Sweet Tricks: A Love Bites Novella Read online

  Right. Of course the hot bartender had overheard her humiliation. The Will debacle wouldn’t be complete without one last embarrassing cherry to top it all off. She briefly considered lying. Yes, I pressed charges. That bastard is going to jail where he belongs.

  But that steady blue gaze wouldn’t allow lies. She opened her mouth and felt the truth come tumbling out. “No. I didn’t. I don’t know why. I guess I was hoping he’d come back….you know, eventually.”

  It sounded even lamer out loud than it did in her head. You hoped he’d come back? What are you, Pollyanna?

  His brows drew down in concern. But why he would be concerned over her tragedy of a love life was a mystery.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “But who are you exactly? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

  He gave her a lopsided grin that made her stomach do a backflip. Sticking out his hand, he said, “I’m Jack, the new bartender.”

  She shook his hand and then pulled hers back with a little more force than necessary. A handshake shouldn’t feel so…intimate. She’d thought maybe with that introduction, the bartender—Jack—would move on to another topic of conversation but instead he went back to it like a dog with a bone.

  “Do you want him back?” he asked. “This Will guy?”

  She opened her mouth and nothing came out. Yes, no….I don’t know! Why the hell did he care? It was none of his business. But yet again, those eyes, with their understanding kindness, seemed to require the truth. “No.”

  As the word came out she realized it was true and her shoulders sagged with relief. Maybe she wasn’t quite as messed up as she’d feared. Even she wouldn’t take back a loser who’d stolen her car and owed her money. Way to go, Tabby, you’re making women proud the world over.

  Her friends had stopped their conversation and had apparently started eavesdropping on Tabitha’s. “Did he at least pay you the rent he owed you?” Katerina asked.

  All eyes were on her. “No,” she admitted, trying to hide her own self-hatred over this particular topic. Apparently she didn’t do a stellar job because her two friends were looking at her with something close to pity. She snuck a peek at the bartender and let out a small sigh of relief. At least there was no pity there, although he was studying her with a serious expression, like he was deep in thought.

  “So, wait, if dickwad has your car—how are you getting to your catering events?” Elise asked.

  Tabitha bit back a sigh as three pairs of curious eyes focused on her, waiting for an answer—one pair was ridiculously blue and far too distracting. She took a sip of her beer to procrastinate.

  “So?” Elise prompted. “How are you getting to your catering gigs? You can’t be taking the subway, not with all the food you have to bring with you.”

  Tabitha squirmed in her seat. “Um…I’m renting a car when I need one.”

  Katerina’s mouth fell open as Elise’s nose wrinkled in disgust.

  Yes, this was what her life had come to—and all because she’d fallen for a bad boy. Again.

  Katerina went into problem solving mode. “All right, you need to get that car back.”

  “You should report it stolen,” Elise said.

  Tabitha nodded halfheartedly. She was pissed, of course she was, but to get her pseudo-maybe boyfriend arrested seemed extreme. She knew Will well enough to know that he wasn’t malicious, he was just selfish. A spoiled overgrown child—just like every guy she’d ever dated.

  With that thought, she tossed back a large swig of beer.

  “In the meantime, you need to make some extra money,” Katerina chimed in, ever the sensible one. Getting the car back would be great, but who knew how long that would take. And in the meantime she needed access to a car and to make up the back rent she owed her landlord before he kicked her—and her up and coming catering business—out onto the street.

  “You could rent that second bedroom,” Elise offered.

  Tabitha made a face. “The oversized closet?”

  “It’s technically a second bedroom,” Katerina said.

  The bartender had gone back to wiping down glasses behind the bar but she could feel his eyes on her. “I don’t know,” she hedged.

  “It doesn’t have to be a permanent roomie situation,” Elise said, pressing her cold glass against her cheek. “You could do a temporary sublet deal—like Airbnb it or something.”

