Pas de Deux: Part One (A Cross and Pointe Novel Book 1) (23 page)

“Home. I need to get in a nap before work. I’m exhausted.”

“Must have been all that snoring last night.” Cillian winked at her when she whirled to look at him.

“Excuse me? I do not snore.”

“My mistake, of course you don’t. That must’ve been Rocky.”

“Rocky does snore. So, yeah. It probably was.”

“Sure. Blame the cat.”

Sammi sputtered and shoved his shoulder. “I do not snore!” She smiled. “Jerk.”

He smiled back, looking right into her eyes. It made that warm feeling come back into her chest, the one that told her this smile was exclusive, reserved only for the special people in his life. For her.

Impulsively, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. It was still new, so alien, but so nice, and it was getting easier. Plus, he was warm, and solid, and smelled so good, just like he’d smelled last night. His arms went around her and she reveled in the way he gathered her body against his, his hold tight and protective.

“Be safe.” His warm lips brushed against the shell of her ear, making a shiver run through her body. “Have a good night.”

“You, too.” She pressed her cheek lightly to his, then stepped away as her bus pulled up. When the doors hissed open, she turned and started to climb the steps.

“Hey,” he called, and she turned.

“Yes?”

“Don’t forget to text me what I need to know about Sunday.”

Sammi groaned aloud and slapped a hand to her forehead. Family dinner.

“Yeah, you’re not gettin’ rid of me that easy.” Cillian smirked at her.

“Yeah, all right. I will.” She waved and found a seat near the front, then glanced out the window at him as the bus pulled off. He remained on the sidewalk for a moment, then turned slowly and headed back inside the gym.

Sammi leaned against the cool window, allowing a real smile of pleasure to cross her face as she stared off into the distance.

I don’t want to get rid of you at all
.

“I want you to have fun tonight,” Cliff told her Saturday night, clapping her on the shoulder and squeezing. “Work, play, make lots of tips. Drink and have fun. No stress tonight. And if you ever wanna come back, door’s open.”

“Thanks, Cliff.” Sammi decided not to mention that she had zero intention of ever coming back.

Of all of Cliff's employees, Sammi was the first to tender her resignation. Before she started her shift, she shared some teary good-byes with the other cocktail waitresses, girls she'd come to know well and like. Cliff was grumpy at losing one of his best bartenders, but he gave her a hug, her final pay “with a little bonus thrown in”, and had even ordered her a cake.

She enjoyed some cake with the other girls a half-hour before things started picking up, then went to the mirror to touch up her lip gloss. She’d done a little extra on her makeup for her final night, feeling festive, but she was in her standard black tee and jeans, with a pair of funky, black heeled ankle boots.

Still, she couldn’t deny the sight of the sparkle in her own eyes in the reflection as she swiped gloss over her lips.
I look good. I
feel
good. Better than I have in a long time.
She pursed her lips at herself, screwing the applicator back onto the tube of gloss.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she whipped out her phone.

SAMMI
: Hey. Not sure if you have plans tonight, but if you feel like getting out, you should come by Cliff’s. Last night, and all that.

CILLIAN
: One last club soda with lime?

SAMMI
: Last one EVER. At least, at Cliff’s.

CILLIAN
: Then I better get one while I can.

SAMMI
: Probably be a good idea. See you soon!

Sammi grinned and tucked her phone in her back pocket, heading out from the back break area toward the bar. Jazz and her sisters were already front and center on stool, grinning at her.

“Barkeep!” Jazz waved her over. “Move your ass!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sammi slipped behind the bar, leaning her palms against it. “Lemme guess—raspberry margarita, blended, sugar on the rim for Jazz, Cosmo for Niq because she’ll never let Sex and the City go, and Pinot Grigio for Toni.”

“But first,” Niq dramatically lifted a hand, “a round of tequila shots, including one for our fair bar wench.”

“Aw, man.” Sammi rolled her eyes to the ceiling, her mouth involuntarily scrunching up at the thought of it. “No. Anything else. Lemon drop? Birthday cake? Red-headed slut?”

“No.” Niq pounded a fist on the bar top. “’Quila!”

Sammi sighed heavily and poured out four shots of tequila and slid them around, then brought out a dish of freshly cut limes and a salt shaker. The girls fixed up their hands with salt and lifted their shots into the air.

“To Sam.” Niq grinned at her baby sister. “To new beginnings, new adventures, and making dreams come true.”

“Hear, hear,” Toni said.

“Word up.” Jazz nodded. “I’ll drink to that!”

Sammi smiled. “Down the hatch.”

Simultaneously, they licked the salt off their hands, downed their shots, and popped the limes in their mouths, each of their faces screwed up from the taste. Sammi shook her head quickly to focus, her tousled hair whirling around her shoulders, and began fixing their drinks.

“So, where's your man, Jay?” she called over her shoulder.

Jazz flicked her head toward a high-top table near the door. “Sitting off by his lonesome, nursing a beer.” She smirked at Sammi. “Where’s yours?”

“Nonexistent.” She set their drinks down.

“Girl, please. Tell me you at least invited him to come down here.”

“Invite who?” Toni demanded. “What man?”

“Her
friend
.” Niq elbowed her younger sister. “Remember, I told you about the other night…”

“Oh,
him
.” Toni smiled at Sammi in a way that made her deeply suspicious. “Yeah, you should invite him.”

Shit. No, I shouldn’t have.
“I mentioned that this was my last night. If he shows, he shows, if not, then…he won’t.”

“It’s okay. We still get to see him tomorrow.” Niq’s smile matched Toni’s. “The whole family is very anxious to meet him.”

