Chapter 31

Jan decided that she really didn't need to go back to her house for clothing. Bryant had laundered the things she had packed for Atlanta.

She still had a black skirt and a white blouse clean. That's what she would wear for her bartending duties. She mostly wanted to get some sleepwear. The cotton nightshirt was fine when she thought they'd be in separate rooms in Atlanta but it didn't send the right message while they were sharing an apartment in Emerald Cove. So after they decided just to spend the evening catching up on television, Jan had appropriated one of Bryant's dress shirts for her evening wear.

She had been forced to roll up the sleeves half a dozen times but that was okay. She thought she looked pretty cute – for one of the rare times in her life.

"I recorded a couple of shows last night," she announced when she returned to the living room. Bryant was still dressed as he'd been all day – a pair of mesh shorts and a T-shirt.

"We need to get one thing clear from the outset," he said, narrowing his eyes at her. "I do not – I will not – watch what have been termed 'reality shows.' I will not watch a single second of 'Island Castaway' or 'Let's Dance.' I will not even stop on 'Gator Wrestlers' or 'What's In That Box.' If that is your type of television we are going to have some serious issues."

Jan laughed because she had heard the speech before. Bryant had proudly proclaimed that he was the only person in America who had never, to his knowledge, watched a solitary second of "reality television."

"I'll admit that I watched the first couple of seasons of 'Singing Sensation'," Jan said as she sat beside him on the couch. "But my tastes have evolved. I recorded 'Mystery Man' and 'Sea Patrol'. Do those work for you?"

"Cop shows?" Bryant asked incredulously.

"I like them," Jan said. "I think it goes back to my 'Cops & Lawyers' fixation. Besides, it's just entertainment. Right?"

Bryant shrugged just as Jan put her head on his shoulder. She laughed when his movement caused her head to bob.

"Have you ever watched either of them?" she asked.

"I mostly watch the History Channel and the Military Channel," he confessed. "During football season I watch ESPN and I can sometimes catch the White Sox on WGN. Outside of that, I don't watch much television. In fact, if it wasn't free here, I'm not sure I'd have cable."

"That is probably blasphemy," Jan said. "Okay, let me explain the premise. We'll watch 'Mystery Man' first. He's an author and she's a police detective. They solve crimes together."

"I think my mother used to watch a similar show thirty years ago," Bryant said. "Only it was a female writer."

"Just watch it," Jan said. "Now, here's the big thing. He has the hots for her. She has the hots for him but won't admit it."

"Of course," Bryant said. Jan slapped his arm.

"At least they got the ages of the characters right," she said. "They're all in their thirties. It's not like some of the shows that cast a twenty-year-old as a police detective."

Jan hit the play button and the show started. As the opening sequence came on the screen, she curled up closer. She wondered if she was maybe making up for lost time in the intimacy department. She also wondered if maybe she shouldn't have put on pants. It was still 86 degrees outside, and the air conditioner was blowing right on her legs.

Bryant pulled a small blanket off the back of the couch and spread it across her.

"Thanks," she said, wondering how he knew she was chilled.

"I usually lie down here to watch TV," he said. "I know what sort of draft you get."

The way they were sitting wasn't particularly comfortable but Jan couldn't figure out another way to be close to him without putting her head on his leg again – as she'd slept that morning.

"Why don't you have a TV in your bedroom?" she asked suddenly. "Then we can be comfortable while we veg out."

"It's just something I've never done," Bryant admitted. "I didn't have a TV in my room when I was growing up. I didn't really have my own room in the service. It just transferred over to civilian life. I probably watch less than a hundred hours of television a year. I guess I've always figured that if I could watch it from bed, I'd probably just waste my brain away."

"Hey!" Jan said. "I resemble that remark. You noticed that I don't have a TV in my living room. My parents had a TV in their room and, of course, I did, too. The living area – or the parlor as we called it – was for conversation. It's strange what we bring with us from our childhoods. The television was my first nanny, I suppose. When I got too old to be tied down watching mind-numbing cartoons, they hired in real people. Do you think this couch is big enough for us to lay on it together?"

