Page 55 of The Bartender Special

He circled back to the origin of the conversation.

“Okay, so this picture—that you had hanging next to your bed, I might point out—doesn't mean anything. Fine. I'd still like to know what drew you to her in the first place? Other than her ability to smile next to an explosion.”

Jack shook himself out of his temporary appreciation stupor.

“You mean what drew your boy Marcus to her.”

Benny didn't meet his gaze. He also didn’t say no.

Jack thought he deserved another honest answer.

“She's pointed. Focused. She knows what she wants and goes at it hard until it’s hers.”

“She’s confident.”

“Yeah, but with super strength attached. Confidence like that can be confusing. Sometimes when someone wants something so badly, you end up wanting it too by default. You get invested in it.”

“And I'm sure the long legs and killer ass didn’t hurt either,” Benny quipped. A grin pulled up the corner of his lips.

They might have been talking about Felicity’s good points, but Jack couldn’t help but see the contrast.

Dark eyes, dark hair, and always seemingly on the verge of blushing, Benny De Carlo wasn't anything like Felicity. Looks or otherwise.

He was quiet, but only in a crowd.

He was curious, even at risk to his comfort zone.

He didn’t like attention, yet had published his innermost secret thoughts for the entire internet to read.

He was his own contradiction.

He was also sexy, if Jack was being honest.

Benny wasn't like Felicity or Calvin or anyone he'd dated before.

He was a weird little mystery of fun, awkwardness, and surprises. A guy who blushed faster than he breathed and who, despite him dragging Jack into chores, gossip, and southern small talk, Jack couldn’t bring himself to dislike.

And they were only on Day Three.

Jack wondered when they needed to kiss again just as he realized Benny was waiting for a response to the legs and ass comment.

He gave a short laugh.

“A good ass and pair of legs never hurt.”

“Well, that just depends how you use them.”

Benny the Wildcard De Carlo threw a wink out just as his grin became a smirk.

Jack forgot about anyone’s legs, picturing Benny’s ass from before, and nearly said as much when Benny got off the bed with a start.

“Speaking of pictures, though, we need to post one of us together tonight at the bar,” he said. “I figured I’d post one of the Cassidy’s Special drinks with some kind of moody filter and clever caption about my boyfriend being a bartender. We’ll see how that works for patrons coming in. At the very least it should pull some of the more gossipy residents of Arbor Bay to us.”

Jack was acutely aware of their height difference.

And the tightening in his jeans.

“We need to talk about better ways to fake things between us when Carol and them come around too,” he said, trying to ignore his body’s reaction. “A picture or two might not cut it.”