  Her friends were watching her waiting for an answer. The whole idea of living with a stranger made her uncomfortable. It would be one thing if it was someone she knew—or a friend of a friend, at least. But a total stranger? “I’ll think about it,” she sighed.

  The bartender went back to cleaning glasses behind the bar. “So you’re here to see the owner, right?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, do you know when he’ll be in?”

  He looked down at the glass he was cleaning. “I don’t think he’ll be in tonight. But I can give him a call if you really need to talk to him.”

  He glanced up with a questioning look in his eyes and she heaved a deep breath. Why not add just a bit more humiliation to the plate? “Will said the owner owed him money for his last gig that his band played here. I was kinda hoping maybe the owner would give the money to me instead.”

  His eyes met hers and one side of his mouth tilted up in a small smile. “And then you’d give it to Will…after taking out what he owes you for backrent, I imagine.”

  She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. “Well, when you put it like that, it sounds illegal.”

  He shook his head. “Not illegal—smart.”

  She shifted on her barstool. “So do you think he’d go for it?”

  He shook his head with an empathetic grimace. “Sorry, but he definitely won’t.”

  “How do you know?” She didn’t mean to sound confrontational but the guy was admittedly a new employee, maybe the owner—

  “Because Will owes him money, too.”

  Oh. Maybe not. To her horror, this new bit of info cracked the last of her optimistic outlook. She’d been trying so hard not to freak out, but Will’s paycheck at the bar had been her last hope. Now she had an angry landlord who was threatening eviction, no car, and a slow season of work to contend with.

  Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Do not cry in front of the bartender!

  But her tear ducts were not paying attention to her. She was well aware of the bartender’s eyes narrowing in on hers with concern, and Elise and Katerina were leaning toward her murmuring words of comfort.

  She widened her eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay, but it was a hopeless cause. One tear spilled over the edge, and then another.

  “We’ll come up with a solution,” Elise said firmly.

  Katerina nodded. “We’ll chip in whatever we can and maybe you could ask your parents for a loan?”

  She tried to summon up a smile for her friends. They were right, she could make this work, she just had to be creative—and possibly say goodbye to her pride.

  “You could pick up some shifts here.”

  The bartender’s sudden announcement had all three girls staring at him in surprise.

  He shrugged, looking adorably sheepish. “We’re a little short-staffed at the moment and I know the owner was looking to hire some part-time cocktail waitresses to work some shows. I can put in a good word for you.”

  Tabitha blinked at him, temporarily speechless. Had tall, dark, and sexy just come to her rescue? Why, yes, yes he had. Oh Lord. Temptation, thy name is Jack.

  “That would be great,” she finally managed to say.

  He pushed a cocktail napkin in her direction and she hurriedly scribbled down her number as Elise and Katerina watched in equally stunned silence. All three of them had struggled to get any work—to have a job drop into one of their lives was incredible.

  “I’ll call you after I talk to him,” he said.

  Chapter Two

  Tabitha held her phone to her ear with her shoulder as she headed from the subway to the cl
ub. “I’m nervous,” she told Elise. “Tell me I shouldn’t be nervous.”

  “You shouldn’t be nervous,” her friend said automatically. She could hear Elise’s older sister in the background shouting something out.

  “Am I keeping you from something?”

  “Just The Bachelor—Lucy and I have this thing where we wait to watch it together and she’s impatient to get started. Ignore her. So, why are you nervous? You’ve waitressed a million times at catering gigs and all through high school.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” she said. But it wasn’t the job part of this night that made her stomach do flip flops. It was him. Jack. He would be there and they would have to interact and she honestly didn’t trust herself around him.

  “How do I keep from falling for another bad boy?” she asked.

  If Elise was fazed by the seeming change in conversation, she didn’t let on. But then, Elise had known her since she was in kindergarten—nothing she did would surprise her.

  Elise made a ‘hmmm’ noise and sounds from the TV diminished in the background as she walked away. “I don’t know, I didn’t think he seemed all that bad.”

