JOLIE
The bar doors open and I see Fletch followed soon after by Parker’s smiling face. I drop off the menus that I had been carrying and run over to him. I jump right into his arms and he lifts me up without a bit of a struggle and we kiss like we haven’t seen each other in months, not just days.
“Damn, I never want to be away from you again,” I say after taking a break from smothering his face with kisses.
“Me neither, Red. Your lips taste as amazing as ever though.”
“You big suck up.”
I slide down off of him and he follows me as I walk back to the service window to grab the plates of food that are ready for delivery to their tables. Parker grabs a plate too and helps me. Once we drop the food off we go back to the bar and Parker takes a seat on the last bar stool.
“So are you going to work for no reason or something?”
Parker laughs, “I guess I just can’t help myself when I’m in this place. You’re off at eight, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Why don’t you come to my place after? I’ll make us a late dinner. Maybe we can get in a jam session if it doesn’t get too late.”
I press my hand against his chest, “Anything else you want to do?”
“Red, baby, I’ve been without you for two and a half days, I have so many things I want to do with you.”
“I can’t wait to experience them all.” I get on my tippy toes and give him one final kiss, pushing my chest forward a bit to show off my cleavage. Parker clearly notices because his gaze falls right to them and I swear I almost see drool.
“Shit, Jolie, you’re killing me right now.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I bat my eyes innocently.
“You’re lucky I’m not a jealous asshole or I’d be telling you that you need to wear a different shirt on top of that tank top, but I’m a trusting man and I know you aren’t normally pushing your arms together to make your boobs pop to every customer that comes in this joint.”
“Nope, only my favorite one.”
“Which is me, right?”
“You’re my favorite customer forever, Parker.”
“Good.”
Parker took off shortly after as the late afternoon crowd started to fill the bar. Cade came in to cover at the bar since Fletch had been really tired after his Denver adventures to get baby items. I can’t believe that we’ll be having a little Mason around here before we know it. The bar may be busy, but we hit a lull and it gives me the chance to chat with Cade a little bit.
“Hey Cade, has Fletch dropped any hints of names for the baby yet?”
“I don’t know, probably Cade Jr.” I don’t mean to let out as loud of a laugh as I do, but it gets the attention of some of the older bar patrons and I give them a small apology for ruining what I’m sure if an in depth debate.
“You’re a funny man, Cade.”
“I’m glad you get me, Jolie,” he says with a wink.
“I wouldn’t go THAT far. You can be a strange, strange man, Cade Mason.”
“I know, but you love me anyway.”
“That’s true.”
“Am I your favorite Mason brother?”
I toss my bar towel at him and give him a playful shove as I walk by him. “Nice try, but not by a long shot.”
“That’s cold, Jolie. We go way back.”
I keep laughing as I make my way to the other end of the bar to get refills and chat with the customers. A little after seven, Cade tells me to pack it up, that he can handle things with Damon. I don’t have to be told twice. I sent Parker a quick text letting him know I’m on my way over after I stop by at home.
I pack a small bag for overnight, maybe presumptuous, but Parker has never seemed to mind when I end up spending the night. When I get to his place I knock, but then let myself in. The smell of garlic and onion hit right as I enter his house.
“Parker?”
“Heading out back for just a second!”
I drop my stuff in the living room and get into the kitchen as he is coming back in from the cold. He shivers a little, but then puts down two steaks that look perfectly cooked down on the counter.
“Did you grill? It’s like 20 degrees outside!”
“It’s always grilling season to me, baby.” Parker leans in and gives me a quick kiss and squeezes my ass. That move gets him a swat to the chest. “I made garlic mashed potatoes, caramelized onions, ribeyes, and roasted carrots.”
“Wow, you were busy while I was working.”
“Just a little bit. Hop up to the bar and let’s eat. Do you want some wine, beer, something harder?”
“I’ll just take a water, thanks, babe.”
He puts down two glasses of water and sits down next to me. I cut into my steak and take one bite and it pretty much melts in my mouth. “Oh wow, this is amazing, Parker. I’m going to need you to grill for me more often.”
“So what you’re saying if you like my meat?”
“I feel like I walked right into that you,” I said as I rolled my eyes.
“Kind of. I’ve been waiting to say it all night.” He sets his fork down for a moment and places his hand on my thigh, “So hey, I wanted to talk to you about something that I did when I was in Denver.”
“Oh, okay. I’m going to need you to talk fast because now you’re freaking me out.”
“So I was missing you and I kept thinking about how much growing up you did in Denver and how you told me about Camilla and Bo and well, I kind of went to their restaurant.”
“Wait, you found Bo and Camillia?”
“Bo wasn’t there, just Camilla.”
“I never told you the name of their place though, how did you find them?”
“I just put together all the tidbits that I knew about them and narrowed it down to a couple of locations. I could only find one that said it as run to a Bo and Camilla.”
Something about him tracking down my sponsor didn’t sit right with me. My stomach was swirling with a bit of anger, “So what was the point exactly? Were you trying to check up on me?”
“No, I just, fuck baby don’t be mad at me. I just wanted to know somebody who knew you before.”
I was still annoyed that he went to Bo and Camilla’s without telling me first, but the anger I was feeling just a second ago dissipated. “What did you talk about?”
Parker tucked a few pieces of hair behind my ear and smiled. “Mostly just you. I told her how we’d been singing together. She said she wants to come to one of our performances. Then just how happy you were and how happy she was for you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?”
“I wasn’t really planning it, it just happened. I know I shouldn’t have done it without you. Tell me that you won’t hold it against me.”
“I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit miffed, but I appreciate you telling me what happened. I’ll forgive you, just please don’t get in the habit of doing things behind my back.”
“I promise I won’t do anything like that again. I love you, baby.”
“I love you too, Parker.”
YOU ARE READING
When the Music Stops (Mason Brothers Book #2)
RomanceJolie Rollins had everything she needed growing up to live a life of privilege and luxury, but instead, her life was nothing but one traumatic event after another. She was given the perfect opportunity to move away from her old life and start a new...
