There's nothing worse than being turned on by a guy who's totally wrong for you. Whether that was true for Jeffrey was irrelevant. Even if Cabe had a hand in his dad's sleezy business practices, revenge sex was not the way to go.

Still, I thought it was interesting that Jeffrey had not made a single move on me all day, and I watched him closely as he stood from his chair, muscles flexing beneath his tight-fitting dress pants. "I think I'll call it a night," he said. "If you decide you need an ear to bend, I'm right next door."

It was true. He'd arranged for us to have adjoining rooms. "You could leave the door cracked."

"Sure. I can do that." He smiled and I thought I saw a gleam in his eyes. Or maybe my libido was making shit up.

After he'd been gone a while and my body had a chance to cool its jets, I realized I'd dodged a bullet. If he hadn't taken his hotness out of the room, I might have cracked. Damn.

Feeling no closer to sleep, I picked up my phone and listened to Cabe's voicemail again, trying to find clues about his intentions in the inflections in his voice. I hadn't forgotten about his confession and that he was willing to wait for me to commit. How true was that? How far was he willing to go to make a sale?

I must have fallen asleep with the phone in my hand because I woke up to my alarm going off below me and a shirtless Jeffrey standing over me.

"Jesus, June. You scared me."

"What's wrong?" I rubbed my eyes as I sat up.

"You didn't wake up to your alarm. I thought . . . I was worried about you." He picked up my phone from the floor, silenced it, and handed it over. "You might think about using a more annoying alarm than ocean waves."

"It's supposed to soothe a person awake. And it usually works. I blame the alcohol." Speaking of waves, I stared up at him, trying not to be impressed by his rippling torso. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

"No need to apologize. Do you need more time to sleep? We've got another five hours before check out."

"Yeah. I'll set my alarm for nine so we have time to go down for breakfast."

"I'll bring breakfast to you when you wake up. It'll make it easier. What would you like?"

My fuzzy brain was not thinking about food at that hour, although apparently it was thinking about tanned pectorals as I squinted up at him. "I like waffles, if they have those. Otherwise, a banana and yogurt is fine."

He smiled. "You're cute in the morning, you know that. I'll see you at nine."

I watched him saunter out of the room, leaving the door cracked, and I grabbed a pillow, tucking it into my chest and thinking about anything but his jumpable bones. I managed to get back to sleep and woke up two hours later to a text dinging on my phone. It was Cabe.

'Good morning. I hope you had a good night's sleep.'

My gut responded with a squelch/punch combination, and I sat up in bed. I couldn't let this fester. I needed to call.

"Hi June."

"Hi Cabe."

"Are you still in Ocala?"

"Yeah."

"Hungover?"

"Not as bad as I expected."

"That's good. How did it go in Crystal River? Did things pan out?"

"Yes and no. We found my dad."

"Wow."

"Yeah. But I didn't want anyone to force him to sign papers that could fuck up his life even more. So they just followed him."

"That must have been intense for you."

"The whole day was intense. It's likely I'm more hungover from stress than from the alcohol."

"Did Jeffrey behave himself? You don't have to answer. I just had to ask for my own sanity."

"He behaved a lot better than I thought he would. There were no propositions made on his end." When he remained quiet, I didn't bother to clarify. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay." Again, he sounded hesitant, and I figured his mind was making up all sorts of scenarios.

"Jeffrey showed me an email that your dad sent him before you came to Daytona. Your dad knew all about the bar and the complications. You were supposed to cozy up to me then introduce me to Jeffrey so he could talk me into searching for my derelict dad."

The silence I expected. What I didn't expect was the stabbing sensation in my back. "June . . ."

"Don't. I guess I wasn't ready to talk about this yet. I gotta go." I hung up as tears started to form, and I slammed my phone onto the bed. Sadly, it didn't give me the satisfaction I was after. I needed to get away from these self-serving men and be alone with my thoughts.

Grabbing my keys off the nightstand, I climbed out of bed and shuffled to the chair to put on my shoes. Jeffrey knocked and opened the door.

"Is everything okay in here?"

"No. It's not. I'm leaving."

"But breakfast . . ."

"I'll grab a coffee on my way out."

He sat on the bed. "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation with Cabe."

Of course, he couldn't. He was probably happy as hell that I was mad at Cabe. He had set the wheels in motion with that fucking email. "What about it?"

"You seem upset. Why don't you and I have some breakfast. It'll give you a chance to cool down."

I lifted my gaze to glare at him. "What makes you think breakfast with you will cool me down? You aren't exactly an innocent bystander here."

He pursed his lips. "I won't try to argue against that."

"Good. Cause it would just make me madder." I abandoned the chair and snatched my purse off the table. He stood and continued to squeeze his lips tight.

"I really don't think you should be driving under the influence of rage-induced adrenaline."

"So, now you're worried about my wellbeing? What about yesterday when you showed me that email? Did you think I was so shut off that it wouldn't affect me? What kind of a heartless person do you think I am?"

"It's not like you two are serious. I mean, I'd heard you're not exclusive."

"You don't know how serious we are!" I stomped toward the door and swung it open, not caring if I was forgetting something. The fact that the door took forever to shut behind me didn't assuage my need to slam something, so I took my anger out on the elevator button.

