Page 8 of 28 Dates
“What smells?” Jonas asks, and I lift my head.
“What?”
He points at my nose. “Your nose is scrunched up, like it does when I’ve cooked you sauerkraut.”
Just the memory of that day makes me shiver. “Anyone who eats fermented cabbage has a few screws loose in their brain.”
He laughs, shakes his head, and pours himself a glass of water. A customer requests another drink, and he lifts his hand to me. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“No hurry.”
Jonas leans toward the customer at the far end, listening to her drink order, and she points to a table with two other women. She finishes her order, and Jonas grins at her, immediately moving to begin mixing whatever martinis she and her friends requested. It’s impossible to pull my gaze off him as he works. He does it so fluidly, it’s like he was born with a martini shaker and a vodka bottle in his hand.
Up until a few months ago, Jonas always had this long, dark hair pulled back into a man bun. Now it’s shaved close on the sides, longer on the top and flipping toward the right. Occasionally, I’ve seen him reach to the back of his head like he’s searching for his hair and frown as if he’s remembering he’s chopped it all off. The new look suits him, but I still miss the longer hair. Although considering it’s no longer my place, because the reason I liked it so much was that it drove him crazy when I pulled on it while his was face was buried between my thighs.
He’s dressed the same as he always is when he’s at work. Black short-sleeve polo shirt with a martini glass emblem over the left side of his chest. A chest and stomach that fill out the shirt perfectly. The sleeves bulge around his muscled biceps, and the shirt is tucked into a pair of faded jeans, black belt with a thick silver buckle centered perfectly. At almost six feet, he’s not always the tallest guy in the room, but he’s still nearly a foot taller than me. Yeah, I’m short. I wear heels to make up the difference, but secretly when I was with Jonas, I always loved how much larger he is than me.
And just like every other time I’ve seen him, my hands curl into fists, and that familiar warmth pulses at the center of my thighs. My body remembers him well, and it only takes a glance at him to send a rush of heat racing down my spine.
Trey and Teagan are at least right in one area. I do need a new man. Six months is quite the dry spell, and yet every time I’ve had the option to go home with someone else, a memory of Jonas pops unbidden into my brain and all my interest in the stranger evaporates.
Jonas has ruined me for sex with other men, and that’s quite the bummer.
So why do I continue torturing myself by coming back to Dirty Martini’s for drinks and the occasional lunch or dinner? Because the food and the drinks are the best.
Also because mostly, I miss my friend. It’s not the same as it used to be, but Jonas has always understood me in a way few do. And with Corbin now married and him and Teagan living on the coast, outside of the people at Dirty’s, Trey’s really my only friend. And even he is such a space cadet for much of the time, I only see him once a week or so to watch football and baseball games together.
My phone pings with another text, and my screen lights up. It’s from Trey, and I roll my eyes, smiling while I read his text.You’re killing me. Helping or not?
“You’re making that look again,” Jonas says. I’d been so lost in thought at Trey’s idea, I didn’t see Jonas walk up to me.
“I am not. And besides, earlier you looked like your mood matches mine. What’s got you upset today?”
His nose crinkles, just one side, but it’s enough to know he’s irritated about something. “I’m good. Just need to get a few things figured out, I guess. Now, what’s your problem?”
“Same, really.”
I read Trey’s text again. Can I do this? Should I? He sent me the link to the dating app in a second text, so I pull it up.
What’s the harm in looking?
Suddenly the phone is gone and out of my hands before the app has finished loading.
“Hey!” I cry and lean across the bar. “Give me my phone.”
Jonas’s dark eyes go large, and he blinks slowly, lifting those beautiful eyes to meet mine. “You’re doing a dating app?”
Lines wrinkle on his forehead. I must be imagining the flash of pain on his face.
“It’s stupid,” I tell him and reach for my phone. He holds it far enough away I have to hurdle the bar to get it, or fall into him. And that wouldn’t be a great thing. Jonas touching me leads to trouble.
Not anymore. He has Ashley.
The reminder sends my butt plopping right back to the stool. Jonas is still staring at me, gaze going from my phone to me before he drops his hand.
“I see.”
I owe him no explanation. Still, I give it to him. “It’s a new app Trey finished. He just wants me to try it out. That’s all.”
