Steal You Away Read online

  Once he exits the bar, I turn to Libby, whose eyes are on me. The way she’s smiling at me has me jumping right into cleaning. “Stop smiling at me like that. It’s weird.”

  “Colson Bennett has a thing for you,” she singsongs. “And he’s incredibly hot now. I mean… not that he wasn’t already hot before he left, but holy shit he’s on fire now.”

  “Colson Bennett likes to play with every girl.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” she points out. “He’s had two girlfriends. I know this, because I follow him on every social media account he has.” It’s true. Colson Bennett has only dated two girls that we know of. “Women throw themselves at him every single day, yet he gives none of them the time of day. The female population in this town is becoming desperate for a taste of him, and there’s only one he seems to want to give it to.”

  He already has…

  My pulse races, my palms becoming sweaty from the memory. “Well, I don’t want a taste, and I’m sure his brother wouldn’t want that either.” I scrub the spot in front of me harder, my nerves getting the best of me. “I have some bottles of cranberry juice in the car since we ran out last night. Mind grabbing them while I make sure the Vodka is properly stocked?”

  “Sure, hun.”

  When I realized Colson was here it completely slipped my mind to grab the juice, and there’s no way in hell I’m going outside where he’s at. Not if it’s avoidable. I’m going to make sure the whole night is just that.

  Once Libby joins me back inside, I focus on doing extra prep work for the night just in case by some miracle Colson gets as big of a crowd in as last night. I’m not counting on it, though. Unless the jerk is offering up orgasms on our IG this time. I wouldn’t put it past him.

  “Hey, babe!” I look up to find Libby watching me from over the bar. “What ya doing down there?”

  “It’s a little sticky down here. I’m guessing someone spilt a drink and Sally ignored it instead of cleaning it up.”

  “And she wants your job…pft.” She walks around to join me behind the bar. “I wouldn’t worry too much about your grandmother letting her run it. You’re far more qualified than she is. Just because she’s been here longer doesn’t mean she knows shit about running this place.”

  “My thoughts exactly. But I guess we’ll see soon.” I walk to the back and toss the dirty towel into the towel basket. When I spin back around, I bump into Colson, practically busting my mouth on his hard chest. “Dammit, Colson. What do you need? I’m a little busy right now.”

  He smiles down at me, amused as I touch my bottom lip. “You should try harder not to bump into solid things, Kennedy. They could be dangerous for your body.” He reaches out to touch my lip, but I slap his hand away. “Just trying to help.”

  “What do you need?” I ask again.

  “Stop getting angry. I’m just grabbing some napkins for the truck. Didn’t mean to distract you.”

  “You’re not. You’re in my way.” I point toward the storage room. “They’re in there. I’m sure you can find them yourself.”

  “What if I’d rather you show me?” he questions, moving in close until there’s no space between our bodies. The way he hovers his mouth above mine, just out of reach, has heat rising to my core.

  “Then I’d say you’re shit out of luck.” I swallow and take a step back, my pulse racing from his close proximity. “Find them yourself. I’ve got things to do.”

  “Afraid to be alone with me? Scared you’ll finally give in and let me inside of you?”

  “Absolutely not. I just don’t want to be alone with you. The thought nauseates me.”

  “Ouch.” He places his hand over his heart. “That hurt. All lies.”

  “Not a lie,” I spit out to his back when he walks away. “Now stop with your flirting. I’ll be your boss soon. It’s unprofessional.” Dating his brother has never stopped him in the past, so I don’t know why I thought being his boss would.

  He exits the storage room moments later, pausing to speak in my ear. “And fucking exciting. You know it.” I suck in a breath when his hand grips my waist and squeezes. “See what I mean? But I don’t have time for distractions right now. I’ve got some business to bring in. Again.”

  With that, he walks away, leaving me standing here annoyed and pissed off. Nothing new there. “You don’t need any distractions?” I say to his retreating back. “You’re such a jerk.”

