Page 19 of Of Course, Cutie
“We don’t need no education.” I shrugged and grinned at him. “Can I have some water?” I sank onto the barstool next to my backpack.
Burke rubbed his beard. “I’m not supposed to serve you at the bar when it’s open.”
I rolled my eyes. “There’s fucking no one here! And I only want water!” We both scanned the empty bar and spotted Sienna and Evan over by the stage. She was practicing her set, and Evan was watching her like a love-sick puppy. Sienna’s voice always turned my brother stupid.
“Fine,” Burke sighed. “But only because you’re so damn cute.” He filled a glass with water and slid it down the bar to me. It was so hot when he did that.
I caught the glass and grinned at him. “Thanks.” I took a sip and gave him a sideways glance. “You honestly think I’m cute, Burke?” I’d been turning up my flirt lately, but I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with him.
He laughed and rubbed his beard again. I was learning that that was one of his tells. Beard rubbing meant he was stressed or uncomfortable. “Very cute, Charlie.”
“Thank you.” I bit my lip as we locked gazes. Good god, his eyes! My heart raced, and I had that pulsing feeling in my lady parts again. I swallowed, hoping it wasn’t a gulp. “So, how’s Tess doing?”
“She’s good. She asked about you the other day.”
“Yeah?” I grinned and ran my finger along the edge of my glass.
Burked smiled and leaned against the bar. “Her exact words were, ‘Where’s Charlie? She was nice and did good voices for the characters in The Three Little Pigs. Can she play again?’”
I laughed and pressed a hand to my heart. “Oh my god! She’s so sweet! I would love to play again!”
Burke nodded and rubbed his beard. He was doing that a lot lately. Did I make him uncomfortable? Too much flirting? “I, uh, I have her this weekend. I promised her a Tinkerbell movie marathon.” He straightened and cleared his throat, hand going right back to his beard. “You’re welcome to join us if you aren’t busy.”
My heart pounded so hard that I was worried it might explode in my chest. Sexy, manly Burke watching fairy movies with his adorable daughter? Yes fucking please. Spending an entire day next to him on his couch? I could think of nothing better in the world.
Burke laughed and shook his head when I didn’t answer. “I mean, I’m sure you have better things to do. Parties to go to, college boys to drive crazy.”
If I could get my lungs to start breathing again, I’d answer him. Come on, lungs! Give me some air!
“Charlie! The bar is open!” Evan snapped at me from across the room.
I rolled my eyes and turned to face my brother. “It’s water, dude! And when your first customer gets here, I will leave!”
Evan rolled his eyes, too, and turned back to Sienna. “Fine.”
When I turned around to face Burke again, he’d moved down the bar to slice limes. “Hey!” I called over to him.
Those mind-numbing eyes flashed up to meet mine. “What?”
“I would love to watch fairy movies with you and Tess. What time?”
He graced me with his laugh. “We’ll probably start at 7 am on Saturday.”
“Fuck, that’s early.” I laughed and shrugged. “I’ll bring waffles?”
God, I loved his laugh. “Sounds good. I’ll make bacon.”
“Perfect. Can’t wait.” I smiled at him and sipped my water. As our gazes locked for the 100th time, Sienna started singing a cover of Iris by the GooGoo Dolls. Her clear, sweet voice filled the bar, and the lyrics sank deep inside of me. The song was doing something to Burke, too. We couldn’t take our eyes off of each other.
Holy shit. Holy fuck. I couldn’t breathe. My heart couldn’t handle the heat pouring from Burke’s gorgeous green gaze. I tore my eyes away and let them settle on Sienna and Evan instead. In an effort to break the spell, I laughed. “Look at my stupid brother. He’s whipped.” Evan was watching Sienna with a smile.
The nearness of Burke’s voice almost made me jump. He’d moved back down the bar to where I sat, with my back turned. He spoke practically right in my ear. “There’s nothing wrong with being whipped by a good woman.”
I turned slowly, expecting to see him watching Evan and Sienna. Instead, he leaned forward with his elbows on the bar, eyes trained right on me. I felt like I was made of glass, and Burke could see everything inside of me. Cracks spread through my glass walls as those green eyes bore into me.
Burke was going to shatter me.
“You done with this?” He asked, pointing to my empty glass of water.
