She had some sort of thing going with Kyle yet, she just had eye sex with an Amish customer in front of everyone, on the dance floor that wasn’t a dance floor, at Jimbo’s. “Oh God...”
“What?”
“Nothing!” She covered her mouth. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“I’m coming in.”
“You don’t—” Her words cut off as he pushed through the main door and frowned. “I was just coming out.”
“What was that about?” He appeared angry, not at all concerned that she was approaching a psychotic break.
“I ... I don’t know. I just heard the song and the next thing I knew I was dancing with him.”
“Do you guys know each other?”
Only from my dreams. “No. He’s a customer. I waited on him yesterday.”
Deep creases remained in his brow as he studied her face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you dancing with him?”
“I...” Her heart dipped in her chest as she recalled how right his hands felt in hers. A whoosh of tickles teased her insides and her skin heated. She told herself it was shame, but it was the exact opposite of shame. “I don’t know. I need to go home. I don’t feel right.”
“Are you drunk?”
“No, I’m not drunk!” It was illegal to drink on the job.
“Sick?” He stepped closer, pressing the backs of his fingers to her brow to test her temperature. His nose twitched.
“Do I have a fever?” Maybe she should go to the ER. Too many weird things were going on with her. It might be a severe case of dehydration or maybe a spider did bite her.
He cleared his throat and stepped back, closer to the wall than he’d been before. “Did you reapply perfume?”
She frowned. “I told you, I don’t wear perfume.”
He gave her a disbelieving look. “That smell...”
She threw up her hands. That’s it! “I’m leaving.”
“Wait.” He grabbed her arm and quickly released her, covering his mouth and nose. “Oh, wow. It’s making my eyes water.”
“Well, that’s just great! I’m leaving. Sarah can handle the rest of the tables for the night.” She pushed past him and made a beeline to her purse.
“Hey, Anna, can I get another beer?”
“Talk to Sarah. I’m off the clock.” Head down, she cut through the kitchen, mumbled a quick goodbye to Karen, and shoved through the back door.
Were she and Kyle over? They were just starting. But after the spectacle she had put on and her new eau de dumpster perfume...
She dug out her keys and unlocked the Steaming Turd. She didn’t bother to lower the windows as she jammed the key into the ignition—click, click, click, click.
“Oh, come on.” She tried again only to get the same lifeless click.
Rage boiled up inside of her and she silently counted to ten. She turned the key again and—click, click, click.
“Motherfucker! Cock sucking, shit bag, piece of crap car!” Her palms beat at the steering wheel as she battered the sweltering air with a slew of profanities.
Sweating, she brushed the hair away from her eyes and panted. She could call an Uber. And there was always the bus. Or she could just shut her eyes and suffocate in the heat. Maybe that’s what the universe wanted. After all, it seemed like some cosmic power was hell bent on fucking up her life lately.
God, she was exhausted. And thirsty. And crying didn’t seem like such a horrible solution at the moment.
Dropping her head back, she shut her eyes and blew out a hot breath. Gah, I can’t breathe. Her fingers blindly felt around and lowered the window.
“Is there something wrong with your vehicle?”
“Jesus fucking Christ!” She jumped high enough her head hit the ceiling. “How long have you been standing there?”
Adam cocked his head to the side. “You’re upset.”
She couldn’t deal with any more weirdness. Grabbing her bag and keys, she got out of the car. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
“Who is Captain Obvious?”
“I know. You’re Adam. Just Adam. Amish Adam who shows up out of nowhere and acts like he knows me but couldn’t possibly know me.” She marched in the general direction of the bus stop. “And I—because of sleep deprivation and what’s probably some radioactive spider bite—let you derail my relationship, with a man who actually might want to date me, in two minutes flat. Oh, and I smell like shit.”
He fell into step beside her. “You shouldn’t swear. And I like the way you smell.”
She jerked to a stop and faced him. “Look, I don’t know who you are, Adam, or what Amish farm you came from, but you need to find someone else to follow. I’m having a really bad week and dancing with you in the middle of my place of work is the topper on a list of behaviors that aren’t in my usual wheelhouse. And now my car’s dead—possibly forever. I’m sorry if my cursing offends you, but I’m about to fucking lose my mind. So you can either suck it up or get back on your fucking buggy and leave me the hell alone!”