"It's really not big enough for me to lay on it alone," Bryant said with a chuckle. "Why don't you just relax like you did this morning?"

"That's fine for comfort but not for proximity," Jan said. "I like sitting here with your arm around me. This is something we're going to have to figure out. I have about 10 shows I watch religiously. I usually do it from bed."

"The TV is Chuck's," Bryant said. "I can't very well unbolt it from the wall and carry it in to the bedroom."

"No but I saw there was cable in there," she told him. "I snooped, okay?"

"He had a TV that took up one whole wall, I think," Bryant replied with a chuckle. "That sucker must have been five feet across. He told me that one was going with him."

Jan persevered through the first show before standing and stretching.

"If I had to watch TV like that I wouldn't do it much either," she groused.

Bryant laughed heartily and Jan looked chagrined.

"I guess this was just a veiled attempt to get you into bed with me," she admitted. "I figured if we snuggled up together, it would only make sense that we'd spend the night together."

"I think we need to slow down," Bryant said.

"Why?" Jan asked.

"It's what we were talking about," Bryant pointed out. "Are you going to be able to sleep with someone beside you? Or are you going to get pissed off if we brush up against each other?"

"I don't know," Jan admitted with a sigh.

"Yeah," Bryant said with a smile. "You seem to think that tomorrow is going to be a cakewalk. I've seen how hard Chuck works down there. You're going to have to get a good night's rest."

Jan's frown intensified.

"Tomorrow night then," she declared. "Unless you have a valid reason, tomorrow night I expect to share a bed with you."

The first call to O'Bannon's Pub on Thursday night left the caller befuddled.

"O'Bannon's Pub," Bryant answered the phone. The caller had phoned in a lunch order to O'Bannon's every Thursday since it opened. Chuck O'Bannon had always answered the phone. This was not Chuck O'Bannon – even though the voice sounded familiar. The caller thought for a moment before she recognized who was on the other end of the line.

"Bryant?" Linda Roberts asked incredulously.

"Yes it is," Bryant replied. He recognized Linda's distinct Southern dialect.

"What are you doing there?" Linda wondered.

"I needed a job," Bryant said. "Chuck hired me. What can I do for you?"

"Wait a damned minute," Linda said. "What do you mean you need a job? We're not even calling this a suspension. You're off-duty on full pay pending clearance to return to work."

"Well, call it what you want," Bryant said, hiding a smile. "Jan and I know how this plays out. One or both of us will get canned over this."

"That's just bullshit!" Linda spat. "That's not going to happen. You have my word on this – and I can guarantee that I speak for Steve Curtis in this matter."

"Oh, okay, then," Bryant said affably. "I guess it's probably a good thing that we're just giving Chuck a day off."

"Oh, you!" Linda said. "That wasn't even funny. You about gave me a heart attack. You're lucky it was me and not Steve. He would have had a coronary. You'd have been an accessory to murder or something."

"Why did you call us?" Bryant asked.

"I want to place a lunch order," Linda related. "Two BLTs – one regular and one light."

"Light?" Bryant asked.

"Wheat bread, turkey bacon and light mayo," Linda said. "Rosa knows. Just tell her you want a light BLT."

"Are you dieting for a new dental floss bikini?" Bryant joked.

"You wish!" Linda laughed. "No, Lorna put Steve on a diet. His cholesterol was getting up there. So he gets the light treatment. Don't tell him, though."

Bryant couldn't help the laughter that broke through the noise in the bar.

"Hey, don't hog the phone," Jan yelled. "We'll have lunch calls coming in soon. Take your private calls some other time."

"I guess I know who the 'we' is," Linda joked. "Okay, a regular BLT and one light BLT. One order of fries to go. Got it, Rookie?"

"Got it," Bryant said.

"I'll pick it up at noon," Linda said.

"Yes, Ma'am," Bryant replied. "Thank you for calling O'Bannon's Pub."

The next twenty-five minutes saw Bryant taking numerous phone calls about lunch orders from the surrounding businesses.

