Chapter Nine
Ricky looked up as Lauren and Joey walked into the club together both laughing at something. They walked into the staffroom and Ricky followed, standing in the doorway, watching them together.
'You two are late' he frowned at them both, looking pointedly at Joey.
'Aren't you forgetting who the head barman is here?' Joey looked at him with a slight frown on his face 'We're not due to open for another fifteen minutes'
'Aren't we all supposed to be here to get things ready for opening?' Ricky replied, 'I'm just asking in case the job description has changed and I missed the memo'
'We're here now' Joey said with a frown. 'What's your problem?' he turned his attention back to Lauren 'You ready, babe?' he asked her
'Yep' she nodded her head, she shut her locker door and followed him out of the staff room.
Ricky saw the clothes she was wearing, and his jaw hit the floor. She was wearing a short fitting black dress which showed off her very sexy legs, curves, small waist and her very ample chest. She followed Joey behind the bar and Ricky saw he turned to look at her, grinning as he said something to her which set her off in a fit of giggles again, Lauren blushed and slapped Joey on the chest, causing Joey to laugh too. Ricky frowned, wondering once again if Joey had already made good on the bet they'd made He could see that something had definitely changed between the two of them since their last shift.
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When Lauren volunteered to go to the cellar to get some more mixers, Ricky half expected Joey to go with her and was surprised when he didn't. Ricky chose this time to speak with Joey, to see if he owed him some winnings.
'So, you and Lauren seem to be close' Ricky said as they were leaning on the back of the bar in a rare lull in people wanting drinks.
'Yeah, we spent the day together' Joey nodded his head 'She needed some help with some DIY at her house and I offered. We worked a bit more on her flirting skills which seems to be paying off…' he nodded towards her tip jar. 'Why are you so interested?'
'Just wondered…' Ricky shrugged casually.
'You don't stand a chance with her' Joey told him 'She's not interested in dating'
'Cause you've dated a lot of girls' Ricky shot back.
Joey raised his hand 'hey, man I'm just telling you how it is' Joey said to him 'If you want to have a go be my guest but she'll just turn you down' he told him confidently 'you want to take your break at the same time as her and try your luck? I'll cover the bar' he said with a smile.
'Yeah, you know what? I will' Ricky replied nodding his head 'just because you got nowhere doesn't mean I won't' he walked the length of the bar and started to work near Lauren. 'You're doing well' he noted as Lauren dropped some more coins into her tip jar. 'Joey told me he's given you some pointers on your flirting' he told her.
'And they're paying off' she said with a grin, jangling the coins in the jar indicating how much she had.
'Did he help you with your clothes too?' he let his gaze wander over her slowly, Lauren flushed slightly at his perusal.
'He made some suggestions' she nodded her head.
'Like I did?' he asked her. Lauren smiled sheepishly as she nodded her head once more.
'Yes like you did weeks ago. I should have listened to you then' she told him 'Flashing my goodies at the punters seems to be working a treat' she grinned.
'So I see' he glanced towards her tip glass again. 'Do you mind if I give you a few more pointers?' he asked her.
'The more the merrier' she replied.
'Try wearing your hair down' he told her, he reached behind her and pulled out the clasp she had in and her hair tumbled down her shoulders in waves. 'See that's sexy right there' he told her 'and you know what the saying is. Sex sells' he told her. 'You should try playing with your hair a little when the punters flirt with you, lower your gaze slightly and giggle, you can always throw in a light touch to their hand or arm' he told her softly. 'try it out on me' Joey watched from the other end of the bar as Lauren played with her hair, giggled and then touched Ricky lightly on the arm. Ricky grinned at her 'Perfect'.
Joey frowned at the sudden inexplicable feelings he had. It took him a while to figure out what these feelings were, jealousy. He had been watching Lauren "flirting" with Ricky and he was a little jealous, okay more than a little jealous. He didn't like the way it made him feel, he frowned. He had never been jealous in his life, well not for a long time at least and never over a girl. He could get any girl he wanted to. Although Lauren seemed to be the exception to that rule. He felt angry suddenly, at Lauren because she was causing this reaction in him. He knew it was an irrational reaction because she'd made it perfectly clear she wanted nothing more than friendship and he'd agreed. So when he thought about it he really only had himself to blame.
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Ricky grinned at Joey as Lauren took her break. Five minutes later he walked over to his friend 'cover me' he said as he walked past him following Lauren into the staff room, pulling the door closed behind him.
Lauren looked up at him from the book she was reading 'All right?' she asked him.
