Wild Seduction. Daire St. Denis
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please. Oh, and about those nachos...?”
She nodded and, without another word to him, rang in the order and then began serving the next customer in line.
“Try to be a little nicer,” Beth whispered in her ear.
“I am nice,” Ash said through clenched teeth.
“No, you’re ornery.”
“So?”
“So, the nicer you are, the more tips you make.” Her sister eyed her apparel and sighed. “It doesn’t hurt to flirt a little either, which would help because that outfit isn’t doing a thing for you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the vote of confidence,” she muttered beneath her breath.
Once Beth turned her attention to the next customer, Ashley glanced down at her well-worn jeans and T-shirt with the slogan Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History. It was one of her favorites. Plus, it could be interpreted as flirty, couldn’t it?
“Boo!”
It took Ashley a few seconds to recognize the woman who had jumped into her line of sight. Not because she didn’t know her—she had been Ashley’s best friend for her entire high school life—only because she hadn’t seen her in five years, and Jasmine Sweet was the last person Ash expected to see tonight.
“Jazzy?”
Her friend waved her arms in the air. “In the flesh!” She squealed, hopped up onto the bar—which was a maneuver that did not jibe with the designer clothes she was wearing—slid across to the other side, hopped down and enveloped Ash in a bear hug, making Ash’s eyes water from the combination of the fierceness of the embrace and the floral perfume that floated around Jasmine like the sweet scent of honeysuckle on a summer’s eve. Or...like a cloud of gnats before a rainstorm.
Ashley patted Jasmine’s back until the woman finally let up, stepping back and smiling down at her, which was odd because she and Jasmine had always been the same height.
Short. Or, fun-sized, as Jasmine called the two of them.
“Look at you! You haven’t changed a bit,” Jasmine gushed.
Ashley was going to say, “Neither have you.” But it would have been a lie. Jasmine had changed since she’d managed to escape Half Moon a week after graduation. She’d always been beautiful, but now she looked different. She was sophisticated, with her expert makeup and hair pulled back in a chic ponytail. Ash realized the height difference was due to a pair of red, high-heeled shoes that perfectly matched Jasmine’s designer handbag. Her clothes were clearly expensive—tailored black capris and a sheer sleeveless top in white that accented her dark skin tone—simple and elegant while still being sexy.
She was the same old Jasmine, only improved—vastly—with age.
“You look amazing,” Ash said, wiping her suddenly sweaty palms on the front of her old jeans. “What are you doing back here?”
“What do you mean?” Jasmine’s dark eyes glowed with excitement as she glanced happily around the bar. “I’m here for the same reason everyone else is. To see old friends and to celebrate the centennial, Half Moon style!” Her laugh was infectious, as always.
“Wow.” That’s all Ash could come up with, still in a state of disbelief by Jasmine’s unexpected arrival.
“How long has it been?” Jazz asked before holding up a hand to stop Ash from answering. “No, wait, don’t tell me, it’ll only make me feel like a terrible friend.” She leaned close in order to whisper in her ear, “We have so much catching up to do.”
“Yeah,” Ashley murmured, smoothing her own haphazard ponytail, awkwardly.
“But first—” Jasmine took in the lineup of patrons waiting to be served “—you look like you could use a little help behind the bar.”
“Oh, no,” Ash protested, assessing Jasmine’s outfit and deeming it too put-together to be worn by a bartender in a busy saloon where it would undoubtedly get messed up. “Really, you don’t need to do that.”
“Did someone just offer assistance?” Beth sidled over, grinning broadly as she inserted herself between Ash and her friend.
“Beth!” Jazz squealed and gave Beth a hug.
“Was Ash surprised?” Beth asked.
Ashley blinked at her sister. She knew Jazz was coming and didn’t tell her?
Beth read her thoughts—as only Beth could—and said, “Jazz called to say she wanted to surprise you.” She winked. “By the expression on your face, I’d say Jazz got you pretty good.”
“She sure did. Wow.” Ash cringed internally. Really? Was that all she could come up with? Wow?
Slinging her arm over Jasmine’s shoulder, Beth said, “And you are even more gorgeous than ever. Seriously, Jasmine, what’s your secret?”
“No secret. Chicago agrees with me, I guess.” Waving her hand at the crowded bar, she asked, “Please, tell me I can help back here.”
“Of course you can.”
The next half hour was a blur of pouring drinks and taking orders and trying to keep all the bar tabs straight, but with Jasmine’s help, things went more smoothly and the tip jar was soon filled to overflowing. It didn’t hurt that Jasmine knew pretty much everyone and chatted them up in typical Jazzy fashion, as if she truly cared about each and every one of them.
Through it all, Ashley only spilled two drinks, one on herself and one on Jasmine.
“Oh, my God,” Ash cried, trying in vain to wipe the beer off Jasmine’s blouse. “I’m so sorry. This is probably really expensive.”
Jasmine only laughed as she took the cloth from Ash and blotted the stain in an equally ineffective manner, probably because the cloth was covered in beer, too. “It’s no big deal. Hazards of the job, right?”
That’s when Ashley noticed Jasmine’s hand. Or rather, the big, fat diamond ring adorning the ring finger of Jasmine’s left hand. Ash grabbed her hand to take a closer look. “You’re engaged?” She rubbed the stone. It was huge, something a celebrity might wear.
“I am.” Jasmine beamed. “His name’s Parker, and we’ve been living in sin for two years, so we figured it’s time.”
“Wow.”
C’mon, Ash. Plenty of words in the English language.
She cleared her throat. “Where’d you meet?”
“Chicago. At this party. It was really posh and I totally felt out of place.” She leaned close to Ash and whispered, “He said I was the most exotic woman he’d ever met.” She giggled. “Me. Little old Jasmine Sweet from Half Moon Creek, exotic? Can you believe it?”
This time Ashley managed to contain the wow that sat tingling on the tip of her tongue. “He’s obviously got good taste.”
Jasmine squeezed Ashley’s fingers. “I was going to call to tell you, then I thought, why not come and tell you in person instead?” She opened her mouth in a silent, happy scream, and a second later, Ashley found herself crushed once more in Jasmine’s arms, the wet patch on Jasmine’s blouse soaking into the only dry patch on her T-shirt.
“I’m happy for you,” Ashley said. “Really happy.”
“You want to see a picture?”
“Of course.”
Jasmine fished her phone out of her pocket and flipped through the photo app. “Oh, here’s a good one.”
Holy shit. Parker wasn’t just good-looking, he was...perfect. Perfect blond hair. Perfect clothes that were trendy and fit him...perfectly. Straight white teeth showing up in his perfect