Page 55 of As the Years Pass

He smirks. “I may have asked Pete where you were a time or two. He told me. Don’t be mad at him.”

“I wouldn’t get mad over that. Not when it comes to you.”

“Thank you for trusting me with this,” he says softly, his hands clasped together in his lap. I stare at them, wishing I could link our hands together—wishing we were just more than this.

We fall into a comfortable silence until I get an alert on my phone that my ride will be here in two minutes. The air in the room is heavy, but not the same kind of tension as last night. I get to my feet and turn to face him.

“I had a lot of fun last night.”

“Me too.” He smiles.

“Do it again?”

He gets to his feet. “Yeah, in a week when I recover.”

“Got it. But if you’re feeling better later and need something to do, come by the bar.” He groans. “You don’t have to drink. Maybe we can order food.”

“That sounds nice.”

“Text me.”

My phone alerts again, and as difficult as it is, I force myself to turn around and leave his apartment.

“Bar Daddy!” the guys shout in unison when I walk through the door, causing everyone to look at me.

I shake my head as I walk behind the bar and into the back room. I’m at my desk for exactly two minutes before the music starts up. It’s going to be one of those nights where Nathanial is singing all night.

I’m not a pop fan, but I’d recognize that Backstreet Boys song anywhere. It’s popular enough. Only it’s Nathanial doing his own rendition of it—something he does often enough, just not like this.

“Tell me why Bar Daddy makes the best drinks. Tell me why Bar Daddy is a ten out of ten. Tell me why I never want to see him go. I want him to stay!”

Pete pops his head into my office with a smirk. “That’s a talent all in its own.”

“Shut the door,” I grumble.

Pete laughs as he does.

It doesn’t block out the sound entirely, but it’s enough that I can focus.

I’m going through the quote for the HVAC guys and trying to figure out the best way to get them paid so they can do the work. One of the most difficult things about owning your own business is all the money you have to put into it in the beginning.

If you want to make money, you have to spend money.

I go through my budget and bills and move stuff around to make this work. Getting a fully functioning kitchen in this place will do wonders. I need to figure this out.

The music finally dies down; Nathanial must need a break. I focus all my attention on work, even though my head is killing me, and get a lot of the admin stuff done that I didn’t do yesterday. I lost a full day because I spent it with Adam. It was worth it, but I’ll be making up for it all week.

A knock on the door has me pulling my burning eyes away from the screen, and part of me is grateful for the break.

“Come in!” I call, pinching the bridge of my nose. I need something for this damn headache.

“Someone’s here for you,” Pete says.

It takes a second, but I realize who it is. It can only be one person. “Have him come back here.”

He leaves and comes back a moment later with Adam behind him. I don’t have to tell him to shut the door when he leaves, he does it on his own. I can only imagine what they all think we’re doing back here. Dirty thoughts from all of them, I assume. Their minds are always in the gutter.

“Hey,” I say with a smile, leaning back and stretching my arms up. Adam’s gaze dips down, and I feel the cool air on my lower stomach from my shirt going up. “Feeling better?”