.”

I don’t respond to
her while she laughs since my mind is still processing the fact Ethan
is back and is going to be my new temporary boss.

After she closes the
door, I let out a long breath before grabbing my purse from under the
counter and marching out the door, straight to my car.

I round the corner from
the bar and wave to Mrs. Mulligan, who’s walking into the diner
next to the BA. She waves back then stops to watch as I get closer to
my car. She’s nearing her eighties, which means she’s starting to
become very nosey. Something my mom warned me about—and she should
know. As Mrs. Mulligan’s neighbor, Mom has put up with more than a
few surprise visits.

I pull the keys from my
purse but pause mid-step when I see the large silver and shiny Toyota
Tundra parked next to my tiny, white Ford Focus. The truck still has
new plates and makes my car look like it’s owned by a homeless
person. God, even his truck is gorgeous.

I’m
so totally screwed.
I shouldn’t be stunned into silence
or struck in awe by Ethan or any other man. Men suck. Always have and
always will.

Ethan

This is going to be one
hell of a year.

I sit in one of the old
torn chairs in front of Sara’s desk, resting my hands behind my
head as I wait for her. The chair squeaks when it leans back, and it
goes far enough to make me think it’s going to tip over. I sit up
straight and pull my thoughts together.

I’m here to manage
this place while Sara is away as a favor to my uncle, but mostly to
get my father off my back. I’m not like him or my brothers. I can’t
manipulate people to get things I don’t deserve. Like this bar, for
example. If it weren’t for the fact I’m sick of my father telling
me how ungrateful I am and a pathetic man, I wouldn’t be here
secretly helping him sabotage his way into owning this place. Most
normal guys my age would tell their dads to “fuck off,” but not
me. Family is important, and as shitty as they are some days, they’re
the only family I have. And that reason alone is why I’m here.

My mindset walking into
this was “get in, get out in less than two weeks.” Sara needs
someone for almost a year, but the sooner my dad is happy, the sooner
I don’t have to listen to him anymore. But now, I might take a
little longer. I wasn’t expecting to walk in and find a certain
slender and still beautiful brunette standing behind the counter.

Kelsey
Brian.

One look from her and I
forgot everything.

All she did was stand
behind the counter, staring at me, and I already know there’s no
way I’m going to stop thinking about her. Hell, I don’t think I
ever have. Those big, golden eyes practically undressing me the
minute I walked in the door. Her full, pink lips falling slightly
apart as I walked closer. She smelled like Red Hots, the cinnamon
candy, and my body had responded immediately.

I never could forget
that girl. I wanted her so badly every summer I came here, to Wind
Valley. That last time I was here, I had to beg my father to let me
go. I had to have one last chance with her. When she found me during
Sara’s barbeque and pulled me to a hidden spot, I knew this was it.
I was going to get exactly what I wanted. I was finally going to kiss
her.

Then I ruined it.

My cell buzzes in my pocket. I pull
it out to see a text from my father.

DON’T LET ME DOWN

I read the message
twice, remembering the last thing he said to me before I came here.
You better turn that heart to
stone before you give the Connelly name a poor reputation.
My
father’s words are branded into my brain.

Fuck.
As much as I hate it, I better repeat that every day.
Kelsey’s hot, but getting my dad off my back is more important
right now than any woman.

Sara closes the door
behind her and sits on the other side of her large desk. She doesn’t
say anything as she sorts through the papers in front of her,
probably trying to find the one she needs. There are papers covering
every inch of the wooden surface, and my need to always have things
in order is trying to push its way out. I stand quickly and move to a
bookshelf, picking up random pictures to keep my hands busy before I
start to clean off her desk for her.

“Is everything okay?”
she asks.

“Mmm hmm,
everything’s good.” I glance down at her surroundings.
Fuck,
this office is a mess.

Sara smiles before
finally clearing off a spot and setting a stack of papers on the open
area. “These are for you. I need you to fill them out before we get
started,” she instructs, gesturing to the stack. “Thanks again
for helping out. Our fathers couldn’t have picked a better time to
make up.”

They haven’t actually
made up, but she doesn’t need to know that. It is all an act my
father put on to get me into this spot. Deep down, I know my father
should be mad at my grandfather for leaving everything to Sara’s
father, but without my grandpa here to defend himself, my dad is
taking it out on my uncle. And he’s doing that by sending me here
to find a few account numbers that he can use.

My grandfather’s will
said the bar belonged to my uncle. But there’s also a clause that
says if the day comes where money is misused in any form, the bar
will then transfer to my father. Hence, my dad wants the account
numbers to move money that isn’t his into accounts that personally
belong to my uncle.

“That will happen
with stubborn old men,” I say instead of the truth, returning to my
seat across from her.

“What’s it been…six
or seven years since I last saw you?”