Hometown Girl Read Free

grin that transformed him from an ogre to a teddy bear. “Unless of course you ask for it.”
    Simon stashed Francis’s apron behind the bar. “Thanks. Let me know if you need help.”
    Francis waggled his eyebrows at Fitz. “Simon, buddy, you’re a lover not a fighter. Besides, you have to protect those talented hands of yours. What kind of artist would you be with a broken fist?”
    “An unemployed one—from both my jobs.” Simon finished the order and slid the tray toward Wanda. “You steer clear until Francis takes care of business. I don’t want you getting into the middle of anything. Okay?”
    Wanda let out a laugh. “Don’t worry. The last thing I want is Dave’s tentacles latched on to me.”
    “Dave?”
    She slipped her pad into her apron, slid the tray off the bar, and nodded. “That’s his name, he asked me to wear it out. The man is a walking cliché.”
    Simon spared Fitz a glance. Her attention was riveted on his conversation.
    She shrugged and rolled her eyes.
    Simon poured a seltzer and took a sip before placing it next to her beer. “I’m assuming your date is Dave of the wandering hands.”
    “My friend Ronna said he had a thing for the cocktail server—as for having wandering hands, I really couldn’t say. He’s a blind date and I’ve been pretty effective at dodging them.”
    Simon looked her up and down. There was nothing wrong with Wanda—she was a pretty girl—but Fitz was over-the-top gorgeous. “Blind being the operative word.”
    “Thanks, but it’s more of a relief than a disappointment. Blind dates can be so awkward. I’ve been trying to avoid him for three bars now.”
    Simon watched Francis pick the big guy up out of his seat and help him to the door. Fitz’s friend followed them out. “Looks like your friends are taking off. Is that a problem?”
    Fitz watched the procession and then turned back to him with a crease furrowing her brows and a pink tinge to her cheeks. “Not for me. Is it a problem for you?”
    “Are you kidding? The only problem I had has been solved. I was trying to figure out how to separate you from your date. Now all I have to do is talk you into letting me escort you home at the end of my shift.” He watched as the uncertainty on her face morphed into disbelief. Then she looked behind her as if she wasn’t sure he was speaking to her. When she found no one there except Francis, who looked way too pleased with himself, she blushed, dipped her head, and then drained her beer.
    Simon couldn’t tell if she was preparing to shut him down or deciding whether or not to accept his offer. He grabbed Francis’s apron and bar rag and tossed them at him.
    Francis caught them before giving Simon a thumbs-up behind Fitz’s back.
    Fitz stashed her cellphone into her purse and slid her hand up and down the mug of beer. She was either deep in thought or trying to tease him. If she was going for the tease, it was definitely working.
    He took a sip of his seltzer trying to cool his jets. It wasn’t helping.
    Fitz squared her shoulders and leaned forward as if wanting to whisper, so he leaned in too. “Your place or mine?”
    Simon inhaled the seltzer he’d yet to swallow, choked, and then coughed like a six-pack-a-day smoker, all the while tenting his apron.

CHAPTER TWO
    Elyse had never propositioned a man. She’d texted Mel begging for her version of
Pickup Lines for Dummies
and conveniently left out the fact that the man she wanted to proposition was none other than Mel’s big brother. She’d followed Mel’s explicit instructions to the letter. She leaned forward, whispered in his ear, and even brushed his ear with her lips. She did get a little carried away when she got close, but who could blame her? The man smelled amazing—like Ivory soap, whisky, and something that was simply Simon. It might not seem like a dreamy combination, but she’d remembered it from the T-shirts she’d stolen from him when she was an adolescent . . . well,