“Yeah, and tonight won’t count,” Toni added. “I'll be nice if he shows tonight but the gloves come off tomorrow.”

“Oh, come on, Toni. I’m not seventeen anymore.”

“You will always be the baby. And as your big sisters, we are obligated to torture and torment every guy that's unfortunate enough to fall for you.”

“He’s a Yankees fan, right? You know how Dad is.” Niq raised her eyebrows.

Sammi frowned. “He’s an Irish boy from Southie. Probably not. What does that matter, anyway?”

“What does that matter? Are you kidding me? Did you not grow up in the Carnevale household?”

Sammi waved her hand impatiently. “Daddy loves the Yankees, I get it. But I just don't think he’d let that sway his opinion of some guy—”

“Do you remember Joey Rizzo?”

Sammi recalled Niq’s high school boyfriend. “Yeah. So?”

“We broke up right before prom because Daddy found out he was a Pirates fan. Okay? He's very serious about it.”

“You broke up with him right before prom because he fingered Amy Bertino in the supply closet before third period.”

“That bitch,” Niq muttered. “Yeah, well,
then
Daddy found out he was a Pirates fan.”

“Well, I'll be sure to coach him on the acceptable sports teams in the family.” Sammi rolled her eyes.

“Meanwhile, I believe it's time for another round of shots!” Jazz grinned at Sammi and lifted her empty glass. Sammi groaned as her sisters took up the chorus and reluctantly retrieved the bottle of tequila from the shelf and four fresh shot glasses.

“Make it five.” Toni pointed at her. “You're takin’ two.”

“What’re you guys doing to me?” Sammi poured out a fifth shot. She kept two and slid the remaining three toward the girls. They gulped the shots, and Sammi shivered, swiping the back of her hand across her lips.

“Hey, Carnevale!”

Sammi and her sisters swiveled their heads in the direction of the voice. Basanta leaned over the bar, grinning at her. Behind him was Cillian. One corner of his lush mouth pulled up when they locked eyes.

“What’s this?” Basanta exclaimed. “Drinking on the job?”

“Blame these heathens.” Sammi gestured toward her sisters and Jazz. “And my boss. I don’t know if I’m partying or if I’m working.”

Basanta smoothly turned to the other girls. “I don't believe we've met. I’m Jonathan Basanta, Cillian's second-in-command.”

Sammi introduced Jazz and her sisters. “Be nice to them, Basanta. You’ve been warned.”

“Mm.” Baz smiled at them. “Such beautiful ladies. Birds of a feather, and whatnot.”

“Is the hot one behind the cute mouthy one the new boyfriend?” Toni asked Niq as she tried to peer around Basanta.

“He’s
not
my—”

“Yeah,” Niq interrupted. “Cillian! Come say hello to my other sister.”

Cillian reached around Basanta to offer Toni his hand. “Hi, I'm Cillian. You must be Toni.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Toni looked him up and down. “Nice to meet you, finally. I would grill you now, but it can wait until tomorrow. I don't want to scare you off before then.”

“Uh—thank you.” Cillian bobbed his head while shooting Sammi a quick wink.

Niq smiled at Cillian. “It's nice to see you again.”

“You too. So, are you also gonna wait to read me the riot act?”

“Of course. I prefer to let my victims squirm.”

“Niq,” Sammi said, smacking her hand on the bar.

Cillian laughed out loud. “Hey, I get it.” He shrugged. “I like overprotective siblings. I am one.”

Niq thumbed toward Sammi. “All right, all right. Enough about that, before somebody over here flips out. So, Cillian. Are you a Sox fan?”

The crowd around the bar grew, and Sammi drifted away from the group’s idle conversation to work, pulling beers from the tap, mixing cocktails speedily, and filling shot glasses. Some of her regulars found out it was her last night, and the shots really started flowing. Sammi could only take a few before passing them off to Jazz, Niq, and Toni. She hadn’t drunk this much in years, and she was getting tipsy fast.

She glanced over at Cillian from under her lashes as she poured a glass of red wine for a customer. He looked incredibly good, dressed in a charcoal gray button-up, the sleeves pushed to his thick, powerful forearms, and dark jeans. When she suddenly felt wetness on her hand, she jerked it away and realized she’d overfilled the glass, wine sluicing down the sides.

“Shit!” she hissed, stopping herself. She filled a fresh glass and served it to the woman with an apologetic smile, then grabbed a handful of napkins to mop up her mess. When she glanced over at Cillian again to see if he’d noticed, he flashed her a quick smile and a wink, letting her know he'd seen the whole thing.

An hour before closing, Cliff came out to replace her behind the bar and told her to go have fun. The DJ started playing all her favorite songs, and she took to the dance floor with her sisters and Jazz and a few of the other waitresses. Sammi felt completely exuberant as she danced, tilting back her head to laugh, spinning as the room spun. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun.

As she whirled around, she caught sight of Cillian standing next to Baz and Jazz’s boyfriend, watching her, and wondered if, maybe, she was ready for another kind of fun, too.

Cillian leaned against the bar and sipped at his club soda with lime, his eyes glued to Sammi as she danced with her sisters and her friends on the small floor in front of the DJ booth. He knew that Baz and Jazz's boyfriend, Brian, were conversing around him but he couldn't focus on anything they were saying. He couldn't focus on anything but the way Sammi looked when she danced—the smooth, rhythmic way her body and hips moved, and the cute, playful way she pretended to shake her butt at Jazz.

Cute, playful, and undeniably sexy.

“Dude. Stalker-mode, much?”

Cillian glanced at Baz. “What?”