"This is too much!" Rosa said. "We never get this many orders at once."

"I'll tell them we're backlogged," Bryant told the distraught woman. "They can wait or order somewhere else."

"Okay, Bryant," Rosa said.

Linda Roberts did show up at noon but she wasn't alone. Steve Curtis was with her – as was Allyson Granger and Jonah Attenborough. Barry Chumley, Holly Garvin and Regina Cole followed shortly thereafter.

"We heard we might actually see you two work," Regina said with a laugh.

Jan was mixing drinks for the college kids in the bar while Bryant passed out the food.

"We're eating in today," Linda informed everyone. The seven people took seats at the bar.

"Which is the light?" Bryant asked Rosa. She told him it was the one with the blue toothpick. Bryant sat the right one down in front of each customer. Allyson had ordered a salad and Jonah was having a cheeseburger and onion rings.

By 1 p.m., the college kids had been moved out of the main bar and into the heat on the deck. The lunch crowd had taken over the indoor area. There was a bunch of professionals in suits and dresses sitting around O'Bannon's Pub. The expected alcohol income was decreased but the money from food had tripled its normal take.

The markup was about the same so Jan wasn't concerned about Chuck's profits.

Any money Chuck lost during the lunch hour was more than made up for by the after-dinner sales. Almost every police officer not on duty stopped in for drinks. Half of the State Police detachment was by and so were Alex Manning and his wife.

But the majority of money came during the middle of the day. A female bartender brought the men inside for their drinks. Having a younger guy behind the bar added the female element to the bar. Jan and Bryant kept up their banter throughout the day but by 10 p.m. both were exhausted.

"Jesus, you weren't kidding," Jan lamented as she sat down on a stool behind the bar. "Those kids have run my ass off."

Bryant leaned backward and looked behind Jan.

"Nope, still there," Bryant joked.

"Oh, now you check me out," Jan said. "Christ, I'm too tired to even think about that."

"Might be your only shot," Bryant retorted.

"Please," Jan replied. She looked around the bar and saw only two people at a table near the door. She slipped the strap of her shirt off her shoulder until her strapless bra came into view. "Want more?"

Bryant had watched with fascination as the black bra came into view. His gaze stayed on Jan's chest as she lifted a single finger and started to lower the cup of her bra. Just as suddenly as she started, she pulled the strap back over her shoulder.

"I thought so," she said. "I'm going in the back to wash the glasses."

"I'm going to call 'Last Call'," Bryant informed her.

"It's not even midnight," Jan pointed out.

Bryant shrugged.

"We have had two customers in the last thirty minutes," Bryant said. "The college kids are at the dance clubs. The locals are home in bed. We'll spend more in electricity than we'll make in sales. I'm going to run them off."

Jan laughed but shrugged her agreement.

Bryant's voice boomed through the bar.

"Last call for alcohol," he yelled as he turned the lights on. "Bar's closing in 15 minutes."

There was a little grumbling but the two men soon got up and ambled out. Bryant started to count the receipts. He glanced through the opening behind the bar and saw that Jan was rinsing off some of the dishes used during the night.

He slipped in behind her, waited until she put a glass into the drainer, and then wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

Bryant was impressed that Jan didn't flinch. She just put her head backward on his shoulder.

"My hands are wet," she said. "Slide with me."

She shifted to the left and picked up a towel, which she used to dry her hands. Then she turned in Bryant's embrace and put her arms around his neck. She used her leverage to lift herself up onto the counter and she put her legs around his waist to draw him toward her.

She gave him a soft kiss and then a deeper one.

"My butt is getting wet," she said with a smile.

Bryant stepped back. Jan slipped forward off the counter and put her hands on her wet posterior. With a grin, she slipped her black skirt down her legs and stood before Bryant in her white shirt and a pair of wet, black panties.

"Wanna try that clench again?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"I thought you were exhausted," Bryant laughed.

"I got a second wind," Jan replied, also smiling.

"Well, you didn't jump out of your skin last time," Bryant said, as if he had to consider the request.