Page 22 of The Holy Grail

Late night at Three Amigos

Evan glanced into the back room, which doubled as an office, and paused when he saw Jules at the desk, head down and resting on her forearms. She’d been coming almost every weekend since he’d ‘hired’ her to look over the books, and as usual, she was dressed in leggings, a T-shirt, and a long cardigan, with her hair up in a messy bun.

He took the opportunity to simply watch her, until she ruined the moment for him by opening her eyes.

“How do you do this?” she asked, her voice a little deeper than normal, which he now knew was a sign she was tired.

“Do what?”

“Work these ungodly hours all the time. Your circadian rhythm must be totally screwed.”

“It is, but I’m used to it.” He shrugged. “It also helps that I have no social life.”

She made a face. “When was the last time you did anything fun?”

“Define ‘fun’.”

“Has it been so long that it needs to be defined?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, well—” Jules swiveled her chair around so she was now facing him, “—fun is usually characterized as something which is enjoyable, amusing, or entertaining. Also, something that makes you laugh and generally be happy. ”

He schooled his features, because she’d just described all the time he spent with her, even if it was here at the bar late at night. “All right, then it’s been a while.”

“Define ‘a while’.”

“Paige and David’s wedding.”

Her face fell. “That’s so not okay.”

“It is what it is. I work mostly nights and that’s when people like to go out and do fun, nighttime things.

Plus, I sleep during the day, and that’s when people like to go out and do fun, daytime things.

My day off—Sunday—is usually when I hit the grocery store and do my laundry, neither of which are any fun. ”

Wanting to shift the conversation slightly, Jules said, “Can I ask you something?”

He’d come to realize she was really fond of asking if she could ask something before asking it, so he decided to mess with her. “What if I said ‘no’?”

“I’d probably still ask.”

“Then why ask if you can ask, if you’re going to disregard a negative answer?”

“Because it’s the polite thing to do.”

He gave a little shake of his head. “You don’t have to be polite with me.”

“But what if it’s a personal question?”

“Well, I won’t know until you ask, so … just go ahead and ask.”

“What would you want to be doing, if you weren’t involved with the bar?”

The question actually took Evan by surprise, and to cover it up, he grabbed the extra chair and sat down, crossing an ankle over the opposite knee before answering. “That wasn’t a very personal question.”

“I didn’t say it was going to be. I said ‘What if it is’?”

He couldn’t help the soft snort of amusement that escaped him.

“So … what would you want to be doing, if you weren’t involved with the bar?” she repeated, but when all he did was look at her, she demanded, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. You’re just the first person to ever ask me that.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. Everyone assumes this is what I want to be doing.”

“But it obviously isn’t …”

“No, but I’ve been doing it for so long it’s just what I do.” He pressed his lips together for a moment. “It was never really a choice I got to make.”

“What do you mean? ”

“It’s the family business. I began working here when I was in high school, cleaning in the afternoons, helping with deliveries, then waiting tables a couple nights a week and on the weekends.”

To Jules, who’d spent most of her high school years having fun with friends, that sounded like a total drag. “What about your brother and sister?”

“They both put some time in. Everett worked until he went to college, and Evelyn worked until she got married. And then they came back after our dad died and we inherited the place.”

“But you’ve been here the entire time?”

“Yes. I’d considered going to college for a while, but my dad thought I’d be better off getting more involved in the business since it would be mine one day. Well, one third of it, anyway.”

“He didn’t put that same expectation on your brother or sister, though,” she pointed out.

“Probably because Everett was on his way to becoming a lawyer, and Evelyn was starting a family.”

Jules made a face at Everett’s ‘becoming a lawyer’ status giving him extra consideration and leeway, as did ‘starting a family’ for Evelyn, while Evan wasn’t given any. “I just think it’s crappy he didn’t let you decide what you wanted to do, too.”

There was a heavy silence between them for a few moments, until Jules remembered her initial question. “So … what would you want to be doing, if you weren’t involved with the bar?”

“Jesus, I don’t know, to be honest.” Evan sighed, then leaned forward and rubbed at his chin, digging into the neatly trimmed facial hair.

“I mean, it’s not that I hate working here, it’s that I hate the limited role I have in everything.

I own a third of this bar, but instead of feeling like an owner, I feel like an under-appreciated employee with little value.

My ideas are never taken seriously, nor are my opinions, which really bugs the shit out of me. ”

“What ideas and opinions?”

“All of them.”

She gave him a look that said You’re not being helpful. “Why don’t you give me a few examples?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You really want to hear this?”

“I really do. ”

“Okay, well, I never wanted to change the name of the bar to Three Amigos. I wanted to keep the original name—”

“Which was?”

“Malone’s.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“When it came time to design the new logo, I didn’t get any say,” he said, pulling his shirt away from his chest so she could see the silk-screened image of a small boy (Evan) kicking the shin of a larger boy (Everett), who in turn was pulling on the hair of a girl (Evelyn), who in turn had the small boy (Evan) in a headlock and was giving him a noogie.

“It didn’t matter that I hated it—this stupid caricature got put on everything, from the shirts and napkins, to our invoices, letterhead, and our new sign.

“And I get it, it’s very amusing, but I didn’t want to go for amusing—I wanted to go for a more sophisticated vibe, one that would make the place inviting.

I know it’s a bar, but I wanted people to have a …

premium experience, for lack of a better phrase, when they spent time here.

