“Oh, Cole,” she sing-songs. She leans forward and draws him in, a cobra hypnotizing its prey. When his posture stiffens, she strikes. “Don’t you think it’s more fun when Dempsey’s in charge?”

He spins on his heel to gauge my reaction, but all I can do is laugh.

Maddie takes full advantage of his distracted state, eye-fucking me until heat crawls up my neck, then she settles back into her seat.

Cole scurries off, obviously bewitched by a girl he can’t handle.

I rest my arms on the bar and lean back into her space. “What would you like to drink tonight?”

“Just a soda is fine.”

“Do you want food?” I ask. I may or may not have already called over to Clinton’s to see who’s working. Tiff agreed to bring me a to-go order if needed.

“You know me so well.”

“I’m learning you,” I counter, repeating the words she whispered in my ear when she was straddling me on the balcony last weekend.

She doesn’t respond, instead giving me doe eyes through her thick, black lashes and watching as I slowly back away.

I pour her drink and deliver it, then check on the other customers hanging around the bar. It’s the middle of the week, and it’s only eight o’clock, so things are under control. I’ve got two guys behind the bar, plus two more servers on the floor. I call over to Clinton’s and order two baskets of tots, confirming that Tiff will bring them over when they’re ready.

“Yo, Dem.” Teddy waves me over and hands me a sticky note. “I need, like, four things from the cage, and one of them I needed yesterday.”

I glance over his list, then nod absentmindedly as I pull the liquor cage keys out of my pocket. “I’ll be right back.”

I don’t bother looking back up the bar for my girl. I know her eyes haven’t left me since I walked away from her a few minutes ago.

As I wind through the narrow back hallway, I sense her.

I tilt my head, straining to gauge just how close she is, but she gives nothing away.

The moment I insert the key into the liquor cage, she wraps her hands around my torso. I hiss on contact, but more from excitement than surprise. I trap her arms against my body and spin her until she’s pushed up against the metal cage.

“How did I know you were going to follow me, naughty girl?” I rest one arm over her head and use the other to cushion her back. Her hands find purchase under my shirt immediately, exploring the planes of my chest before she scrapes her nails down the length of my torso.

“I hate that bar,” she pouts, running her nails up and down my stomach again before dipping them into the front of my pants.