Page 15 of The Other Half

As much as I wanted to keep drinking in my fill of those eyes and that face, I was grateful he’d stopped watching me now that I had to start taking more orders. After several more messed up drinks and a few more irritated groans from the customers, and I was still struggling to make sense of this whole bartending thing. It was a lot harder than I’d anticipated and I had a whole new respect for the bartenders who’d kept up with me and my friends all those years. After one more glance at the solemn man at the bar, I pulled my eyes away and took my next order.

CHAPTER SIX

Jake

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Of all the things I expected to see at the Ox tonight, the woman from the cabin working behind the bar wasn’t one of them. It seemed she wasn’t some weekend tourist after all. If she’d gotten a job here, that probably meant she was staying. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, at least it meant there wouldn’t be a steady stream of strangers next door each weekend. On the other, it meant my summer solitude had just gone up in a puff of spilled beer and broken glasses. Taking a swig of my whiskey and coke, I peeked up to watch her again.

I may have sworn off women completely, but I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit how good she looked fumbling back there behind the bar. Those jeans hugged every curve of her slender legs, and when she’d bend over to fill the glasses with ice, that low scooped tank top gave me a peek of the breasts that filled it out damn well. The long, blonde hair that had cascaded down her back when I’d arrived was now pulled into a ponytail after she’d gotten frustrated fighting it a few minutes ago. Even though she didn’t look as out of place as she had stuck in that step, she still didn’t look like the kind of girl I’d see behind the bar at the Ox. And from the way she struggled to make drinks, it looked like she’d never been behind a bar in her life.

“What’s all in a gin and tonic?” I heard her ask Jo.

Pursing my lips together, I tried to stifle my smile waiting for Jo’s response. Ever since we were kids, Jo had a mouth on her and when I saw her face drop at the question, I held my breath for the incoming storm of words.

“Seriously? What’s in a gin and tonic? Um... gin and tonic! Come on, Cassie! Have you ever even had a drink?”

Cassie. So that was her name. When Jo snapped at her, those green eyes of hers shot to me rather than to Jo. A pink hue rose in her cheeks and she dropped her eyes back to the ground.

“Sorry, Jo. Stupid question.”

“Yes. It was a stupid question. He told you the ingredients. Remember? Gin and tonic is gin and tonic. Captain and coke is Captain and coke. Whiskey and coke is—”

“Whiskey and coke,” Cassie answered like a scolded child.

“Good!” Jo chided, and I felt a little sorry for the poor girl. Jo always meant well, but she was all business and when the bar was overflowing with thirsty customers, she didn’t have the patience to hold the hand of the new girl.

The ice in my glass clinked against my teeth when I slid the last of my drink out. After I set it back on the bar, I slid it forward toward the rail. Cassie appeared in front of me, and I looked back up from the spot on the bar I spent most nights staring past my pain.

“Another?” she asked, and those emerald eyes locked onto mine. The feeling that surged through me when our eyes met filled me with as much anger as it did some other feeling I was having trouble identifying. It was the same one I’d felt when I first saw her behind the bar tonight. The anger came from the fact I didn’t want to be having pesky feelings about some girl. The last time I had feelings about a girl ended up the reason I was sitting here drinking pissed off and alone, and intending to keep it that way.

I gave her a quick nod, and she picked up my glass and turned to fill it. Before she made it a step away, she spun back around. Uncertainly filled her eyes while she chewed on her lower lip.

“Sorry. What was it again?”

“Whiskey coke.”

“Oh, yeah!”

“That’s whiskey and coke mixed together,” I added, unable to stop myself from a little good-natured jab.

A soft smile lifted her full red lips and her chuckle induced a small one in me. It startled me to hear myself laugh. It’d been awhile. Struggling to suppress my smile, I lowered my eyes back to the stain on the bar I stared at every evening I came in for my two drinks after work.

Even though I tried not to look, I couldn’t help peeking up to watch her fill up my drink. Something about her stirred something in me, and I grumbled again at myself for allowing myself to feel it. Miserable and alone. That’s how I planned on spending my remaining days. Well, hopefully the misery would pass sooner or later, but the alone I fully intended on hanging on to.

When she returned with my drink and set it down, I gave her another nod and forced my gaze to stay on the bar. Nothing good could come of looking into those eyes. Nothing good at all.

After standing in front of me for a moment, she moved on to the next customer and I exhaled a deep breath. If she’d stood there any longer, I’d have been tempted to look back up at her. And if I looked back up at her that damned feeling would invade my misery again. I wasn’t ready to stop feeling miserable, so I did my best to ignore her.

“Hey, Jake,” Jo said while she blew by.

“Hey, Jo.”

“Those guys bought you a drink.” I looked up to the end of the bar where she pointed while she tapped a beer. I’d taken those two guys out on a fishing trip earlier. They both waved and still wore the same grins they’d had stretched across their faces since they each pulled in the two biggest salmon of their lives.

With a nod and a lift of my glass, I thanked them for the drink. The hundred-dollar tip they’d given me was more than sufficient, but I’d take another drink as well.

“Thanks, Captain Jake!” They lifted their beers toward me, and I heard them start recounting the tale of their trip to the men gathered around them. Free advertising, I thought when all eyes turned toward me. Not that I needed it this time of the year. My charters were booked up weeks in advance.