I wanted the decor to be somewhat sophisticated, with honest-to-God ambiance, signature drinks, and a limited, yet great bar menu. ”

He gave a quick shake of his head. “When it came time for the renovations, all of my suggestions were voted down. I wanted to re-finish the old, wide-plank floors, rather than replace them with that bullshit, fake wood flooring that has no character. I wanted to make all the booths more intimate, with deep, padded seating, and change out all the regular tables for high-top tables with big, comfortable chairs. I wanted the actual bar to be a focal point—in a classy way—where I’d serve drinks in beautiful glassware.

“There would be really good music playing through a nice sound system, and no live bands. I’ve tried to get rid of that, but Everett and Evelyn like having live music on Wednesdays and the weekends because it draws a lot of people to the bar.

However, what they don’t understand is it draws a lot of people who drink cheap pitchers of beer, who tend to spill a lot of it on the floor, which usually gets cleaned up by me, because I work almost every one of those nights.

And don’t get me started on how my ears are ringing when I go home after one of those shifts. ”

When it was clear Evan was done, Jules murmured, “It sounds like you had a lot of vision.”

He swallowed a few times, feeling slightly raw and exposed in the aftermath of opening himself up to another person.

But it was just incredibly easy to talk to her, and it had been so long since he’d felt a connection like this with anyone, he hadn’t been able to rein it in.

“Not that it mattered. None of it got implemented.”

“That’s a shame. I think they were all really innovative ideas, and would have made the bar a much better place—and I’m not just saying that to be nice.”

He knew that to be true, and her praise warmed him like a blanket. “Thanks.”

“I appreciate you sharing all that with me,” she said, then added dryly, “but you still haven’t answered my question.”

His expression turned rueful. “About what I’d want to be doing if I wasn’t involved with the bar? Well, as soon as I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know. How’s that?”

“Fair enough,” she said, before stretching out her cramped body and slowly getting to her feet. “Jesus, I’m wrecked. I think I’m going to call it a night.”

“I don’t blame you.”

As usual, he insisted on walking her out to her car, and as she was unlocking the driver’s side, she felt his hand come to rest on her shoulder.

He’d never really touched her before, except for when they’d shaken hands the night they met on Paige’s birthday, and his gesture gave her pause.

She was still trying to process the moment when she felt the upward trail of his warm fingertips along her bare neck, until he had her in a sort of gentle grip.

It felt sensual, sexual , and possessive.

It also felt really good.

“Thank you,” he told her, the words spoken softly in her ear, his deep voice sounding even sexier than normal. “For everything … but mostly for just listening.”

Jules took a long, deep breath, trying to slow the beating of her heart.

“You’re welcome,” she returned, forcing herself to remain still and not look back at him, not wanting to see the desire she knew would be on his face, and not wanting him to see the desire on her face, either.

Because she did desire him, and if she turned around, he would try to kiss her, and she was afraid she’d let him—hell, she was afraid she’d pull him into her car and take a ride on the Evan Express.

She’d never been in this position before, where she couldn’t act on sexual attraction.

It was foreign to her, and she didn’t like it very much, but she knew she had to throw cold water on this situation, stat, before something happened she’d regret.

And Jules knew she would regret it, because Malcom didn’t deserve this.

“I’m seeing someone, Evan,” she said, even as her heart rate was pounding and her body was thrumming with awareness of the man at her back .

She felt his body become tense behind her, and his fingers actually tightened a little on her neck, affecting her even more. “You are?”

She could hear the dismay and disbelief in his voice and it sliced at her heart, not unlike when she’d realized how much she’d hurt Malcom. “Yes.”

“Since when?”

“Since a couple of weeks ago.”

“Since … a couple of weeks ago? Are you kidding me?”

He pulled away from her, and she felt the loss of his presence and heat acutely. “I actually met him a while ago, but just started going out with him,” she explained, pivoting to meet his gaze, only to wish she hadn’t when she saw his expression, which was filled with gut-wrenching disappointment.

“Fuck, I knew I should’ve asked you out when I had the chance,” he muttered. “Not the night we met, obviously, because you thought I was a giant douche, but after that … I should have.”

“I probably wouldn’t have gone out with you then, because of Paige and David,” she told him gently. “But I’m not going to lie and say there hasn’t always been something between us, because there is. It just … can’t go anywhere now.”

“Fuck,” he said again, scrubbing at his face.

She could see him struggling to accept what she was telling him, and it sliced at her heart again. “I understand this might be an uncomfortable situation going forward—”

“It won’t.”

“Evan …”

“It won’t. It really won’t,” he insisted, telling himself he wasn’t lying, because he didn’t have any choice. This was his life, and he had to live it like he wasn’t hot for this woman and not being able to act on it wasn’t killing him. “I can keep this professional.”

“Maybe I could—”

“No. You have to work when I’m the only one here, so … I’ll pretend like you’re not a smoke show and you smell like the contents of a dumpster.”

Even though it hadn’t been meant to be funny, Jules could still see the edge of humor in it. “Okay.”

He watched her open the driver’s side door with slightly jerky movements, but before she could get into the car, he stopped her by putting both hands on her face and bending to press a kiss to her temple.

It might be the only chance he ever had to kiss her, and he wasn’t going to let it go; granted it wasn’t the kind of kiss he wanted, but he’d have to make do with it.

Evan heard the quick intake of her surprised breath and savored the moment for longer than he should have, before pulling away from a person he was pretty sure he was in love with … for the second time in his life.

It couldn’t be overstated how much it really fucking sucked .