Jeffrey stood halfway into the hallway as I stepped onto the elevator. At least he was smart enough not to follow me. After grabbing a coffee to go, I paid for my room. Jeffrey had already put it on his card, but I refused to be in his debt for anything other than that stupid private detective.

Once I'd gotten on the road, Cabe sent a text. I ignored it. I needed to focus on getting myself home in one piece. Besides, I wasn't ready to listen to his side of the story, whether or not it made sense. As far as my mind was concerned, he was just another selfish person who had let me down. Was that how my mom saw me? Did she think I was letting her down by not signing the contract and giving her the chance to start a new life? Was I the selfish one here?

When I arrived home, I glanced at Cabe's text. He wanted me to know he was ready to talk when I was. I'd cooled down a little since leaving the hotel, but I still wasn't ready to poke that bear again. When I got a call from Vanessa Mann, I couldn't say I was surprised.

"Hey, June. How are you?"

"I'm hanging in there. What's up with you?"

"I know you were meeting with Jeffrey about your dad. I just wanted to see how that went."

"Overall, kind of crappy." I told her what had happened, including the shitty move Jeffrey made with the email.

"I'm sorry about him. Like so many men before him, he thinks with his dick."

"I figured that's why he was trying to discredit Cabe. But, funnily enough, he didn't make any advances while we were together."

She snorted. "It sounds like he's playing the long game with you. I'm not surprised. You have a lot more to offer than the girls he usually goes for. He also has a chip on his shoulder about Cabe. He's never liked the relationship Cabe and I have. He's pretty protective of me."

"That's not such a bad thing for an older brother."

"It used to drive me crazy, but now I just ignore him. I hope you don't let his stupidity interfere with the thing you have going with Cabe. You won't find a more level-headed guy. You two deserve each other. Hey, I've got a call coming in on my business phone. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay."

I sat for a while after our chat, trying to decide if someone had put her up to it. I also promised myself I would never sleep with Jeffrey regardless of what happened with Cabe. If that wasn't enough to juggle, I had to respond to a text from Abeo, letting him know that this weekend would not be convenient for him to visit.

Stepping behind the bar at six actually came as a relief. Jackson was there and already flirting with Carol, and I knew Curtis and the band would have my mood lifted once they arrived. Mom sat at the end of the bar talking with Floyd, and I noticed she made a point of flagging down Jackson each time she wanted a refill on her beer. In fact, she spent the better part of the night ignoring me until I was finally summoned with a wave.

"I'm going to Miami in the morning, June. So I'll be out of your hair for a few days."

"Okay."

We looked at each other, and I thought about the contract. I knew it would make her happy if I just signed the damned thing. I'd already talked myself out of telling her about dad. If he wanted to reach out, he could do it himself.

"When you get back, I'll sign the papers."

She cocked her head and squinted at me. "I'm not going to hold my breath. Let's just cross that bridge when we come to it."

She hopped off her chair and disappeared into the office. A few minutes later, she said her goodbyes and left the bar.

"Is your mom gone for the night?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah. She's going out of town for a few days."

He nodded and his entire body seemed to relax. Even his smile appeared to come easier as he walked the length of the bar checking on everyone's orders. When the band started playing, his mood improved even more. He bee-bopped around while mixing and serving. At the end of the night, I decided to proposition him.

"You seem to really like the bar," I said as we transferred glassware from the dishwasher to the shelf. "And the bar likes you. Have you ever considered becoming a bar manager?"

"Actually, I was offered a bar manager position once. I'd already made plans for Hawaii, so I didn't take it."

"Let's say I could guarantee that my mom would stay out of your hair. Would you consider managing Pour Decisions?"

He stopped what he was doing and leaned against the beer cooler. "I haven't even been here a week."

"True. I just thought I'd find out now before I started looking for one."

"Right . . . you're leaving the bar. I keep telling myself you're going to reconsider." He tucked his hands into his pockets and looked at his shoes.

"I need to get out of this town, Jackson. I'm sure you felt the same way when you left for Hawaii."

"Yeah, I get it. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to miss you. And, sure, I would consider the position. It'll help me get out of my mom's house. I need a place of my own."

"Really? I need to rent out my place. It's small but the location is primo. I could make it affordable for a friend." I winked and handed him a wine glass so he could slide it into the rack over his head.

"Wow, June. You consider me a friend?"

"I've been a bartender for six years. I'm a pretty good judge of character. You give off a friend vibe."

He chuckled. "Some guys would be offended by that label. But you're right. I make friends easily."

We finished closing up and went our separate ways. That night, I had a dream about Dad captaining a houseboat in Biscayne Bay. I was swimming alongside the boat, trying to get on board while he drove like a bat out of hell, drowning me in the wake.

I spent the next day distracting myself from thoughts of Cabe. The first half I focused on researching the city I'd be living in for the foreseeable future, including the best routes to the beach. After lunch, I wrapped all my knick-knacks in paper and stuck them into boxes. I still had a month before my job officially started, but doing this made it feel real.

I arrived at work feeling better than I thought I would, and Jackson's upbeat attitude helped a ton. Then around nine o'clock the bar door opened, and my world fell apart all over again when Bill Franklin walked inside. 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Could you be friendly with a woman who had sexual relations with the person you're having sexual relations with? Not everyone can. I am good friends with my husband's ex-wife. Her son is his business partner. They built a successful video game development company together, and she attends all the big events. She's also a local county commissioner, and it's never a bad thing to have connections at city hall.