AllFreeNovel
Share Us
From there I walked. I walked until I could no longer see the spires of The Plaza peeking overhead. I walked through construction zones and busy intersections and some sort of business district. When I hit the entrance to the train station, I turned—no real clue where I was heading, but I continued to walk until everything looked unfamiliar.
My new boots were beginning to hurt my feet and I regretted not changing into more comfortable shoes after my lunch date. I looked for a restaurant that might serve booze so I could rest for a while.
Following signs to a rooftop establishment, I snuck into an aged building and took the elevators to the top floors. Black and white polished checkered tile met with deep blue walls. Dangling crystals cascaded from the ceiling as the stunning display of liquors illuminated on the far wall called to me like a mecca.
“Can I help you, miss?”
I turned to the woman I assumed was the hostess. “I’d like a seat near the bar.”
“Right this way.”
She led me to a red velvet sofa and placed a narrow cocktail menu on the white marble table. I glanced over the options and when a server arrived I ordered something called a Caribbean old fashioned, delighted when it arrived quickly.
I sipped the spiced drink, letting the rum and sugar work their way toward my frayed nerves. My phone buzzed and my mother’s name flashed on the screen. I sent the call to voicemail.
Part of me wanted to tell her about meeting my dad, because she, more than anyone, knew what I’d gone through with him. But another part of me was pissed.
How could she have gone my entire life without ever mentioning that he’d remarried? Had I known my dad had a new wife, the possibility of him also having other kids might have crossed my mind, and I might not have wound up sitting in a bar at age thirty blindsided and hurt.
It wasn’t my mom’s fault. But my emotions were a little hard to manage at the moment, and I didn’t want to take my shitty feelings out on her, so it was best to avoid her for now.
I was just beginning to unwind when a feminine laugh caught my ear. I followed the sound and my gaze collided with a familiar set of gunmetal grey eyes.
Shit. My shoulders tensed.
Barrett—with another blonde bombshell plastered to his side—stared back at me. This was not the ambiguity I was seeking.
His easy expression darkened as his brows came down. I dropped my gaze and fiddled with my cocktail napkin. No chance he’d figure it was normal for me to travel across the city alone and drink at a place like this midafternoon.
He’d assume something was up, and then he’d alert Hale before I had a chance to get my thoughts together. Not that I wasn’t allowed to be there. I could go wherever I wanted, but not without Marty.
My flight or fight instincts kicked in and I felt the urge to flee again. I wasn’t sure where this hunger for defiance came from, I just knew I needed to feel untethered for a moment so I could be alone with my thoughts. This obviously wasn’t the place to do that.
Chugging back my drink, I threw a few bucks on the table and headed toward the restroom. A quick pee and then I’d move on to a different watering hole.
But as I exited the bathroom I came face to face with Barrett. “Meyers.”
“Hi, Barrett.”
“You alone?”
“In the bathroom? Yes, that’s usually how that works.”
He frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“Same thing as everyone else. Drinking.”
“By yourself?”
“Yes. By myself. I am of legal age, which usually means I can do so without other people’s permission. Did you want to see my license?”
He frowned. “You okay?”
“Fine.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why don’t you join us?”
I glanced past his shoulder to the ninety-pound woman with lips the size of bike tires. She somehow managed to send flirtatious glances at Barrett while also giving me the stink eye.
