Page 49 of Raging Fires

“Newbie?” he asked Carly, nodding toward the woman lurking behind her.

“Yeah. Jake, this is Ashley. She just started today. Ashley, this is Ja—”

“You’re Jake Riley,” Ashley said in tones of awe, her eyes big. “Wow. My dad used to take us to see you play when I was in middle school.”

“Oof—now I feel old,” he said, but he grinned at her. It was nice to meet someone who remembered him—and didn’t think he was a massive jerk.

Carly took his order, and he watched them walk away. Ashley was cute, but really petite, with a shy smile. He wondered if she could do the kind of heavy lifting Kelli did at the bar. He also didn’t feel real sure that Ashley was up to handling a bunch of bikers. She couldn’t be more than twenty –one or two if she’d been in middle school when he was a quarterback at ASU.

He turned his gaze back to the bar. Kelli was pulling a pitcher of beer, but she was watching him. As soon as she saw he’d caught her, she turned away. Tyler was yakking away at her. Kelli gave Tyler a distracted smile and handed the pitcher to a waitress.

The newbie was allowed to carry out the food, apparently, because Ashley brought him his beer. She stayed for a minute, talking about one of his old games.

“Wow, I’m impressed,” Jake told her. “I barely remember my games.” Which was not true; he suspected that when he was in a nursing home and couldn’t remember his name, he’d remember the USC game his senior year.

Carly hustled by, jerking her head at Ashley to follow her. Jake’s eyes went back to the bar. Kelli was frowning at him. What now? Her gaze went from him to Ashley and Carly. Hmm. That was interesting. Was she jealous? A smile tugged at his lips.

He noticed that Carly brought out his food, not Ashley. But it was Ashley who came by later to pick up the empty plate. She started talking about her younger brother, who was playing center at one of the local high schools.

“Ashley.” Kelli suddenly appeared beside Ashley, a tight smile on her face that Jake could have told Ashley meant she was on thin ice. “You’re supposed to be training with Carly.”

“Sorry,” Ashley said, not sounding it. “I was just excited to see Jake Riley in here.”

“Aren’t we all?” Kelli said drily. “But we are going to be slammed Saturday, and you need all the training you can get.”

“Bye, Jake.” Ashley smiled at him and walked off, giving him a little hip action.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come in here and flirt with our waitresses.”

“We weren’t flirting,” Jake told her. Well, he wasn’t. Ashley? Well, yeah, she was flirting a little. “She was just telling me how she used to watch me play.”

Kelli rolled her eyes. “What? When she was in elementary school?”

“Ouch.” Jake sucked in a breath like she’d stung him.

“She’s only twenty-one years old, Jake. You should hit on people your own age.”

“I wasn’t hitting on her,” Jake said. “No reason for you to be jealous, Kell.” He grinned at her.

“Oh, get that stupid smug grin off your face. I’m not jealous.” Her eyes flashed, which, like so many of her expressions, went straight through his veins like fire.

“Sure. And I’m not playing for the Phoenix Pumas.” He continued to smirk at her in the way he knew was guaranteed to drive up her irritation level.

“I’m not jealous,” she repeated slowly, as if he’d been too dim-witted to understand her the first time. “I just don’t like you coming in and distracting my waitresses.”

“Aren’t they our waitresses?” Jake asked innocently.

She heaved a sigh. “That makes it even worse for you to be flirting with them. You have heard of sexual harassment lawsuits, haven’t you?”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Kelli, lighten up.” He stood up. Now she was beginning to seriously piss him off. “I wasn’t harassing her. Or even mildly flirting with her. You’re just suffering from a major case of sexual frustration.”

“What?” Her voice shot up a register.

“You know. You’re all revved up and nowhere to go.”

She ground her teeth. “I am not. It looks bad, Jake. It’s embarrassing. Everyone knows you’re married to me and here you are, flaunting your… your…”

“Flaunting?” His eyebrows shot up. “What are you, a Victorian heroine?”