Page 93 of Beauty and the Beard

Lucky me, I get to drive him home tonight after the big party downtown. Leaf and Sasha made their appearances, and the press ate it up. Sasha surprised Leaf with an announcement to plant a new tree in Connor’s park downtown and I’m man enough to admit it brought a tear to my eye.

Roman not so much. He’s a thorn in my side.

“Are you ready yet?”

The pain in question slams his empty glass on the bar and peers at me with glassy eyes.

“I’ve been ready for at least thirty minutes. You said you wanted to finish your drink.”

He looks at the empty glass, then back to the door of the men’s washroom. A man exits with messed up hair and a smile as big asTexas on his face. He nods at Roman and clears his throat before turning in the opposite direction.

“Seriously? In the bathroom? Could you be any more cliché?”

Tossing a tip down for the bartender, I grab my coat and motion toward the door.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I had spontaneous sex. It’s not cliché. You’re a cliché. Do you own anything not plaid?”

He sniffs and strolls to the coat check, leaving me behind.

“I like plaid.”

“And I like sex. So we’re even.”

The girl hands him his coat. It’s a giant white puffy thing, and he looks like an oversized marshmallow. I can’t hold my laughter in.

“What’s so funny?”

“You remind me of a marshmallow in that thing. The big one fromGhostbusters.”

His response is to stalk away and expect me to follow.

And I do, because my brother asked me to so he could leave early with Sasha. It’s nights like this I wish I wasn’t single. The February air still carries some iciness and I wouldn’t mind snuggling up with a warm body tonight.

But instead, I need to get a diva back to the lodge and it’s too late to call any of my casual hooks-ups. Maybe I should just try to make the best of it with Roman’s company.

“Your vehicle is filthy. I’m sending you the dry cleaning bill if my coat gets stained.”

And there goes that thought.

There’s nothing about Roman’s company I want to keep.