Page 26 of Stranger to Love

I handed her the vodka lemonade. “Six-fifty,” I said with a smile.

She smiled back, tapped her phone, and gave me a final, very obvious glance before walking away.

Mia was grinning, raising an eyebrow as if to say, Going for it? I shook my head. She was hot, but I just didn’t fancy it. Mia’s shoulders slumped in defeat as she crouched down with me to fight with the keg lines under the beer taps.

“What was wrong with that one?” she asked, exasperated.

“Mia, stay out of my pants,” I groaned, swapping out the barrels.

“Nope. I’m getting laid tonight, so I think it's only fair you do too.”

I scoffed. “Very generous of you.” I side-eyed her. “Who are you planning on shagging?”

She hummed playfully, and it instantly clicked. “Fuck's sake, Mia, you’re meeting up with Sam, aren't you? He’s such a prick.”

She just shrugged. “I know, I don’t want to marry the guy.”

I cringed. He was all ‘I had a private education, so I can do whatever I want,’ which actually made me gag. They’d tried dating, but she cut it off when she realised he just wanted to fuck her in the passenger seat of his sports car. Which she did. Then she told me the next day how a two-seater sports car was a lot roomier than she’d imagined. I cut her off before she could explain the logistics. I didn’t want that image of Sam in my head.

Mia laughed, clearly reading my thoughts. “He still has the car.”

Ew. “I don't want to know. You enjoy being folded like a pretzel tonight and leave my sex life to me.”

Mia rolled her eyes, then grinned as she noticed the woman in the flannel shirt finally walking over to my till, her two male friends in tow. I wiped my hands on a bar towel and smiled. “What can I get you?”

Her eyes flicked to my hands for a brief moment before she leaned over the bar to speak over the music. “Three pints of Guinness.”

I grabbed the glasses and started pouring, letting my eyes lock onto hers. “Having a good night?”

Her eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting the bartender to talk to her. She smiled. “Yeah, it’s not bad in here.”

“Well, a couple more of these, and it’ll seem like paradise,” I smirked.

She bit her lip, looking a little bashful but refusing to break eye contact. She was definitely older than me, but she was clearly being affected by the attention. Okay, I thought, maybe I could give this a go.

I lined up the three pints. Sliding them over, I tapped the till. “Twelve pounds.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

I deepened my smirk, nodding toward the card reader. “Yeah. Twelve pounds for two pints.”

It took a second to click in her brain, but when it did, she smiled, tapped her smartwatch against the machine, and gave me a confident wink. “Well, thank you.”

I watched her walk back to her corner. Damn, she had great thighs. But as my eyes trailed up, I noticed the taller guy she was with. He had a shaded beard and a nasty look in his eye. He was giving me an absolute, terrifying death stare from across the room.

Shit. Maybe she was bi, and that was her boyfriend. I took a deep breath and immediately decided to back down. Definitely not worth the agro.

Chapter 7

Alex

Mia looked me dead in the eye as we threw back a shot of vodka.

We hadn’t had a drop all night, but I could see it in her face—she needed this to put up with Sam. Hilarious. A woman who looked like Mia shouldn’t have been desperate, but Sam was easy. Safe. And when a woman looked like her, there weren’t many safe options out there.

Slowly, the club emptied. Flannel Shirt came up to order one last round, the tall guy firmly by her side this time. I charged them for all three pints with a purposeful, neutral look. Flannel Shirt seemed a little disappointed by my lack of flirting.

I didn’t realise I was staring until her gaze met mine. She locked onto my eyes, then nervously tucked her hair behind her shaven ear. Cute. Definitely bi. It could have been fatal if I’d pushed it.