The Bartender (Seductive Sands Book 5) Page 7

  With a laugh, I mumbled, “Although making a new Rogers doesn’t seem like much of a chore.”

  Max clapped me on the back. “May you one day have such a burden.”

  “I just need a girlfriend first. No problem. You’ve seen the way women flock to me.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Bodhi, you spend your days on the beach and your nights in a bar. You’ll find someone. May she bring you as much joy as Victoria brings me.” Max gave me a bro hug, then motioned for our father to follow him. “We’re going to scope out some new investments.”

  I had no idea what to say to that. “Have fun?” It sounded terribly boring to me. And that’s why I left the family business.

  As Max opened the door, I saw Norah standing on the other side, hand poised to grab the handle. “Oh.” She jumped back.

  “You must be Norah.” Max held out a hand. “Bodhi has nothing but glowing words about you.”

  Her chin lowered and I could see a blush rising in her cheeks. “Thank you. And congratulations on your marriage. I wish you both much happiness.”

  “Same to you.” Max chuckled. “I’m in the honeymoon phase. I want everyone happy and married.” He shot me a look and I groaned.

  Norah tilted her head and studied me as she entered and then they left. “Nice meeting you,” she murmured without ever taking her eyes off me. Once we were alone, she asked, “What? You don’t want to marry?”

  “Oh, I do.” I grinned. “Very much. I just can’t get the right woman to even agree to date me, which has its own set of perks, let alone work for me, which comes with a weekly paycheck to take the sting out of it.” I winked.

  Her eyes widened briefly, then she sighed. “You are always so playful.”

  “And yet serious,” I argued. “I mean it.”

  “Which part?” Her brow furrowed.

  I reached out and pulled her into my arms. “All of it.” Then without thinking, I bent low and kissed her forehead. “What you did with the bar is nothing short of amazing.” I glanced around the place. “In one night, you managed to get me on the right track. You helped me pull it together.” I gazed down at her. “I don’t want to lose that in this place. I’d like to think I’m a diamond in the rough and with a little polishing…”

  “You need a diamond cutter.” She rested her chin on my chest.

  “Not polish?” I frowned.

  “No. Rough diamonds are cut to create this amazing, dazzling stone out of what looked like not much.” She grinned.

  My brow arched. “So, I look like not much, huh?”

  “Au contraire, Bodhi.” She laughed. “You’re not that rough. You just needed the right setting to shine. I think you’ve found your place.”

  I licked my lips. “My brother and father are serious businessmen, entrepreneurs. Me, I surf and run a bar.” This time I captured her lips. When I pulled back, I continued. “And yet, I’m happy. The ocean calls to me and the bar meets my financial needs.” I smoothed her hair back and studied her seriously. “I don’t need as much as they do to be happy. Some waves, a few boards, a couple bucks…and the right woman.”

  Norah sighed against my chest. “I get it. I think my parents had bigger dreams for the café, but that wasn’t for me.”

  I could feel my heart racing as I cleared my throat and prepared to ask the next question. “How about a bar? Could that be for you?” When she bit down on her lower lip and looked away, I knew the answer, but still, she hadn’t pulled away. She was here with me.

  “I’ve starting sorting my life into two big categories. In order to keep stuff around, it has to fit either for now or forever.” Norah stared up at me with her dark eyes.

  “Where does the bar fit? Or doesn’t it?” I eyed her curiously. Her answer mattered more than I could stand to let on.

  She took a deep breath. “The bar?”

  “Yes. The bar.” I nodded a few times.

  “The bar would be a for now.” Norah licked her lips. “I’m going to go back to school. I’m going to finish my degree.”

  “That’s great!” I exclaimed enthusiastically. Flooded with relief, I decided to get a little bolder. “What about the guy running the bar?”

  “Hawk?” Norah asked, as she batted her eyelashes at me.

  “Dammit, woman,” I grumbled. “You know he’s only my bouncer.”

