Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
His blue eyes stared at me angrily and his broad chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. “Already forgotten,” he shot back and folded his arms. “Anything else?”
“Just my keys,” I said and ignored the ache in my chest at his easy acceptance of my words. Maybe I hadn’t made as much of an impression as I thought.
“I’m not your damned errand boy. If the keys aren’t in the box, I don’t know what to tell you. I gotta get back to work.”
“It’s not about you personally,” I rushed to reassure him, and I was relieved that he didn’t just keep walking. “I just think we’re all wrong for each other. You’re too young and I’m too set in my ways.”
“Right,” he snorted, shook his head and walked away, his long strides carried him away as quickly as they would without him actually running away from me.
I wanted to stop him and make him listen while I explained, but there was no point. It was best for both of us if we returned to our normal interactions, antagonistic and distant. So instead of going after him, I checked one last time for my keys before I gave up and left the bar without a word to Carlotta or Grady.
Chapter 6
Grady
~ June
“I’ll have a martini, and don’t be so heavy handed with the brine this time.” Margot was back to her old uptight self, barking orders at me as if I was her personal servant. She was damned lucky that I wasn’t the type of guy to spread my business around town for public consumption, because I was so tempted to remind her that I knew exactly what she liked, and more importantly, how she liked it.
I smirked at her over the top efforts to pretend we hadn’t been naked together a mere two weeks ago. “Sure thing ma’am. Only a slightly dirty martini, an untidy martini for you then,” I sneered and got to work on her drink. I knew she loved how I made them, because she always ordered at least three, and uttered a little moan with her first sip. I took out my frustration on the cocktail shaker before pouring the liquid into a chilled glass and I slid it across the bar. “Enjoy your drink, ma’am.”
She snatched the drink off the bar and made her way back to the table where Pippa, Valona and Carlotta had gathered for some type of girls’ night.
“Wow, what was that about?” Levi’s bewilderment was evident in his voice, and when I turned to him the shock on his face was almost comical.
“You know how it is with her.”
“Yeah, normally you guys are a little snippy with each other, maybe even borderline rude, but that was outright hostile. What gives?”
“Nothing,” I answered too quickly, especially considering the man had made a name for himself getting secrets out of people. “You know how Margot is, thinks she’s better than everyone else, that we were all put here just to make her life easier.” It’s not like I was looking for happily ever after with her, or with anyone for that matter, but she didn’t have to be so cruel about it.
“She’s a little uptight,” he agreed and sipped his IPA. “But you’re both unflappable except when it comes to each other, and that has to mean something.”
“Yeah it means we don’t like each other, plain and simple. It happens, even in perfect small towns like this one.”
“Nah,” Levi laughed. “Lacey didn’t like me when we met, and even we weren’t like you and Margot. There’s some serious sexual attention between you two, and a few nights together might be the only thing to fix it.”
I shrugged and nodded as a pair of men flagged me down at the other end of the bar. “Nothing wrong that needs fixing,” I assured my friend and tapped on the bar before I spent the next twenty minutes fulfilling orders and making drinks.
Occasionally my thoughts and my eyes would land on Margot, and I would get angry all over again. With myself and with her. I could almost hear my father’s voice telling me not to be a pussy, and that horrible advice was the only thing keeping me from giving the woman a piece of my mind. That, and the fact that she wasn’t worth it, and was well-regarded in town. It was best if I thought of her as just another notch on my bedpost.
That’s all she was.
When I returned to Levi, his girlfriend Lacey had joined him. “What’ll it be, Lace?”
She smiled and tapped her chin, doing that gears churning thing she did when she wanted to test my mixology skills. “I’m thinking I’ll have a Rum Blazer, please.” Her lips curled up into a mischievous smile and I laughed.
“Coming right up,” I assured her and gathered the cocktail ingredients. “Planning to do a story in Cuba soon?”