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Her eyes widen.

Georgie bursts out laughing, and the new girl bumps her hip against hers before laughing too.

Something in my chest shifts.

She’s fucking beautiful. Warm olive skin, soft curves and a smile that somehow reaches me from the other side of the crowded room.

Then she looks up.

Her hazel eyes find mine as though she felt me staring. Instead of immediately looking away, she holds my gaze.

Five seconds. Maybe more, maybe less.

Long enough for the noise around me to disappear.

Long enough that I forget what Mallory was saying.

Fuck, I’m screwed.

Three

Blair

Bill wasn’t lying when he said Fridays are busy.

I’m used to working in a bustling bar, but I didn’t expect a town this small to have this many people in it. Where the fuck do they all come from?

Thank God for Georgie. She’s been my knight in shining armor all night, showing me where everything is while somehow serving three people at once. I’m beginning to think she has extra arms hidden beneath the bar.

“Two pale ales, a whiskey sour and three vodka sodas,” she calls, sliding an empty tray toward me.

“Already on it,” I reply.

I line up the glasses, pouring the drinks while Georgie deals with a man who insists he ordered a bourbon ten minutes ago.

“You ordered it thirty seconds ago, Frank,” she tells him, popping the cap off his beer. “I know retirement has slowed time down for you, but Jesus.”

Frank accepts the drink with a laugh.

People keep greeting each other by name. Customers move between tables to say hello, and Bill seems to know what half the room wants before they even reach the bar. It’s warm and loud, but nothing like New York. No one is shoving past each other or clicking their fingers to get my attention.

Everyone seems genuinely happy to be here.

Including me, strangely enough.

“Babe, can you head over to the table in the back-left corner?” Georgie asks, nodding across the room. “I’ll take care of these customers.”

“Yep. On it.”

I grab my order pad and start making my way between the tables. My steps falter when I realize which one she’s sending me toward.

Mystery Man.

The one who caught my eye earlier. My stomach felt as though it fell straight through to my asshole when he looked at me.

He’s still watching me now.

I give my head a little shake to clear the illicit thoughts and paste on my best dazzling smile.