  “Right. Max?” She giggled.

  “Owner. Doesn’t lift a finger. I meant me. You know I meant me,” I grumbled.

  “Right. You.” She sighed dramatically. “Well, you’re between boxes right now.”

  I swallowed hard. “Oh?”

  “Yeah. I mean for a while, you weren’t in a box. Then you seemed like a solid for now.” Norah stared at me seriously. “But now, you’re hovering at the border of a guy I could see as my forever.” She started to look away shyly, but I picked her up and hugged her close.

  “Well, now you have to date me,” I teased.

  20

  Norah

  Untitled

  “Bodhi.” I breathed out his name, a reminder that while falling so easily into his arms was what I wanted, it wasn’t what I needed, not right now. “I talked to my mother early this morning and she told me a lot of things that really resonate with me now. I have the power to decide what I want to do with my life. I can choose to do what I want. I’m not the kind of girl who thinks about right now. And if you want to run a successful business, you can’t think about what’s going on today, because in months or weeks or days, all of that can change.”

  “So,” Bohdi began slowly. “Does that mean no on the dating?”

  I chuckled, despite myself. “Bodhi, you are an amazing person,” I said. “You are sweet and considerate when, at first, all I thought you were was some rich kid running Daddy’s joke of a business and getting a fat paycheck. I shouldn’t have judged you. I also shouldn’t have looked at you as competition and been so abrupt with you when we first started talking. This business” - I gestured around me, at the inside of the bar - “could be here for the foreseeable future. When I closed everyone out, I could see how much you made, and your rent might be higher than mine, just because the building is bigger, but I have no doubt turning a profit is going to be easier than you realize.”

  “Norah, I appreciate that. I do,” Bodhi said, “but I am serious about you and me. What does all of that have to do with us? Because I’m going to be honest, I’ve dated around. Maybe not the way Max dated before meeting Tori, but still. I know I’m getting older. Hell, even my sister is serious with someone.”

  “And you decided to pick the first woman you were attracted to?” I raised my eyebrows.

  He shook his head, a frustrated look on his face. “Don’t do that,” he said. “Just because I happened to notice you during the reception doesn’t mean I decided, she’s the first woman I’ve seen since deciding I want to settle down, too; I’m going to pick her. You can do a lot to me, Norah, but please don’t insult my intelligence. I already get that from my family.”

  “How do you want me to feel, Bodhi?” I asked. “This came out of nowhere. You do realize that, don’t you?”

  “Is that so wrong?” Bodhi asked. “Norah, I don’t think you realize how amazing you are. Any guy would be lucky to have you. You’re disciplined, determined, ambitious. You know what you want to do with your life. I can admit that I’m not exactly the type to plan for the future. That’s an area I need help in. It’s why I wouldn’t consider myself someone my dad could rely on. I’d disappoint him, he’d disappoint me, we’d end up in this vicious cycle. But with this bar, I can be myself. I can plan for things. I just need guidance.”

  “So you want to be with me because I can teach you how to properly run your bar?” I quirked an eyebrow, my arms crossed over my chest.

  Bodhi shook his head, black hair flying back and forth. “This is coming out wrong,” he insisted. “I noticed you not only because you were attractive, Norah, but because it was late and you were sweeping your café by yourself. It
told me that you have your shit together, that you can take care of yourself. And here I am, with my brother and my father, and an astronomical budget, and I can’t even get my own shit together. I resisted it because I didn’t want to be like my father or my brother. But when Max met Tori, I realized you could have it all. You could fall in love and make money and be happy on your own terms. And the more I got to know you, the harder I started to fall for you. Because you’re an amazing woman. And I’m awed just to be near you.”

  I felt my heart hammer in my chest. Bodhi was good with words. I wanted to run into his arms. I wanted to kiss his face. But I couldn’t yet. I needed him to understand.

  “Bodhi, my dream is to be a lit professor,” I began.

