AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Between my father’s revelation about the VP position and running into Lucas Wednesday, I’d been looking forward to this happy hour. The fact that Boots and Brews was next door to his tattoo place? Hopefully, irrelevant. Because unlike a few days ago, I no longer wanted to run into him.
Liar.
“I love these saloon doors,” Natalie said as we pushed open said doors. “They really set the tone for the place.”
Zoe, a woman who’d just moved to Kitchi Falls a few months ago, laughed. “I’d say the music does a pretty good job of that too.”
As it was a country-western themed bar, it was no surprise we opened the doors to the sound of George Strait. Zoe, a complete and utter spitfire who had been recruited to manage one of my dad’s resorts, did not waste any time. The woman’s motto—work hard, play hard—was on display pretty much twenty-four seven. Although I was glad to count her as a friend, there were times I simply couldn’t keep up.
“Where does she get her energy?” I asked Natalie.
“Damned if I know,” she said as we sidled our way to the bar. Of course, Zoe had already ordered three vodka sodas. “Never mind there were already a half dozen people here,” I said of the crowded bar.
“I don’t know where Mazzie found the bartender, but look at that guy. No wonder Zoe got served so quick.”
I was already looking. Smoking hot, with tousled brown hair that was somewhat wavy and on the longer side, he looked like a cross between a surfer and a banjo player, but one who could stick on a suit and fit perfectly into the Wall Street crowd. Zoe didn’t seem to notice. She was on her phone, texting the boyfriend from hell that literally no one liked.
Except Zoe.
Putting her phone away, tossing some bills on the bar, and handing us her drinks, Zoe raised her own in a toast. “Happy Friday, bitches!”
It was impossible not to feel empowered beside her. We toasted, and just like a week ago, began to sway to the music. My plan for the night? Not to think about my dad. Or him. Or any man. It was simply to enjoy my friends and the music, and to look forward to a day off. With a wedding photo shoot at the resort Sunday, I’d be working at least a half day. But tomorrow was all for myself, and since I had a ton of projects to choose from at my apartment, I’d be using it to catch up on at least one of them. Painting my bathroom didn’t sound like a ton of fun, but it needed to be done.
Watching Zoe and Natalie run out onto the dance floor, having politely declined to join them, I leaned against an empty space at the bar. And did not look for Lucas. (Although he didn’t appear to be here, not that I was looking.)
Apparently, my Deep Eddy’s had a hole in it. I turned back to the bar and waited for the cute bartender to notice me.
Nah, more than cute. The guy was a certified hottie. So why didn’t my libido respond? Like it had with that dickhead who shall not be named?
“What d’ya got there?” the bartender asked.
Nice voice. Probably around my age. Where the heck had he come from? I knew most people in town.
“Deep Eddy’s Sweet Tea vodka and water,” I answered.
He took my glass with a smile. I watched as he got my drink, willing myself to feel something similar to when I looked at Lucas. But it wasn’t there.
“Thanks,” I said, “how much?”
Reaching into his back pocket, he threw cash onto the bar “Doesn’t matter,” he responded. “Enjoy.”
I blinked. “You aren’t going to make much by buying the customers drinks,” I scolded him.
“Just one customer,” he said, erasing any doubt the guy was flirting with me. “I doubt I’ll go broke from one drink.”
“True.”
Just as the bartender opened his mouth to respond, I felt something behind me.
Not something. Someone.
With a deep breath in, my traitorous body told me even before my mind could register the fact that Lucas was there. Standing really, really close to me.
So close, in fact, that when he leaned forward to order a drink, his head nearly touched mine. “Bourbon. Neat.”
The bartender, looking momentarily confused, but no more so than me, went right to work getting Lucas his drink. Back when we’d dated, Lucas had been a bit of the jealous type.
Leaning into my ear, still from behind, he whispered over the music, “Having a good time, Charlee?”