  Tabitha stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Trust me, if I’m attracted to him, he’s bad news.”

  Elise laughed but she didn’t try to deny it. Her terrible choice in men was a longstanding, not-terribly-funny joke among Tabitha and her oldest friends. “Just because your last boyfriend or two—”

  “Try the last four,” Tabitha cut it. “The only four boyfriends.”

  “Right,” Elise said. “Just because you’ve had bad taste up till now doesn’t mean you’ll always go for the bad guy.”

  “Well, so far I’m zero for four, so I guess I don’t feel so optimistic about my odds.” The bar came into view and she slowed her pace.

  “Yes, but they were all in high school and college. You’re in the real world now. Totally different scenario.”

  Tabitha gave a little snort of amusement.

  “You’re too young to be this cynical.”

  Tabitha could hear Elise’s sister shouting for her in the background. “Look, I should go. I’ve gotta start this new job and your sister sounds like she’s going to murder you if she doesn’t get to watch The Bachelor soon.”

  Elise sighed. “Okay, I’m going, but promise you’ll give him a shot. I like this one.”

  “Five bucks says he’s in a band,” Tabitha said.

  “Not everyone in a band is a bad news,” Elise said.

  “Why exactly are you defending him?”

  “Because I don’t want to see you turn bitter before your time,” Elise said. “If you’re attracted to him, you should give him a shot. Trust your gut.”

  “My gut says he needs a place to crash.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Elise shouted to her sister in the background. “Twenty bucks says he doesn’t. Gotta go, Tab, love you.”

  Elise hung up with her friend and picked up her pace. Nerves or no nerves, putting off the inevitable wasn’t going to help anyone.

  Luckily for Jack, it was a slow night at the club. Money-wise no one was raking in the dough, but at least he didn’t have to worry about pissing off all of his customers as he mooned over the new waitress.

  And mooned was the only word for it. He was acting like an idiot and he couldn’t seem to stop himself. From the moment she’d entered his bar the day before it was like he’d been hit by a tidal wave that knocked him over and left him flailing. It was the smile that did it. Sure, she was hot as hell with her heart-shaped face, big hazel eyes, and perfect cupid bow lips, but it was that smile when she’d spotted her friends that had hit him like a punch in the gut.

  Genuine, that was the word for it. Everything about her was genuine and real and….sweet. Not that sweet was typically the trait he was drawn to but in Tabitha’s case, sweet seemed like a drug.

  Maybe that was just his baggage talking. Maybe he was drawn to the opposite of every woman who’d broken his heart. Shaking his head, he made an attempt to wash a glass but his eyes kept straying back to the not-so-crowded dance floor where Tabitha weaved her way through the small crowd with a now-empty tray, looking for people with empty cups.

  It didn’t matter what had drawn him to her, all that mattered was—he was smitten. Like a kitten. He was a goner. And she couldn’t seem to care less….

  If anything, she’d been aloof when she’d arrived. Kind to everyone she met, including him, but reserved. He could practically see the wall she built up around herself and it kicked into high gear when she was talking to him.

  He’d hoped to ease whatever reservations she had by giving her a tour of the place and showing her the ropes—but she’d picked it up quickly, clearly having experience in the waitressing world, and leapt right in, ignoring his blatant attempts to flirt.

  He ran a hand through his hair as he watched her smile up at one of the customers who was talking to her. Shit, maybe he’d lost his game.

  Hell, maybe he’d never had game to begin with.

  “Dude, what are you doing with this chick?”

  His friend and co-bartender, Alex, came up beside him and took over washing the glasses that Jack had abandoned. Crap, he’d been caught staring. Again.

  “Nothing,” he said. “Just trying to help a girl out.”

  Alex, long hair pulled back in a ponytail, made a sound of disgust. “Yeah, I heard her douchebag boyfriend left her high and dry.”