  “I know that,” he insisted. “And I know that that means school. You don’t have to help me with the bar, Norah. You already got me started on a lot. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be part of your life. If you would let me. I want to be the one you come home complaining to about one of your asshole students who’s a little shit to you.” He started walking towards me and my lips twitched up into a smile, despite my effort to remain serious. “I want to make you coffee in the morning after we come home from surfing on Sunday. I want to help you with your homework. I want you to be the one I fall asleep with.”

  “Bodhi.” This time, I was relenting.

  He grinned because he seemed to know it.

  “Tell me you don’t want to be with me, and I promise, I will leave you alone.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. “Tell me you don’t want to be with me.”

  I opened my mouth, prepared to do just that. “I can’t,” I murmured, shaking my head. “I can’t…”

  He kissed me before I could finish my sentence. I closed my eyes and locked my wrists around his neck.

  The kiss was deep and I felt myself get swept up in his sea salt scent, the way his hands cling to me like I belong with him.

  “I promise you,” he breathed out when we had to break for air. “I won’t let you down.”

  He looked at me with those big brown eyes, imploring me to believe in him. And it was only then that I realized he had been searching for approval from everyone. And now, he was searching for it from me.

  “You don’t need my approval, Bodhi,” I murmured, ticking a strand of dark hair behind his ear. “But you have my faith. I believe in you.”

  He grinned, a big, bright smile that lit up his face and pulled me into another passionate kiss.

  Epilogue

  Six months later…

  Bodhi

  * * *

  “Stop fussing,” I murmured in Norah’s ear as I wrapped my arms around her. “This is just the big monthly family meeting. We’ve been through this before.”

  “No. It’s special this time. I can feel it.” She pushed me back and narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re hiding something.” The gestured to the window through the kitchen to the dining room. “You’re all hiding something.”

  I held up both hands and slowly backed away grinning. “I don’t know what you mean. I’d never keep anything from you.” I chuckled as I grabbed a basket of warm bread and made my way to the huge dining area we’d set up in the bar. It was the same thing every month, although I had to agree with her. There did seem to be some strange vibe in the room. Normally, the couples intermingled a lot more. This time, before we all officially came to the table, everyone did seem really secretive.

  “Chow is on,” I announced as I placed the bread on the table. I was about to turn around and go grab more from the kitchen, but Norah was right behind me with baked ziti, and at my announcement, Hawk had hurried back to assist. Damn, but I loved our family. We’d finally managed to pull it together. All those growing pains were worth it.

  Making a beeline for the bar, I started to gather the drinks. I had a pitcher of soda in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. Hawk returned with a pan of parmesan chicken. Without saying a word, I began pouring. I knew everyone’s usual by now. Only this time, as I started to reach for Victoria’s goblet, she covered it. “I’m going to stick with water tonight,” she murmured demurely.

  My brow furrowed as I licked my lips and eyed my brother. He ignored me and reached for the salad. I moved toward Isla’s glass and Hawk intervened.

  “How about we pop open some bubbly tonight?” he asked even as he produced a bottle I knew hadn’t come from our stock.

  I shrugged. “Whatever. And I guess we’ll all just fend for ourselves.” I pulled out a chair and sat next to Norah. Then I leaned over and whispered, “I think you’re onto something.”

  For several minutes everyone was silent, partially due to eating, but mostly, there was a tension in the air. I couldn’t stand it. “Someone…say something, please?” When no one did, I glanced at Max. “Come one. Something must be new with your life.”

  Max wiped his mouth with his napkin, before wrapping an arm around the back of Victoria’s chair. “Okay. There’s one thing.” He smirked as his wife giggled.

  Norah reached over and grabbed my hand under the table. “Well…don’t keep us all in suspense,” I urged.

  “Fine.” Victoria shrugged. “I’m pregnant.” Everyone at the table cheered and offered congratulations before she shook her head. “It’s early. We’ve been too afraid to even talk about it. I’m not a young mother.”

