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“We should probably get going,” Lynnette said. “But it was surprisingly fun to meet you.”
“I hope you get together with her someday,” Julia said. “You two would make a really cute couple.”
I flashed her a crooked grin. “We would, but it helps when one half is me.”
Julia laughed, then stood and started toward the door.
“If you do get together, I hope she’s tough.” Lynnette joined her friend, calling back over her shoulder. “You need someone to keep you in line.”
She wasn’t wrong.
But I was never getting together with Marigold.
I watched them go, not sure if I was disappointed or indifferent. I finished my beer, idly wondering if Rocco would serve me another one. Probably not.
Maybe I’d just go home and drink myself into oblivion. While I wasn’t scheduled to work in the morning, I couldn’t be sure my current client wouldn’t call me in on a weekend. It had happened before. And as much as I did not want to admit I was getting older, I wasn’t as resilient as I used to be. At twenty-one, I’d been able to party all night and sober up enough to be sharp at work by eight. Now that I was in my mid-thirties, recovering from a night of drinking took longer.
And being sharp wasn’t optional when you were an electrician. A mistake could literally kill me.
Although that was part of why I liked my job.
A male voice, rising in anger, caught my attention and I glanced over my shoulder. Cory Wilcox was at a table with some girl I didn’t know. Neither of them looked happy. His face contorted as he spoke and she leaned away, as if trying to put more space between them.
Cory was a jerk. I knew him from way back. We hadn’t exactly been friends in high school, but we’d run with the same crowd. Nowadays, he was a loud-mouthed dick with the beginnings of a beer gut. The girl he was with had blond hair with dark roots and she was dressed in black.
He leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying something I couldn’t quite hear. Her eyebrows drew together as she replied.
I turned around. Not my problem, not my business.
Except Cory would not shut up. His voice rose again. “That’s bullshit, Katrina, and you know it.”
“Why do you always have to be like this?”
“Because you pull this shit constantly. I work my ass off and what do you do all day? Sit around doing nothing. You’re useless and you think you can complain about me?”
My back tensed.
“You shouldn’t talk to me like that.”
“I’ll talk to you however the fuck I want.”
I glanced in Garrett’s direction. He and his buddies were on the other side of the bar. They’d probably intervene if it came down to it, but they were too far away to hear what was happening.
Katrina started to say something else, but Cory laid into her, calling her a long string of expletives. I didn’t know her, and hell, maybe she really did sit around all day doing nothing while he worked, but that didn’t mean he had a right to treat her like that.
I wasn’t necessarily known for being a nice guy, but I had a very short fuse when it came to pieces of shit like Cory. You didn’t talk to a woman like that. Ever. I glanced at them.
Her chair scraped across the floor as she got up to leave.
“You dumb bitch, get your ass back here.”
Cory grabbed her arm.
Okay, I was done.
I stood and, thankfully, the room didn’t spin. I was steady as I walked over to Cory. He was right in Katrina’s face, but not yelling loudly enough to attract the attention of the cops in the room.
That was fine. I’d handle it.
