Just One Kiss: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 1) (7 page)

I pull up a stool and take a seat. I explain
my last twenty-four hours to him and he just nods, laughing at the
right times. Everything sounds different when I say it out loud. In
a way, it looks like I was intentionally trying to be around Kelsey
at all those moments.

“Does she know that you told me about your
kiss?” Logan asks.

I shake my head. “No. She would kill
me.”

I’ve never understood why Kelsey got so mad
that day. Yes, I had a girlfriend and it was wrong to be kissing
someone else. But I was sixteen. Relationships aren’t serious at
that age, and this was Kelsey. I had wanted to kiss her since the
first day I visited my cousin.

I remember it clearly. I’d been sitting in
Sara’s parents’ living room, setting up my Xbox when Sara came
running into the house with Kelsey right behind her, laughing. Sara
called me a loser for playing video games, but Kelsey just stood
there. We stared at each other for what felt like forever to any
fifteen-year-old until Sara dragged her away.

From that moment, the idea of Kelsey has
always stirred my body.

Kelsey

“Oh. My. Gosh,” Sara squeals the moment she
closes the door. She stands in front of me, crossing her arms. A
smile appears slowly. “Tell me what happened. It has to be good.
Boy, did you do a number on him, Kelsey. He looks like shit.” She
straightens her arms and grabs each of my shoulders. “Please tell
me some of it was an accident from, you know.” She wiggles her
eyebrows.

Whoa. Freeze. Sara is excited about
this?

“I…” I’m so confused. I thought she was
bringing me in here to scold me for hurting her cousin. She can’t
really be serious about Ethan and I fooling around. He’s been back
for a day.

“Um no. It wasn’t like that.” I take a step
back.

“Then tell me what happened.” She can barely
contain her excitement. She moves around the desk, sits down, and
rests her elbows on the desk with her chin in her hands. “Okay, I’m
ready,” she says.

I take a seat in front of her and lean back.
The chair squeaks. My arms flail in the air as I feel as though I’m
about to go down. Sara just watches me until I regain my balance.
“You need to buy a new chair,” I tell her.

“It’s fine. Now tell me!”

As I place my hands on each armrest, I
debate whether or not to say anything. I should just sit here with
a smile on my face in total silence. I give it a try. Not two
seconds go by.

“Uggghhh.” Sara groans and throws her head
back dramatically. “You’re such a pain some days. Just spill
already.”

Ah, what the heck.

“Alright, so last night Ethan saw me while I
was trying to get inside my parents’ house and thought I was
breaking in. He didn’t know it was me. When he tried to pull me off
the fence, I kicked him in face, causing his black eyes.”

Sara looks confused.

“So he just happened to be in the
neighborhood. How did he know where you were?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I guess he lives in
the house across from my parents.”

“He bought a house?” she says, shaking her
head. “Why would he do that if he’s only here for a year? Maybe
less.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he
wants to stay longer. Just because he lives there doesn’t mean
he
bought
the
house.”

Sara stands and starts pacing around her
office. “It just seems weird. He never liked it here and that’s a
new neighborhood. I can’t imagine they would rent houses
already.”

I don’t say anything because she looks deep
in thought.

“Anyway.” She breathes. “Go on.”

“Okay, so then this morning, my car wouldn’t
start and I hit him in the face with the door when I got out.”

“What was he doing with his face by your
door?”

“I have no idea.” I laugh. “We never got
that far. And then I spilled coffee on him, which again, is why I
am coffee-less.”

Sara frowns and crosses her arms. “I thought
it would be more interesting than that.”

I start to apologize for being so boring
when Abby, one of the other bartenders, knocks on the door and
pokes her head inside.

“Hey, Sara…Kelsey.” —she looks away when she
sees me— “everyone is here for the meeting.”

Sara gestures with her hand for me to get
up. When I stand she locks her arm with mine and quietly says, “Try
not to hurt him too badly tonight; you’re training him.”

I glare at her as we walk out of the office
to see everyone sitting around the bar. There’s only one seat open
and it’s right next to Ethan. Since Sara will most likely stand to
talk during this meeting, I wander toward my seat, and Ethan keeps
his head down as I sit next to him.

