Family Ties

Two - Andie

Roxy left, but I stayed. It would get busy within an hour, so I didn't see any reason to leave and come right back. I was dressed well enough for what I'd be doing. I wasn't sure how Hunter felt about my attire though because he kept giving me once-overs. His eyes would start on my face, but then dip to take in the rest of me. If I didn't know better, I would think he was checking me out. I did know better though. Hunter Benson had never looked at me as anything, but his best friend's kid sister, and I doubted that would ever change.

By the fourth time his eyes came back to me and lingered, I couldn't take it anymore though. I snapped, "What? Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing? You're looking at me like you've never seen cutoff shorts before."

He kind of choked and sputtered, before saying, "Uh, those shoes are going to kill your feet by the end of the night."

I narrowed my eyes at him. He wasn't wrong about the shoes, but something else was going on. He hadn't been looking at my feet before. Before I could question him further a group of businesswomen came in. They sat at the bar and Hunter easily handled their drink order, so I spent time observing. It was clear these women must come in often, as Hunter addressed them each by name. He kept up an easy conversation with them as he filled their order. I watched his muscles ripple as he moved. Hunter Benson was a six-foot-tall stud-muffin. He had thick dark hair and eyes that seemed to look straight into your soul. His muscles were, of course, delicious. To top it off though, he was nice. He was just so easy to get along with I had no doubt every one of those women wanted to eat him up with a spoon. Hell, I wanted to, and I'd known him all my life.

"Who is your new gal, Hunter?"

I snapped my attention to the woman who'd spoken. She was probably in her mid-thirties, and she had a wedding ring on her hand, so I didn't think she was there to flirt with the sexy bartender. I smiled at her and Hunter said, "This is Andie. She's starting work here tonight. She's also Dare's kid sister."

The woman laughed. It was a full body, throw your head back kind of laugh. I wasn't sure whether I should feel offended or not, because I had no idea what was so funny. Tears came to her eyes as regained control of herself and then she asked, "How long have I been coming in here, Hunter?"

"Every Friday at five for about a year now, I guess. Why?"

"So, you'd say I know you fairly well? Well, my prediction is that you're about to be knocked on your ass. The way you had to throw in the kid sister part, oh yes, this beautiful and fully grown woman is going to knock you on your ass. You'll be worshiping every inch of her by New Year's Eve. Mark my words."

I blushed and ducked my head. Oh my. The thought of Hunter worshiping any inch of me was exhilarating. I was mostly inexperienced for a twenty-two-year-old. In fact, I'd never had sex. Roxy had lost her virginity in high school, and it hadn't been a good experience. Then she did it again the first year of college and it wasn't much better. She hadn't done it since, and I wasn't ready to have my sexual illusions shattered by crappy sex. Something told me sex with Hunter, though, would be anything but crappy.

The women quickly drank their drinks and then left. Hunter and I were once again alone. I had no idea where Justin was. He'd either left or was in the back somewhere. I glanced around the bar, really taking in my surroundings for the first time. The bar had an open concept. It was basically one big room. There were five pool tables along the back of the bar. Booths lined the whole left side, the long bar lined the whole right side, with round tables and a dance floor in between. I peered down the hallway, at the end of the bar, to see the bathrooms, a room marked "Storage", and another room marked "Office". I figured Justin must have gone into the office. He'd always been a math-genius, so I figured he was the true brains behind this operation.

I quickly found my gaze returning to Hunter and caught him looking at me again. I didn't know what to say after that woman had made such an intimate prediction about us. Finally, I said, "Um, I think I have different shoes in my car. I'll be right back."

I hurried out of the bar and dug around in my trunk. Finally, I came up with a pair of sneakers. They would look like shit with my cute outfit, but at least my feet wouldn't be killing me by the end of the night. I took my time changing my shoes. Were things going to be awkward between Hunter and I now? I didn't want that. Sure, I wished he wouldn't look at me like I was a kid, but I didn't want things to be weird between us. I decided to try to forget what that woman had said and just act normal. With that plan in mind, I went back inside.

Luckily, customers began to poor in not long later and we didn't have a lot of down time. Everything was going well, and I was feeling some normalcy returning between Hunter and I, until a drunk customer grabbed my ass. Hunter was over the bar and had the guy held up by the front of his shirt in two seconds flat. I blinked and almost missed it. That was how fast Hunter reacted. He escorted the guy and his friends out, before coming back and barking at me, "You, behind the counter, now!"

On reflex, I obeyed, but then frowned, "Why are you mad at me?"

Hunter joined me behind the counter, towering over me in an intimidating manner. I didn't appreciate it one bit. He hissed, "If you wouldn't dress like that, guys wouldn't be tempted to touch you."

"Excuse me?" Oh no he did not just say that! I was instantly fuming. I put my hands on his chest and pushed, trying to shove him back, but he didn't budge. My God his chest was hard. My hands suddenly had a mind of their own and spread across his wide chest. Then I remembered I was mad at him. I snatched my hands back and glared up at him as I said, "I don't care if I was walking around naked. That doesn't give anyone the permission to touch me against my wishes. This was not my fault!"

"Just kiss her already, Benson!" Someone yelled and the whole place erupted in laughter.

Hunter blinked and seemed to snap out of whatever anger fueled haze he'd been in. He shook his head and took a step back, "You're right. I'm sorry."

What the heck just happened? I didn't know, but I wondered what it would mean for me. Was I going to be able to keep my job or would he decide I'm too much trouble and ask Dare to cut me loose? I'd told them that I needed a job, but I didn't. For the last couple years, I'd started to make decent money selling digital novels. Very few people knew that though because I didn't exactly write family-friendly material. I wasn't ashamed of what I'd written. It'd helped me pay my rent, among other things. I just knew romance novels made some people feel uncomfortable and, while I wouldn't consider my writing "smut", it came dang close sometimes.

Hunter ran his hands through his hair, looking stressed, and I panicked. I may not have needed the job, but I wanted it. I'd missed my family while I was gone and working for Dare's bar made me feel like my family might forgive me for lying to them all these years. I couldn't lose the job. So, I closed the distance between Hunter and I, wrapped my arms around him, and hugged him. I practically whispered, "Please don't fire me."

"I'm not going to fire you. I didn't like seeing that guy's hands on you, that's all." Hunter sighed and tentatively wrapped his arms around me.

I nodded, "I understand."

"I don't know if you do. It doesn't matter. Let's get back to work."

"Sure." I said and vowed to work extra hard the remainder of the night.