She huffs, then says, “You’re unbelievable.”
Same thing she said to me at the hotel after she came on my face. “My favorite word,” I toss back. Like I said then too.
“It wasn’t a compliment,” she says, incredulous, but maybe fighting off a laugh too.
“It kind of was though.”
The conversation comes to a fast end as Esmeralda plunks down a mojito and a whiskey sour in front of us. “I guess you two know each other,” she says, her eyes twinkling with interest.
Chloe sets a hand on my shoulder. “Yes, this is Sawyer, my co-worker, but you can also refer to him as the bane of my existence,” she says, and my attention drifts to her hand on me, the way her fingers curl around my muscles, how she touches me so easily, like it’s second nature, this affection.
Esmeralda arches a brow. “So it’s not Mister Serious Boss?”
“I like Bane of Her Existence better,” I deadpan.
“Bane of Her Existence it is,” Esmeralda says, then swings her gaze from Chloe to me and back. “Am I getting a vibe between you two?”
Chloe yanks her hand off me, and she’s faster than a Bugatti as she shouts, “No!”
Chuckling, I lift my palm, then point Chloe’s way, like she can’t see me as I stage-whisper, “She wants to know if I had a hot date the other night.”
The bartender sets her elbows on the bar and parks her chin in her hands. “And did you?”
“Esme, do not feed the wildlife,” Chloe says in a warning.
Esmeralda waves a hand. “You know I never follow orders.”
“Don’t make me go to Clementine’s,” Chloe says, reaching for her mojito.
“You’d never leave me.” Esmeralda turns back to me. “Sodidyouhave a hot date? Inquiring minds want to know.”
I adopt a small smile. “Esmeralda, I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Fair enough,” she says before taking off to wait on a new customer at the other end of the bar.
Once she’s gone, Chloe looks to me withgive him hellwritten in her eyes. “Did you come here tonight to drive me crazy?”
“No, but is it working?”
“Yes. It’s working incredibly well,” she says.
My rebel side takes that as a compliment.
Chloe lifts her glass like she’s about to take a sip, maybe to wash away the taste of this conversation, but I set a hand on hers. “We need to toast,” I say, but it comes out a little raspy. I blame it on the feel of her skin underneath mine. It feels damn good.
“To what? To you coming in here all…cocky, and swagger-y, and irritating when I’m trying to come up with a plan for the meeting?”
Well, shit. When she puts it that way. “Sorry,” I say, meaning it, since I should probably draw the line better, back off more. “I was just trying to have fun.” I swallow roughly, then do something hard—make myself vulnerable. “It’s been a while since I’ve had fun.”
Her smile shifts, sympathetic now. “I get it. Fun is good. But I also just really want this to work out.”
There’s a touch of desperation in her voice. Or maybe hope. The two are often one and the same. Her words, though, are a reminder to focus on the goal. “Me too. Let’s roll up our sleeves. Butfirst we should toast to…” I pause, thinking on it for a few seconds. “To putting things on my tab.”
Her smile spreads, easy and natural. “I will definitely drink to your tab.”
We clink glasses. After I knock back some whiskey sour, I slide into business mode. “Okay, so Webflix is shooting a new rom-com here in Darling Springs. And we want the dog daycare scenes shot at Dog Tails—it’ll help both of us. Right?”
“Exactly! I talked to Ava after they left and got a few more details. She said the show is looking into places here that won’t require permits from the city or closures. Places they’ll use occasionally, for shoots, where the characters would go with their dogs. Including a pet supply shop.”