Sara starts off the meeting discussing
pointless stuff: cutting the chit-chat when we’re on the clock,
people slacking off on their side work, and, of course, showing up
to work on time. She jumps right in to the schedule and confirming
that she met everyone’s requests. People begin passing out this
week’s copy. The papers come to me. I take one then deliberately
pass them to Ethan. Still, it startles us both when his fingers
brush mine as he grabs the stack. I jump slightly in my seat,
turning to face him. Our eyes meet and neither of us moves. My
mouth instantly runs dry and I have to force the lump in my throat
down. Ethan’s lips move into a sly grin as he pulls the papers from
my hand.

“Hello…hi, yeah, remember
me?” Sara says in front of us.
Holy
crap.
Wasn’t she just standing at the other
end of the bar? I pull my gaze from Ethan’s and turn until I’m
facing Sara. My cheeks are heated as I focus on her and no one
else.

“Oh good, you do,” she says sarcastically
then winks at me. She totally loves this. How embarrassing.

“As I was saying,” she continues, “Ethan
will be taking over for me.” She gives him her best poker face.
“Hopefully he can keep your interest longer than I apparently can.”
She says it to everyone, but secretly I know she is directing it to
me.

It might not be work related, but trust me,
Sarah. Ethan has plenty of my attention, and I don’t see that
fading anytime soon.

Ethan

Well, this is one hell of a
way to start my new job. Making goo-goo eyes with some
chick.
Focus, Ethan
. Kelsey is an employee at the BA. Nothing more. I’m here to
succeed at moving some numbers to get my father off my back. Kelsey
Brian will be nothing but a distraction. Even as I think it, I
doubt myself.

I take my frustration out on the empty keg
in front of me, moving it from the cooler to the storage room
across the hall, with all the other empty ones. A girl can’t be
more important than family. It’s not possible. But this is Kelsey.
She’s always been different. As a kid I was never sure why, but
now, I’m starting to figure it out.

Sara thought it was best to
have her show me the ropes. The night is almost over and I need a
break. Being around her is messing with my head and I don’t like
it. She’s almost as unorganized as my cousin, and it drives me nuts
that she doesn’t write down every order. She claims it’s not
necessary, but I think it is. Oh, what do I know? I’ve never had to
serve people anything before now. Instead of scribbling down an
order, Kelsey just smiles and surprisingly remembers what people
want. Everyone in the bar loves her and I know exactly why. She’s
smart, confident, and as of now, there isn’t a dull moment when we
are together. It’s refreshing, and already I want to spend more
time with her. But that’s not why I’m here.
Just get the number, move some money, and be gone. Don’t
complicate things by falling for her.

I finish switching out the keg, then step
into the storage room and grab a stack of towels as I head toward
the bar. One of the other bartenders, Abby, is blocking my exit. At
a quick glance she’s cute with a tiny waist and big boobs. But when
I look closer, her hair is so light I’m not sure if it’s blonde or
white and her skin looks like it’s about to shrivel up and fall off
if she lays in one more tanning bed. She gives me a playful smile
as her brown eyes glance over my body.

“So, are you the same cousin who used to
visit Sara over the summers?” she asks quietly.

“Yep, that’s me.”

What does this girl want? I’m not in the
mood for this. She takes a step, leaning into me. I can feel her
breath on my ear when she whispers, “I’m Abby.”

She smells like rotten coconut, and her
breath isn’t any better. This is one fine example of a girl who
could be pretty only on the inside. Apparently she’s a space case,
too. I’ve been here long enough to know her name. She should
clearly know mine now too. Since she’s still leaning into me, I
whisper back.

“I know, and I’m Ethan, your boss.”

She backs off, but her smile doesn’t falter.
“I know.”

“Then get back to work,” I say firmly
because she isn’t figuring this out fast enough.

This time, her smile falls from her face
before she turns to leave. I shake my head as I watch her round the
bar, and that’s when I see Kelsey watching us. She has a blank
expression on her face and it doesn’t change after I walk up to
her. She looks down to her notepad before she says anything.

