She didn’t say anything more than that, but I knew what the real message was. If I was interested in Jackson, I should take the shirt and change. Shane would have pulled the exact same stunt if he’d come up and found her wearing the shirt I was in now. She and I both knew that, and she was subtly letting me know what she would do if she were in my shoes.

But Shane was her boyfriend and had been for years. Jackson was just a guy who owed me a favor and was taking me out to dinner to repay it. Did I really want to let him get away with bossing me around like this? Then again, I was getting awfully tired of the comments from the male customers tonight. And this was why I never wore this shirt anyway. It was just too much trouble in the first place.

“Thanks, Char. I think I’ll take you up on that offer. I could use a moment to myself if you don’t mind too much,” I answered before grabbing the shirt off the bar and stomping into the back office.

I nudged the door with my foot to close it and whipped off my shirt to change into the new one before I realized that Jackson had followed me.

“Shit, Jackson!” I swore while glaring at him over my bare shoulder. “You can’t be back here like this. You’re going to get into trouble.”

“The owner won’t get mad at me for coming into the office. He’s friends with my parents and our bank carries the loan on this place,” he replied as he turned the lock on the doorknob. “So I guess the only person I can get into trouble with would be you, Kaylie. And I’m not really worried about that right now because I think you should be the one concerned about getting into trouble with me instead.”

I pulled the new shirt on and turned to face him. “See, here’s the thing, Jackson. You’re not the boss of me. You don’t have a say in what I choose to wear. That guy at the bar might have thought you were my boyfriend, but that doesn’t make it so.”

“What if I wanted to be the boss of you?” he asked. He must have seen the confused look on my face, because he went on. “I’m not here for the drinks or the ambiance, Kaylie. I’m here because I couldn’t get you out of my head today. I knew I was going to see you tomorrow and I didn’t want to wait that long. I came to see you, and it turned out to be a damn good thing that I did because there you were with that shirt showing off your tits, offering up piece of ass shots, and putting ideas into other guys’ heads”

“But I thought you didn’t date?” I asked.

“No, I didn’t used to date,” he disagreed. “But I think that’s one rule that’s about to change. You said yes to dinner tomorrow night, so I guess I should say it’s a rule that’s already changed because of you.”

“You’re just taking me out to dinner tomorrow night because you wanted to thank me for helping you out and you’re mom expects it of you,” I argued.

“I may have let you think that to make sure you’d say yes, Kaylie. But that isn’t why I’m taking you to dinner. I could have found a million other ways to express my gratitude without spending another minute in your company,” he pointed out as he pulled me towards his body. “Flowers, a card, just about anything would have satisfied my mom. But I’m not worried about her being satisfied right now. No, you’ve got me thinking about my own satisfaction instead,” he said before his mouth crashed down on mine.

His lips were warm, and he tasted like cinnamon. I felt his hands on my ass and let out a startled gasp. He took full advantage and his tongue swept into my mouth, tangling with mine. His grip tightened as he groaned and tilted his head to get better access to my mouth. The kiss went from zero to sixty in no time at all. He mixed it up with quick nibbles on my lips and sharp tugs as he sucked my tongue into his mouth. I grabbed the back of his head to hold him in place as my mouth strained towards his, and he chuckled darkly in response before pulling away.

“Mine and yours if that kiss is any indication of the chemistry between us,” he murmured against my ear before kissing his way down my neck.

“Jackson,” I sighed before taking a step backwards out of his arms. “I’m at work. I can’t stay back here to make out with you while I’m supposed to be tending bar.”

“I know, but I couldn’t resist stealing one before you went back,” he said. “That’s the look I want you to have when you go back out there. One that says ‘look but don’t look too hard and don’t even think about touching.’”

“For someone who isn’t used to dating, you sure have the possessive alpha act down pat. And we aren’t even dating yet.”