He'll have to break all the rules to keep her, but first she has to break just one and let him in...
It's taken four years, but Anna Fray has finally put the past behind her. Mostly. She fills her days working in a bar and her nights watching bad ro...
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I dropped my curious gaze as Book Boy stepped into the bar. In an attempt to busy myself, I turned and started to clean the spilled grounds from around the coffee machine. The flash of emotion in his eyes made me uncomfortable. Not just because I could see pity there, but because it hinted at a connection between us that felt out of place and unwarranted.
"Come to Daddy," Callum purred as he stood behind me at the cash register. A smile twitched at the corner of my lips as I watched his reflection fidget in the mottled mirror behind the bar. His foot bounced against the floor in excitement. Despite the chatter of the bar, I could hear the metronomic tap of his expensive leather soles as they kissed the worn wooden floorboards.
As I stood with my back to them, Book Boy approached the counter. Callum drummed his fingers on the countertop in anticipation.
"What can I get you?" Callum asked in his best seductive voice. I smirked as he shamelessly flirted. It was one of the things I liked most about him: his confidence.
"A Coke please," Book Boy replied. His voice was rough and distracted.
I chanced a glance up into the mirror and caught his eyes fixed on where I was standing. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I didn't know what had happened, but his sudden intensity was bewildering.
"Anything else?" Callum asked as he typed in the order.
"No, thank you."
"OK then, do you want to pay now? Or I can bring it over..." From the tone of his voice, Callum was keen on the latter.
"I'll wait," Book Boy said abruptly before softening his tone. "Thanks." He finished with a flash of a smile.
Pretending to be busy, I stacked glasses and checked the levels on the spirits as I listened to Callum drop ice cubes into a glass and start to fill it with Coke.
"Christ," he hissed as a familiar gurgle sounded from the machine.
I twisted to see the last dribbles of Coke spatter into the glass.
"Would it kill people to check the fucking levels," Callum growled under his breath.
"Do you want me to go change it?" I asked, eager to get away from Book Boy and his piercing blue eyes.
"It's fine, I've got it." Callum rolled his eyes as he emptied the half full glass into the waste tray. "Could you keep an eye up here?" he asked although he knew there was no need. Half the things we did here were intuitive.
He disappeared down the stairs to the storeroom and I sighed, trying to avoid looking in Book Boy's direction.
My eyes shifted around the bar until it became too awkward to ignore him.
"So, what did you get up to last night?"
I cringed as the words came out of my mouth. I hated small talk, and here I was not only starting it but doing it badly. How many times had I stood here and blatantly ignored the person beside me? Whether they said anything or not, I had never once felt the need to fill the silence. Why was now any different?
