Max nodded once.
Just then Crystal walked in, her purse in hand, shrugging into her leather jacket. She looked at Jameson. “I put the end-of-month paperwork on your desk.”
He nodded. “Thanks, sweetheart.”
“Stay and have a beer with us, doll.” Max grinned at her.
She gave a half-hearted attempt at a smile. “I’m kind of tired. But, thanks.”
Jameson rose from his chair, the metal legs sliding across the linoleum. “I’ll walk you out.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t bother arguing, honey, you know Jamie’s rules about someone escorting you to your car at night.” Liam winked at her.
She let out a sigh and looked at Jameson. “Right. Let’s go, Daddy-O.”
*
***
Crystal walked through the backdoor that Jameson held for her and out into the alley behind the shop. It’d been a long day and she was exhausted. She was parked in one of the spots near the door, so they didn’t have far to walk. Stopping next to her car, she slipped her key in the door, but looked up when Jameson’s hand slid to the roof.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
She frowned, wondering what he wanted to talk about. “Sure.”
“Crystal, I’m going to shoot straight with you because that’s the kind of guy I am.”
Oh God. Where the hell was this going?
“Okaaay.”
“You want to tell me what happened when you were in Vegas?”
Crap. Was it that obvious? Of course it was.
“Not really.”
“Let me rephrase that. Tell me what happened in Vegas.”
“Is that an order, boss?”
“Does it need to be?”
She looked away, staring down the alley toward the lights of Main Street. She didn’t even know what to say. How could she even explain?
“Come on, Ace, talk to me,” he teased her with the nickname he’d given her not long after she’d been hired.
She sucked her lips in, as if trying to hold in the words, afraid once they started flowing, she wouldn’t be able to stop.
“Hey?” His tone had changed, his voice soft, caring. She turned to look at him. His hand came up to brush a strand of hair that the breeze had blown across her face.
She searched his face. “I saw a man I used to know, that’s all.”
“A man.” He nodded as if that explained everything. “Were you in a relationship with him?”
She nodded. “Sort of.”