Page 48 of The Bartender Special

Ms. Peggy shooed Benny right on back.

“I’m being civil by not running out there and asking if he wants me to put more sunblock on him,” she replied, a huff added to the end. “It’s not my fault his mouth is the only thing on him that could be considered ugly. I mean, he’s your guy right? You’ve gotta agree he’s a sight.”

Benny glanced back out of the window.

But he did so with a little less ogling than Ms. Peggy had used.

“I think it’s all three,” he admitted. “He’s got good genes, a good diet, and works out too. That’s why he looks like…that.”

Ms. Peggy finished off her cookie.

“Praise the Lord.”

Jack must have sensed two sets of eyes roaming his pecs and valleys. He cut the engine on the mower, looked their way, and wiped some sweat off his forehead like he was asked by an unseen director on a movie set. The movement started a fascinating ripple of muscle and tingles.

Tingles from Benny; an actual constructive thought from Ms. Peggy.

“You probably need to serve that bartender something to drink,” she decided. “I wasn’t going to offer him anything but…”

“Then he took his shirt off.”

Ms. Peggy nodded.

“He gave me a free show, I should give him a free drink.” She pointed toward the kitchen and went back to the window. “But get a plastic cup. If he took his pants off, well, then I’d tell you to go for the nice glasses.”

Benny’s face was hot as he busied himself with the task at hand. He was almost out of the door when Ms. Peggy called out her last two cents.

“You know, for the pageant, you should consider doing something that requires him to be shirtless for the talent portion.”

“Ms. Peggy,” Benny finally had to scold.

He heard the woman laugh as he pushed into the heat of the day. It might not have been the same temperature as his cheeks, but he now understood the shirt-throwing reaction. Jack was finishing wiping off sweat and arched his eyebrow at Benny’s appearance.

“I brought you some water,” Benny announced. He shook the plastic cup for good measure. “I didn’t realize how hot you probably were out here. Sorry it took so long.”

Jack took the cup and grumbled low.

“You don’t control the weather, Benny. Though I’m thinking you could have controlled that one if you’d tried harder.” He looked over to the window they both knew Ms. Peggy was stationed behind. “When you said you knew her, I didn’t realize you actually were friendly.”

Being as close as he was to Jack, Benny couldn’t help but note the view was phenomenally better on this side of the window.

Jack’s bare chest was just the bee’s knees.

Beautiful. Strong. Compelling.

Praise the Lord, indeed.

“Hey, sweet cheeks, my eyes are up here.” Jack’s eyebrow arched high again. “First you two got me out here doing yard work, and now you’re teaming up to check me out? For shame, Benny De Carlo. For shame.”

Benny cleared his throat and took a panicked step back. He tried to laugh but also be stern.

“I wasn’t ‘checking you out,’” he defended in a hurry. “I’m just out here being polite. You’re the one that went and took your shirt off and got Ms. Peggy’s blood pressure all raised.”

Jack bent over a little. It put him at the perfect height to meet Benny’s eye. A barely-there but absolutely annoyingly-there smirk lifted the corner of his lips for a moment.

“And what about you, sweet cheeks?” he asked. “Is this show doing anything for you?”

Benny, able to withstand many a curve ball thrown his way professionally, personally panicked right through awkward and into a defensive pissy.