Was it any wonder she was crushing on him? He was practically a knight in shining armor, for crying out loud!
He’d cleaned her up and made her call her friends to come and hang out with her at the pub until she felt better. After that, it had become a weekly thing for them.
Not her falling on her face, but the hanging out part.
Although she had been known to trip a time or two…
Her phone chimed again, and she picked it up and swiped the screen to shut it up. Sighing, Willow considered her options. She could bail and text the girls that she wasn’t feeling well, but, like she said, she hated lying. Another option was she could go for just a little while and then fake a headache…
“Pretty soon I’m going to be smelling smoke because my pants will be on fire! Why is this so difficult?”
Knowing she’d feel too guilty with either of those choices, she got up and went to freshen up her makeup and put on something other than yoga pants.
“Why haven’t yoga pants become acceptable sociable attire yet?” she wondered. But once she walked by the full-length mirror in her bedroom, she knew it wouldn’t matter even if they were. There was no way she was going to parade around the pub in front of Levi–or any male for that matter–looking like this. Willow knew and accepted the fact that she wasn’t one of those girls who looked super-cute in yoga pants.
She just looked schleppy.
“So not the look I want to be remembered for.”
Fifteen minutes later, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door like she was heading to her own execution.
And secretly hoped she could get from her car to the pub without hurting herself.
“Hey, Boss, can you add a case of beer glasses to the next order?”
“Why?”
“Because Dex just dropped a rack of them when he was unloading the dishwasher.”
Groaning, Levi walked into his office and turned on his computer. With a frown, he pulled up the program he used for orders and quickly made the notation. “That’s the third rack this month. From now on, he mops floors and takes out the trash. That’s it.”
“You got it.”
He waited until the office door closed before relaxing in his chair. It was a Friday night, and McGee’s was busy as usual, and yet not so busy that he didn’t notice that Willow and her friends hadn’t shown up yet. Besides the fact that he’d just walked around the pub looking for her, no one had mentioned it to him either.
Friday nights had become fun again since meeting Willow and he couldn’t help that he looked forward to seeing her and hanging out with her. Ever since the day he saw her face-plant on the sidewalk and ran out to help her, they’d bonded. Granted, he was friendly with everyone who came into McGee’s, but…some more than others.
Willow was sweet and shy and funny, and he found himself stepping away from the bar more and more on Friday nights so he could hang out with her.
And her friends.
Okay, he seriously wouldn’t mind if her friends opted to skip a Friday or two–or seven–but they were a package deal and it was fine.
Sort of.
Mildly annoying, but…whatever.
Normally he would have considered flirting with Willow, or simply asking her out, but she was different. Not only because she seemed incredibly shy, but he was enjoying getting to know her without the pressure of it turning into something more. And again, she was never alone–seriously, her friends were always with her–no matter how many times he casually dropped hints that she should come in any other night. Alone.
And he’d dropped a lot of them.
He thought he saw a hint of interest on Willow’s part, but it had been so long since he’d gone out on a date he might have been imagining it.
The real problem was that McGee’s was his life. Two years ago, he had officially taken over the pub and ever since, he’d been consumed with making it a success.
Okay, the pub had been his grandfather’s on his mother’s side, and Levi had been working here since he was sixteen.
Well, formally working there. He’d been going there for years and hanging out with his grandfather and learning all about the business.
When his grandfather passed away two years ago, Levi had been shocked to find out he had willed the pub to him. There was a stipulation that if he didn’t want the responsibility of taking on the business that he could sell it and split the profits with his sisters. But it had been a no-brainer. McGee’s had always been a part of his life, and he loved it, and everyone in the family knew it. His sisters had been adamant that he take it on–even if it meant less of an inheritance for them.
Not that it was the only thing their grandfather willed to them. They also received some money and some sentimental items he knew they would love. But ever since the papers were signed and the pub officially became his, Levi had spent all his time making sure he was doing everything to make his grandfather proud and for the pub to be even more successful than it had ever been.
It was, but that didn’t mean he should slack off and get too comfortable. There were always improvements he could make, new things he wanted to try, and even though he had a great staff–with the exception of the accident-prone Dex–he never felt right about taking any time off for himself.
But if he ever got up the nerve to point-blank ask Willow–or anyone–out, he’d take the night off.
Probably one of the slower nights, but…still. He’d do it.
Maybe tonight he should test the waters. Maybe he could flirt a little bit and see how she responded, or maybe he should just ask her outright and see what she said. Or…maybe he was just
