“We get that a lot.”
“I love a man in uniform.”
Oh brother. She’s bombed.
Mike glanced at Cassie, wondering how much they’d had to drink. Just then the waitress placed two shot glasses on their table. Dark liquid with a layer of brown foam on top.
“Here ya go, gals. You said keep them coming.” The lively waitress propped one hand on a shapely hip. “What can I get for you boys?”
“What’s that?” Mike pointed to the shot glasses.
“B52 bombers.”
He’d hit the nail dead on. They were bombed.
“Sounds good to me. Two more,” Shep said.
Mike raised his brows. Shep did not drink hard liquor. Hell, he rarely drank beer.
Shep turned back to Tammy. “Are you ladies celebrating?”
A cloud of darkness screwed up Tammy’s face. Cassie quickly filled the silence.
“We, uh, received some troubling news.”
“And we’re here to forget.” Tammy lifted one of the glasses. “Bottoms up.” She stared at Cassie as if daring her.
“Why don’t you take mine?” Cassie slid her glass across the table to Shep.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t take yours,” he said in a long drawl as he shoved it back. “That wouldn’t be gentlemanly.”
The two girls glared at each other with an undercurrent of meaningful communication. Mike sure as hell couldn’t figure out the message they’d exchanged. Seconds ticked by.
“Bottoms up,” Shep repeated, coaxing the girls to drink.
A gleam sparked in his eyes, like a troublemaker instigating mischief. He seemed eager, keen on seeing if they would drink the B52s in one gulp. Mike had not seen this side of Shep.
“We agreed …” Cassie started talking, then stopped as Tammy flung back her head and the contents of the shot-glass disappeared.
Shep propped his arm on the booth behind her and offered his beer. She grabbed it like someone dying of thirst.
“What the hell,” Cassie mumbled just before she tilted the glass and drained it. When she slammed the glass on the table, her hair hid her face. Even though Mike couldn’t see her eyes, her quick raspy breaths indicated the B52 had burned going down.
His shoulders shook with mirth. What a woman. He was glad he and Shep showed up. These girls would definitely need help getting home. If luck came Mike’s way, he would spend the night with his sensual teacher. Even though sex was off the table, he’d still consider himself lucky.
The waitress placed two more drinks on their table. Shep held up two fingers. “Two more.”
“How you doing on beers?”
“Another round, please. And two more burgers.”
Burgers sounded good to Mike. The Pitt Stop served man-sized burgers. As if suddenly seeing the food in front of her, Cassie said, “Oh, yeah.” She picked up her burger and took an unladylike bite.
“I love a woman with a good appetite,” Mike said watching her.
“See? I told you.” Tammy shouted.
“Told her what?” Shep leaned closer to Tammy.