At one stage I thought that she and Adrian were sleeping together, but when I brought it up one night during after-shift drinks, they both broke into fits of laughter and told me I was crazy. Charlene has a strong personality, and it will take the right man to make her look sideways. He is a strong man, but she sees him more like a brother.
I finish mixing cosmopolitans for the two women sitting further up the bar, and as I turn to walk back toward my order screen, I catch a glimpse of the blonde hair and blue eyes that were inhabiting my dreams last night, slipping into a gap in the crowd to order a drink.
But she doesn’t look anything like the disheveled woman I found asleep on my couch last night. Her hair is pinned back into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck, leaving soft waves falling down her back. Her makeup hasn’t been plastered on her face, like so many of the women in here, but rather it highlights her blue eyes, making them sparkle more than they already do. And the black, body-hugging, V-neck, long-sleeved top she is wearing shows me enough of her skin to make my cock pay attention. Something it hasn’t done in a very long time.
Poppy catches me looking at her and gives me a slight wave before turning her attention to Garth who is asking for her order. I wonder what she drinks—is she an espresso-martini girl or is a whiskey sour more her poison? I lift my head to acknowledge her, then shout to Garth to get his attention. I give him the signal of pointing to my right pocket which all my staff know means the drinks are on the house. He just nods and gets on with it, as do I. It’s so busy, I can’t let her distract me tonight.
But as I get back to my order, all that is running through my mind is, what the hell is she doing here?
I hear my name being yelled from her direction and look up to see her weird friend holding her glass of complimentary champagne in the air and shouting out a loud thank-you over to me. I notice Poppy cringing a little at her friend’s antics, and I can’t help but smile and give them a wave, before Poppy turns to make room for the next customer at the bar.
“Fuck me,” I mumble under my breath as I take in the view of her bare back under her blonde hair, where her shirt dips down almost to her waist. If my cock wasn’t already paying attention, then that’d do it.
Charlene smirks as she steps in beside me. “About fucking time, I thought your sex drive had turned to stone. That’s the first time I’ve seen you even look since… um, in a long time.” Shetries to recover, but I know what she was going to say. And she’s right.
“Isn’t your job to serve the customers, not be watching your boss?” I bite back, and she just laughs because she is used to my temperament and knows she has struck a nerve.
“Grumpy ass.” She laughs and keeps moving.
For the next hour, I put my head down and try not to scan the room every few minutes to keep track of where Poppy is. But there is something about that woman, because on the few times I look around, it’s as though my eyes are instantly drawn to her. She and her friend are now sitting on stools at one of the high-top tables toward the side of the room, and I watch as a couple of guys sidle up to them. As the one in the brown shirt leans in closer to Poppy, I see her withdraw from him, while her friend is too busy laughing at whatever his buddy is saying to notice.
My first instinct is to march over there and tell them to fuck off and leave the women alone. It’s completely irrational, and I can’t leave the bar to do it, but my blood boils as I watch the scene play out in front of me.
“Blonde and brunette, table 13. They’re friends of mine, keep them safe. And get rid of the assholes bothering them,” I say into my security mic, and watch John moving his eyes to locate them, before he replies.
“On it, boss.” His voice is in my ear as he quickly moves toward them. Poppy doesn’t need to know it was me, and I don’t need to do something I’m going to regret later. Because even though she is stirring something inside of me, I can’t let it show.
Another hour passes, and as the bar eases up a bit, I take the opportunity to restock some of the bottles of spirits. That’s when I hear her voice again, but this time she is right behind me. It’s the loud friend again. I’m too fucking tired tonight to be dealing with this, but when I turn around, I see that Poppy is now seatedat the bar. She has that glow on her cheeks that some people get when they have been drinking.
“Hi, Landonnnn.” The loud friend drags out my name, the way drunk people do, and it always annoys the shit out of me. “I’m Autumn, Poppy’s best friend.” She sticks her hand out for me to shake.
“Nice to meet you.” I shake her hand, but my eyes are on Poppy, trying to gauge how drunk she is. “Are you enjoying your night at Lucinda’s?” I ask to make small talk, hoping that Poppy will reply so I can hear her speak.
“You have a beautiful bar, Landon,” Poppy says clearly with perfect speech, and it’s then that I realize I may have mistaken the alcohol glow with the blush of slight embarrassment.
“Thank you,” I reply.
“Yeah, you have the best cocktails, and it’s full of super-hot guys, right, Poppy?” Autumn nudges her while giggling, but Poppy looks like she wants to kill her.
“We aim to please,” I answer in my gruff voice. “Can I get you another drink?” I pick up my tablet to punch in their order.
“I think we have imposed enough on your generosity tonight,” Poppy declares, but Autumn is already talking over top of her.
“Yes, another round of margaritas.” She leans forward on the bar and tries to whisper to me. “And keep them coming. We need to get Poppy drunk so she can let loose. She’s too uptight, don’t you think? Nothing a good man can’t fix.”
“Okay, that’s enough from you.” Poppy grabs the back of Autumn’s shirt and pulls her back onto her stool. “I think you have had enough for one night.” She looks back up at me as Autumn keeps mumbling to herself. “For future reference, never offer Autumn free drinks, otherwise she will drink your bar dry and then you are left with this version of her that has no verbalfilter.” She waves her hand in front of Autumn which brings out my first laugh I think I’ve had all night.
“And what about you, Poppy? Have you been enjoying my free drinks while perusing my bar full of‘super-hot men’to loosen you up?” I lean my forearms on the bar, and the rest of the room seems to disappear as I look into her eyes.
I watch her swallow and open her mouth, but no words come out. I might have been out of the flirting game for a while, but I’ve still got it, which is good to know.
“No! She has only had two drinks, and that’s just a waste of a night out when you are dressed up all sexy and out on the town. Don’t you think?” Autumn slaps me on the arm, but my intense focus has not moved from Poppy.
“Depends on what you are trying to gain from the night out.” And I can see a small shiver run through her body. “So where did you see this night going, Poppy?” My voice is getting deeper and huskier.
Pulling her shoulders back, she sits a little taller. “Just a bit of fun and nothing more,” she teases, licking her top lip. Is that what this little visit tonight is about? She thought I was an easy target for a holiday fuck. Well, she’s wrong, but let’s see how hard she’s prepared to work for it.
“I don’t believe that a woman like you doesn’t play games. You want more than fun, and that’s why you’re out prowling.” Leaning closer to her so we are mere inches apart, I whisper, “Isn’t that right, tiger.”
