I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling the familiar pulse of a headache coming on.
“What’s up, lamb chop?” a voice asked – an unmistakable voice.
I looked up to see Sean with his infamous high-wattage smile.
“Lamb chop? You are such a poet.”
“It’s certainly no Romeo and Juliet but with our history with balconies I think we best avoid Shakespeare.”
Sean’s fingers tapped the bar. I hadn’t even noticed he had come in. He must have slipped through the door and into the mass of bodies in the poolroom.
“So you had a bit of an all-nighter last night?” I tried to sound breezy as I grabbed for a fresh pot glass.
“Just downed a few beers on the deck – made for a rather colourful evening. Shame you couldn’t make it.”
I nearly overflowed the glass with beer, quickly having to twist the tap off in my moment of distraction.
“Well, I wasn’t invited, was I?”
“What?” Sean said. “Chris said you were manning the pub so you couldn’t make it.”
I must have looked dumbfounded, because I truly was. I guess in a sense it had been my turn to man the bar, but they had left after lock-up so I could have gone, and I certainly didn’t need Chris answering for me.
“You didn’t know?” Sean eyed me with interest.
I looked down, not wanting to show him how furious I was with Chris.
“Sean, buddy, we’re up!” Ringer yelled from the poolroom. I listen as he racked up the billiard balls.
I worked on fixing up the froth-to-beer ratio in Sean’s pot so that it looked less like a glass of ice cream.
“You better go. If you have any chance of winning you’ll have to break.”
Sean smiled, knowing exactly what I was talking about. Ringer was a terrible breaker and a less-than-perfect doubles partner.
“Can you bring that up for me?” His eyes flicked to his beer as he walked towards the poolroom.
“Coming right up!”
I wiped my alcohol-soaked hands, grabbed Sean’s beer, and walked up to the other end of the bar where all the action was. ‘When The River Runs Dry’ was playing from the jukebox, but it was the unmistakable thunderous crack of the billiard balls that grabbed my attention as Sean instantly pocketed a ball with his impressive break. He was wearing a basic white T-shirt but when he leaned over the table and positioned himself for the shot, cords of muscle drew tight and accentuated every curve.
“You might want to close your mouth.”
I was jolted back to reality to see Ellie standing at the bar with Tess just behind, exchanging smiles.
“Oh, um …” I stammered, my cheeks burning scarlet. Damn him.
Ellie and Tess cast each other knowing looks and pulled up a seat at the bar, hooking their handbags on the backs of their stools.
“We’re just teasing,” Ellie said. “I think we can all appreciate that the Onslow Boys offer a nice view.”
I worked to busy myself, placing Sean’s beer on the side of the pool table and wiping the bar down. I disposed of an empty glass, placing it in the dirty dish rack, and erasing the damp circle, wiping it away as if it would deflect Sean’s existence. It probably would have worked if he hadn’t been standing in front of me, flipping out his wallet.
“Ladies.” He nodded at Tess and Ellie.
They nodded back in unison. “Sean.”
“Double trouble.” He flicked out a twenty, drawing my eyes to his wallet where I saw the unmistakable gleam of a silver, square condom packet in one of the slots. My stomach flipped and I didn’t know where to look. Mercifully, Sean snapped his wallet shut and replaced it in his back pocket as he put the twenty on the bar.
I quickly moved to the till to get his change.
“So what?” Ellie perked up. “Tess and I are trouble and Amy isn’t?”
Oh God, leave me out of this.
I had intended to leave his change on the bar but Sean held out his hand.
I placed the note and coinage into his palm, his fingers brushing mine. A small thrill shot through me at the tiny gesture. I’m sure he meant it to.
Damn him.
“Oh, she’s trouble all right.” His eyes bored into mine as a devilish smile curved his lips. “Trouble of the worst kind.”
I folded my arms.
“Well, best stay out of trouble’s way then,” Ellie said, shooing him away.
He pocketed his change and grabbed his beer, heading back to the pool table. “Nah, trouble never looked so good,” he said with a wink.
If I wasn’t blushing before, I was definitely flaming now, and the fact that I could feel Ellie’s and Tess’s eyes on me didn’t help.
Ellie shook her head, looking from me to him and back.