  “You’re what…thirty-five?” Isla asked in shock.

  “Yes. And apparently that makes me old to have a child. Seriously.” Victoria sighed. “But we really want this. So…no wine.” She winked at me. “And I need to slow down, take better care of myself…”

  “Luckily, I’ve got the taking care of her part covered.” Max puffed out his chest and hauled her into his arms as much as he could with the arms of the chairs in the way.

  “I think it’s wonderful,” Norah murmured with a sigh as I smoothed her hair.

  “Well, surely we can’t be the only ones with good news. What’s going on with you, Isla?” Max asked.

  “Oh, the usual. Junior captain of industry while I try to convince our father to trust me with more responsibility. Nothing like baby news.” She grinned and looked at Hawk.

  He lifted her hand to his lips and lovingly kissed her knuckles. With a frown, he murmured, “Princess, there’s something wrong with your finger.”

  Isla yanked her hand back and began to examine her finger. She didn’t even notice Hawk had dropped to one knee and popped open a velvet box until she heard our collective gasp. “What’s…what’s going on?” she asked, even though everything about this screamed proposal.

  “Isla Rogers, from the moment you stowed away on my sailboat, to the time you blackmailed me into spending a weekend with you, I knew I’d never be able to pry you off, which worked out great because after our first kiss I was wondering why I’d ever want to.” Hawk grinned.

  I watched as my normally composed sister teared up and shook her head.

  “No?” Hawk frowned. “I haven’t even asked you the question yet.”

  “I know. And I’m wondering when you started talking so much. Ask already. I need to fix my finger.” She giggled even as salty droplets leaked from her eyes.

  “Okay, but I had a lot more planned.” Hawk sighed.

  “He really did, Isla.” I laughed. “He has been practicing all week, which got really awkward when a customer peeked into the kitchen and found him on one knee in front of me.” I cleared my throat. “Needless to say, those wings were on the house.”

  Everyone laughed and Norah elbowed me. “You knew and didn’t tell me?”

  “I couldn’t!” I protested.

  “Why not?” She narrowed her eyes at me.

  I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Because we were practicing on each other. There. You happy?” I huffed.

  Norah stiffened. “What?”

  I pushed back my chair, stood up, and reached into my pocket, then sat down. “Hey. Let’s give Hawk a chance to finish before Isla kills
me.” I sank back into my chair and waited while Norah’s eyes burned my skin. That’s the excuse I was going with. Why else would my cheeks be so hot?

  “Princess, will you marry me? I know I’m not what you’re used to or what your family wants for you…” Hawk swallowed hard.

  “Whoa,” Max interrupted. “We want Isla to be happy. We want her to be with a man who will love and respect her, who will be her partner in life. Hawk, you’ve more than proven yourself.”

  I reached out and patted Hawk on the back. “Told you,” I muttered.

  “Yes!” Isla held out her hand. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Now kiss me before I burst. There’s too much joy in this room.” She laughed as he slid the ring on her finger and kissed her like we weren’t even here.

  “Whew. I have no idea how to follow that.” I grinned. “And Norah, don’t look so scared. I know you’re not ready for marriage.”

  Her whole body sighed, but then her brow furrowed. “But you said you were practicing…”

  “Yeah. This.” I pulled a flat velvet box from my pocket and popped the top. Inside there was a surfboard keychain and a key on it. “I know you get to live at your parents’ condo rent free, but I love being with you…ever since you finally agreed to date me.”

  Norah giggled and covered her mouth while she waited for me to explain.

  “I also know they’re coming back and will be living there soon. And while you’re seriously independent and probably would rather live alone, but like Max and Hawk, I wanna take care of the woman I love.” I smiled and reached out for her hand. “I want to take the pressure off so you can keep on making the grades.” I glanced around the table. “Did you know she made Dean’s List?”

  Everyone cheered and Norah blushed.

  “Will you come live with me? I’ll cook and clean so you can study and learn.” I really felt like I was pleading with her.