'Yeah great, it's a bit slow out there so I figured I'd take my break now. Leave Joey to do some work for once' he said with a nervous laugh. He walked to the coffee pot and filled a cup 'do you want a refill?' he turned holding the pot out to her.
'No, I'm good, thanks' Lauren smiled at him, turning her attention back to her book.
'So….Listen I was wondering if maybe you want to go out sometime' he asked her. Lauren swallowed and pretended she hadn't heard him, pretending to be so engrossed in her book. 'Lauren?' Ricky said,
'Mmmm?' she glanced up at him briefly.
Ricky blinked, maybe now wasn't the best time to ask her out, she seemed distracted. He decided he'd try again later. 'Good book?' he said instead.
'Oh…yeah' she said in a distracted tone. 'It is' she nodded her head.
'What's it about?' Ricky asked trying to make conversation.
'Art' Lauren replied, she snapped the book shut and got up 'I'm going to see if Joey needs any help' she told him, stuffing the book back in her locker and rushed out of the staff room.
Ricky closed his eyes, knowing he'd blown it. He hated that Joey had been right.
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Ricky spent the rest of the evening watching Lauren and Joey and feeling increasingly jealous by the minute. When the club closed he went into the staff room, grabbed his things and headed for the stairs.
'Hey! Where are you going?' Joey called after him.
'Home. You two can clear up, seeing as I had to set everything up on my own' Ricky called as he climbed the stairs. They heard the door shut and Joey frowned,
'What's his problem?' he started to gather up some glasses from table around the bar.
'Actually that might be my fault' Lauren admitted sheepishly.
'I doubt that' Joey said to her with a shake of his head as he set some empty glasses on the bar. Lauren took the glasses and loaded them into the washer.
'He asked me out earlier' Lauren told him. 'During our break'
'What? And you turned him down, broke his heart?' Joey teased her.
'Not exactly' Lauren said, blushing…'I pretended I didn't hear him' she admitted to him 'and I made an excuse and left him in the staffroom a couple of minutes later'
Joey looked up at her as he carried some more glasses back to the bar, 'Why'd you do that?' he asked her with a frown. From conversations with Alice he knew if his sister liked a guy she would go all shy and tongue tied and make a complete idiot of herself, Joey frowned deeper. Did Lauren like Ricky? He put the glasses down on the bar, moving behind it to help her load the washer, deciding to be direct. 'Do you like Ricky?'
'Yeah, he's okay' she shrugged not really understanding the meaning behind Joey's question.
'No I mean…do you like Ricky?' he asked her again, her head lifted to look at him, she frowned.
'No of course not' she sounded slightly upset Joey thought she did 'I don't really know him very well and he's not my type' she said, reaching for some more empty glasses.
'What is your type?' Joey asked her his voice low, sultry.
'I haven't really thought about it' she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
'You must have a type of man you go for?' he pressed her.
'I suppose you have a type?' Lauren said standing up to look at him, her hands on her hips, inadvertently pressing her cleavage forward. Joey's eyes dropped to her cleavage briefly.
'As a matter of fact I do, up until recently I had a thing for blondes, now I have a thing for brunettes' he stepped closer to her, 'or rather one brunette in particular…' he trailed off with a tentative smile. Lauren swallowed 'do you have any idea how beautiful you are?' he asked her and he reached out and traced her cheek with his fingers tips, so softly she barely felt it. Her lips parted, her heart pounded in her chest as he leaned towards her.
'Joey…' her voice came in out in a whisper 'I can't…'
'Why not?' he asked her softly, his hand cupping her face and tilting her head towards his 'are you seeing someone else?'
'Stop' she whispered, she felt his breath on her lips and she closed her eyes. 'Stop' she told him again this time louder. Joey stopped. She took a step away from him 'I should go'
Joey frowned as she moved round him and disappeared into the staff room. He heard her locker door open and then a few minutes later close again. Pulling on her coat, Lauren checked to make sure she had her door keys before she walked to the stairs. Joey watched her leave, feeling lost and confused. No girl he'd met had turned down his advances. He didn't understand why Lauren had. The more time they spent together he had thought she liked him, now though, he wasn't too sure. Looks like bedding Lauren Cross was going to be harder than he thought. He looked around the bar and he sighed, and now he was going to have clear up the club on his own.
AN: Thank you for all your reviews. Some of you were asking for another chapter and I wasn't planning on posting another one tonight but….. A jealous Ricky acts rashly and asks Lauren out and she completely ignores him and pretends she doesn't know what he's talking about. And then Joey gets jealous thinking that Lauren likes Ricky and makes his move on Lauren…although I think he may have acted rashly too. So what do you think is going to happen next? And no before you as no more chapters tonight. Back tomorrow. Leave me a review