  “Everything okay back here? Need some help?”

  I force a smile when Libby comes into view. “Nope. Everything is good. Just going to grab that box of glasses for backup.”

  “Okay, good. I’ll take a quick look to make sure none of the soda syrup needs changing out. I’ll be right out.”

  The first couple of hours goes by smoothly without Colson wandering back into the bar to work me up. I’m thankful for that, because If I’m honest with myself, it’s working. He’s getting to me more than I’d like to admit, and he’s only been back for two days.

  Since tonight is slow, I pick up my phone and debate on whether or not I should text Dax and let him know that his brother is working here now. I know I should—he’d want to know—but if I do, there’s a chance he’ll show up and start a fight out at the food truck, and that’s the last thing I need while trying to prove to my grandmother I’m responsible enough to manage the bar. So, I toss my phone aside and make the decision to wait until I get off tonight. He’ll probably be pissed I didn’t tell him sooner, but I’ll have to deal with the repercussions later.

  “Looks like we did all that extra work for nothing,” Libby says on a bored yawn. “I was hoping last night wasn’t just a one-time thing, but it’s looking like maybe it was. Last night was awesome. I really needed the money too.”

  “I’m sorry. You want to go ahead and take off for the night? There’s no need for both of us to be here when it’s this slow.”

  She shakes her head and wipes down the bar from the few customers we’ve had. “I’d rather stay and get some hours in if that’s okay. Maybe you can put the inventory into the computer since you didn’t get the chance to last night? I can handle the guys at the pool table for you.”

  “All right. You sure you don’t mind being here? You probably won’t make much tonight.”

  “Yeah, I’m good. Maybe Colson will figure out how to draw some people in with his good looks again. Maybe you should let him post on social media,” she adds cautiously. “It got a hell of a lot of people in last night. What harm could it do if you delete it before Dixie sees it? It’s just Colson being Colson.”

  I exhale and look around the bar, taking in the mostly empty space. We’ll be lucky to bring in five or six more customers on a night like this. As much as I hate the idea of letting Colson post on our social media, I also know that we need something to happen. Libby is right.

  “I’ll be back,” I mutter, making my way toward the rear exit door. I step outside and am surprised to see it’s just as dead outside as it is inside the bar. “I’m going to hate myself after this.”

  I make my way to the food truck anyway, stopping in my tracks when I find Colson leaning against the truck, his arms crossed over his chest as if he’s amused. “Need my help with something? I’d be happy to post my dick online for you.”

  “Dammit, Colson. No one wants to see that.” I purse my lips, fighting to keep it together. “Post something. Just no damn dick pics, all right? Be an adult.”

  I go to walk away, but he grabs my wrist, stopping me. With his gaze locked on mine, he steps in close and tilts his head until his lips are above mine, his breaths hitting my mouth. “Clearly, you have no idea how many women would kill to see my dick.” He moves around to speak into my ear. “Very few have seen it, but everyone is desperate to get a glance. It’s the mystery. Last chance before I change my mind.”

  My heart beats fast against my ribcage, thinking back to how badly I wanted to see his dick the night he touched himself for me. All I had to do was open my eyes and look down and
I have no doubt I would’ve gotten a good view of him stroking it. I’d die of embarrassment if he ever discovered how long I fantasized about him after that night.

  “Keep it in your pants, Colson, and stop crowding me.” I push him out of my space so I can breathe. “Just post something simple like saying you’re working tonight. That’s all that needs to be said. Keep it clean.”

  Before he can say anything else to get my blood boiling, I walk away. After letting Libby know I’m back inside, I close myself in the office and pull out my sheet from last night, prepared to enter it. But I only get a third of the way through the list before my curiosity of what Colson posted on social media gets the best of me.

  With my heart racing, I pull up our IG page to see a selfie of Colson in front of the food truck with the headline:

  Come to Dixie’s for a taste… You’ll never taste anything better. Ask Kennedy