  Boyfriend. He wasn’t still her boyfriend, was he? No, she’d said she didn’t want him back. “Did you know the guy?”

  “Who, Will?” Alex turned to him. “Yeah, you do too. Remember that band you brought in? The one with the terrible singer.”

  Jack smirked for a minute at the memory but then his face fell. “Wait, that’s the guy?”

  “I thought you knew.”

  “I just remembered the name—it’s in the ledger upstairs of people who owe the club money.”

  Alex nodded. “Real douche.”

  “Serious douche,” Jack confirmed. But his attention had been caught by Tabitha again as she slowly made her way toward him.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Alex asked.

  Jack jerked his gaze back to his friend. “Yes.” Maybe.

  Alex looked doubtful. “You know me and the crew will play along however you want us to but….”

  But you’re being an ass. That was the unspoken part and Jack cut him off before he could say it. “I know what I’m doing. I swear. I just want to help the girl out, that’s all.”

  Alex nodded slowly. “Okay, man, but from where I’m standing….” His lips pulled back in a wince. “Looks like you’ve got it bad.”

  Shit. He did have it bad. Before he could stew over it any longer, Tabitha reached the bar and leaned against it, not far from where he was standing.

  “How’s your night going?” he asked.

  She gave him a little smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Not bad.”

  But not great, either. “Sorry, I thought there’d be more of a crowd here tonight.”

  Her smile grew and his gut tightened in response. “It’s not your fault.”

  He’d all but promised that she’d make real money tonight—a dumb thing to promise, since there was no predicting which nights would be the big moneymakers, it always depended on the kind of crowds the bands drew. “My band opened for these guys at a club over in Jersey,” he said. “They pulled in a huge crowd, I thought….” He trailed off with a shrug. Who cared what he’d thought? He was making excuses when what she clearly needed was money.

  Maybe that was why her smile fell. She bit her lower lip and for the life of him he couldn’t tell if she was unhappy or trying not to laugh. “You’re in a band?”

  A flicker of hope had him responding too eagerly. “Yeah, I play lead guitar.” He stopped himself just short of saying, “We’re really good.” It was official. He had no game. Even to his own ears he sounded like a junior h
igh geek trying to impress a girl.

  But she’d dated that dickwad Will, who was in a band, and as far as Jack could tell, that was his only redeeming quality. Maybe she had a thing for musicians.

  He thought he heard her murmur something like, “That’s nice,” before turning her attention back to the stage. Or, more accurately, the crowd in front of the stage. None of whom seemed to be polishing off their drinks as quickly as she’d like.

  “You know, you can take off whenever you want. The bar can handle the rest of the night. It’s not going to get any busier than this.”

  Her eyes met his and her relief was apparent. “Really? That would be great. I have another catering gig first thing in the morning.”

  “How are you going to get there?” He regretted the words almost as soon as they left his mouth. It was none of his business. But then, he’d heard her friends talking about how the dickwad took her car….maybe he could give her a ride.

  Before he could get his hopes up about finagling yet another meeting with his dream girl, she said, “The subway. The event is downtown and I’m just serving so I don’t have to lug a ton of stuff with me.”

  “But you’d rather be cooking?”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. What? He’d been paying attention.

  “Yeah,” she said slowly. “I’m trying to get as much experience as possible.” She gave a little shrug. “The goal is to open a catering business of my own one day. I’ve already started booking some small events…friends of friends, that sort of thing.”

  Questions threatened to pour out of his mouth. How had she gotten into cooking? What was her specialty? What did she like about it? But she was already untying the waitress apron from around her waist and wasn’t paying attention to him. She looked like she couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  He acted on impulse more than anything else, hurrying over to Alex who was watching the band perform at the other end of the bar. “Hey, can you cover the bar for a while? I’ll be back to help close up.”

  He took off before Alex had a chance to answer but it was slow, and there was no need for two bartenders.