“You don’t have to be such a dick. You’re
going to be here for a while and you already have someone who
doesn’t like you,” she says. “It might be a good idea to make a few
friends while you’re here.”

Did she just call me a dick? I’m pretty sure
that’s violating some kind of rule.

“Employers shouldn’t make friends with their
employees,” I defend myself, resting against the bar, keeping a
straight face and looking her in the eyes. Unless Kelsey wants to
be friends, and then I’ll make an exception. I just won’t tell her
that.

“Yeah, well, good employees are the ones who
enjoy working for someone they like. Someone they can get along
with.”

She tucks her notepad into her apron and
walks away. What? No way is she getting the last word. I come up
behind her as she stops and almost run into her.

“We get along. We can set
an example. Show everyone what the boundaries are between employer
and employee,” I suggest. My voice sounds desperate. To spend more
time with her or to prove a point, I’m not sure.
Pull it together, man.

I need to prove a point.

She spins around, her mouth open like she is
going to say something, but she stops. She takes a deep breath then
looks me in the eye.

“No.”

No.

People don’t say no to me.

“What do you mean, no?” I growl at her.

Now she’s looking at me with pity. She gives
me a half smile.

“Look, Ethan, with our history it would be a
bad idea. We have never been able to play nice with each other. It
happens.”

History? We don’t have a history. We kissed
once and then she freaked out on me. Besides, she’s the one who
can’t play nice. Not me. I’m a nice guy.

“Hey, I’m not the one who kicked myself in
the face, hit myself with a car door, and then dumped hot coffee
all over myself,” I say politely, refreshing her memory.

She scrunches up her face and then pulls her
lips into a hard line as she tries not smile. She starts to clear
the dirty dishes sitting on the table near us.

“I didn’t mean to do any of those things and
you know it. I thought we were past that.” Her tone is light and
playful. I smile as I approach.

“Well,” I begin and help her clear the
table. “You did get me pretty good. How about if you lock yourself
out again, you come get me and we can avoid the cops next
time.”

For the first time since we started this
conversation, I cause her to smile. If she liked what I said, I
will absolutely find a way to get her to come to me. We walk the
dishes to the bar, setting them on top so the closing bartender can
wash them.

“Ok, I will,” she says and looks around.
“But I don’t plan on locking myself out again, so I don’t think we
will have to worry about that.”

I give her my biggest
grin.
Yeah…we’ll see about
that
.

Kelsey

It was a waste of time showing up to class
today. I haven’t been able to focus in any of them. It’s been two
days since I saw Abby flirting with Ethan. I didn’t like it and
hope I don’t have to witness it again. I’ve never felt that way
about any guy. Ever. Not even when she walked out of my bathroom
that god-awful day I caught Tyler cheating on me.

And Ethan’s not your man, Kelsey.

The way she stormed away from Ethan, I knew
he shut her down. It took everything I had not to smile at him when
he caught me watching. How could I be interested in him again after
just a couple days? This just goes to show how unstable my brain is
when it comes to choosing someone of the opposite sex.

“Are you even paying attention?” Logan
whispers.

I shake my head no.

“Then let’s skip out because I’m about to
fall asleep.”

We quietly grab our bags and sneak out of
class without drawing attention. This isn’t good. Ethan has
distracted from the one course I give a rip about. In fact, the
other night, I wanted to do nothing but write and Ethan got in the
way of that too. This isn’t a good sign.

“What should we do?” Logan asks. “Maybe go
grab a bite or something?”

Food doesn’t sound appealing in any way, but
I have nothing else going on today and going home to hang out alone
doesn’t sound fun. And sadly, once again, my mind is more focused
on Ethan than plotting some points I could enter to that writing
contest.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

At my car, I’m a little surprised Logan’s
making the kind gesture to open my door. He does this sort of thing
for Sara all the time or when we’re together but never just me on
my own. Logan really is a sweet guy. Ironically, just as I think
it, all the kindness is gone when he hits me with the driver’s
door. I stumble backward, my purse slipping off my arm, tossing
every item in it across the ground.