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Four notifications pop up. The first is a text from Ellie.
Ellie:
Don’t be mad, but… I gave Nolan your address. He promised not to randomly show up without asking first. Please tell me he asked first.
Of course, my first instinct is to be mad, but despite his penchant for cracking jokes at the most inopportune moments, Nolan is a good guy. I’m sure Ellie knew he wouldn’t abuse the information. At least I hope he won’t.
Her text doesn’t answer where this food came from, though, so I’ll address that later.
I’ve got three messages from the food delivery app. The first says Nolan Ellis is sending you food! See his message here. The next two are just updates about when the food will arrive.
I click on the link to view the message and have to bite my lip to keep from busting out laughing.
I was going to send you flowers, but that felt stupid and too cliché. Sooo, here’s some Mexican food. I hope you haven’t already made dinner. I guess if you have, you could save it for leftovers… I don’t know. Anyway, I’m still thinking about you. Think of me while you eat a taco. He-he. Dirty. I want to eat your… never mind. Okay, bye.
“Did you find out where this came from?” Cody’s question reminds me of where I’m standing, and my mind blips out at what I should say. I’m not about to tell him a man sent us food to try to get into my pants.
“Um, it looks like the Ellis clan wanted to treat us to Mexican food.” Is that a lie? Fuck. That’s a lie. It’s misleading at best and soul-damaging at worst. Jeez, Katie. Tone down the doomsday thoughts a smidge.
“That was nice of them. It smells good, and we were already going to have tacos. Make sure to send them a thank-you text, Mom.”
I smile at Cody. “I will, baby.” Although, I don’t have Nolan’s number. Should I get it from Ellie? But then the temptation of talking to him regularly will be even harder to ignore.
Who am I kidding? Nolan Ellis is temptation personified. If he keeps this up, there won’t be any denying him.
CHAPTER 8
Nolan
The din of customers sends energy buzzing through me. I fucking love my job. “What can I get ya, sweetheart?” I ask the blonde at the bar.
“Sex on the beach, please.” The attraction in her eyes gives me every indication that if I returned her advance, she’d jump on me in a heartbeat. I can’t lie and say that it’s not a boost to my ego, but one flash of dark eyes and even darker hair in my head and I’m reminded that I already have a woman who’s everything I could want. Even if I don’t technically have her yet.
“You got it.” I pull bottles to make her drink. My other barback, Amanda, is working her butt off on the other end of the bar. She’s the first one I’ve felt is going to stick around a little longer than most of the kids I hire. She’s twenty-three and in her second year at Westlake Community College. She’s also extremely good at her job.
I set the blonde’s cocktail down in front her and take her card. “Am I opening a tab?”
“Can I get your number?” She grins.
“Sorry, darlin’. I’ve already got someone taking up all my attention.” I smile to soften the blow.
She shrugs, not ashamed of shooting her shot. “You can still open the tab.”
I nod and run the card. The rest of the night goes similarly. I flirt with customers, male and female, to help my team earn as many tips as possible. They split them at the end of the night since my staff rotates around from behind the bar to waiting tables during their shift.
“What’s it take to get a drink around here?”
I grin at the sound of my oldest brother’s taunt. Next to him is his adorable wife. Her eyes are narrowed at me, most likely trying to figure out what I’m planning for her best friend. If they came to O’Malley’s regularly, I wouldn’t think anything of their appearance tonight, but they very rarely come to the bar. It’s just not their scene. Which means, they’re here to interrogate me.
I was surprised when Ellie sent me Katie’s address with only a small threat of castration if I did anything gross with the information. I swore to her I wouldn’t, but I also didn’t tell her that I sent Katie and Cody dinner tonight. There’s no keeping my family out of my love life. I can’t keep a secret to save my life, but something about what I’m doing with Katie makes me want to clam up, even with my sister-in-law’s threats.
“A hug from my brother and a kiss from my favorite sister-in-law.” I wink at Ellie.
“I’m your only sister-in-law until Tilly and Matthew get married this summer.”
A deep laugh falls from my chest. “Fair enough. What can I get you two?”
“Club soda for me, please,” Ellie says.
