“I beg your pardon?” Hallie tilted her head and said, “And what happened to that sweetheart of a girlfriend of yours? Van, was it?”
“We need a bartender in the back.” Jack ignored her remark, looking at Julio and saying, “Do you think you can spare her for a bit?”
Julio glanced at Hallie, trying to gauge her reaction before saying, “Yes, but I believe the bride scheduled—”
“She’s the one who sent me over. I’m her brother.”
“Listen, I don’t strip or give lap dances,” Hallie said. “So if ‘the back’ is code for something creepy, count me out.”
That made the guy smirk down at her. “Somehow I would’ve guessed that about you.”
“Oh.” Hallie pushed back the stray hairs that’d fallen out of her ponytail. “Well, good.”
“Follow me?”
“Why not?” Hallie came around the bar and followed Jack as he walked through the throngs of wedding revelers—most of whom smiled at him like he was their favorite cousin even though he appeared oblivious—and when they got to the kitchen door, he pushed it open and held it for her.
“Thanks.” She walked through the door, only to see that the kitchen was absolutely deserted. “Um . . . ?”
She turned around, and Jack had dropped his jacket on top of a box of bananas and he was rolling up his shirtsleeves. He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to speak.
“I thought you said you needed a bartender.”
“I do.” He casually hopped up onto the stainless steel prep counter and sat so that his long legs were dangling in front of him. “You got me dumped, so now it’s your job to get me drunk.”
Seriously, dude?
“Yeah, um, you aren’t the king,” Hallie said, disappointed in his power douche move, “and I’m not interested in being your personal serving wench. But thank you.”
“Dear God, I don’t want you to serve me.” He pointed to the spot beside him on the counter. “I just thought since we both had drinks thrown in our faces by Vanessa Robbins tonight, it might be nice to drown our troubles and share a bottle.”
Hallie tilted her head and looked at the bottle of Crown Royal behind him.
Why did that sound so damn appealing?
* * *
? ? ?
JACK COULD SEE it in her face the minute she decided. It was like her entire posture relaxed.
And then she smiled.
Not that it mattered, but she was cute. A short little redhead with a big smartass mouth. He actually had remembered her from the jewelry store, not because of how she looked but because she’d been funny as hell as she’d shown him a slew of engagement rings.
She came over and hopped up on the counter, crisscrossing her legs and reaching for the bottle. “First of all, please tell me you dumped her and not the other way around.”
“Obviously,” he said.
“Thank God.” She rolled in her lips and said, “Second of all, I had nothing to do with the implosion of your relationship.”
“Well, if you hadn’t said anything . . .”
“Then you’d be engaged to a jealous psycho.” She narrowed her green eyes and said, “I think you actually owe me a ginormous thank-you.”
“Is that right?”
“For sure,” she said, and then she raised the bottle to her mouth and took a big drink. After she finished, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand. “Are you intentionally forgoing mixers? Because I’m okay with that, but since I’m only five feet tall, I’m gonna get there a lot quicker without Coke.”
He actually felt like smiling when he said, “Fine by me.”
“And are you paying for the Uber that I will surely need when we’re finished?”
Jack took the bottle as she held it out to him, and his fingers looked gigantic next to hers. He said, “If it comes to that, then yes.”
“Oh, it will definitely come to that.” She gave him another sarcastic grin and turned her body so she was facing him. “I plan on getting floor-licking drunk tonight, buddy. Like, can’t-remember-your-own-mother, vomiting-in-the-elevator-phone-box, is-she-okay-or-should-we-call-someone hammered. Care to join me on the thrill ride?”
Jack tipped the bottle into his mouth and let the liquor burn through him, warming a path all the way down to his belly. She watched him the whole time, and he wasn’t sure if it was the buzz or not, but she was starting to look a little hot to him. He finished the drink and smiled as he handed it back to her.