Page 2 of Into The Light

Eric laughed and craned his neck to see him across the crowded room. “Doubles for the price of singles? So, you’re saying to pour even less gin than a normal single for Mr. Chomps Houlihan?”

“You know it.”

We exchanged smiles and a fist bump. Since Eric had been at this for years, he rolled with the punches better than me. Every night while we counted our tips and sipped on our one free shifter, he’d tell me it got easier with time and gave me advice on how to control my temper when the customers shredded my sanity. But it had been three months since I’d accepted this second job and I swore it got harder each day not to lose it on my customers.

“Two really weak gin and tonics.” With a wink, he set the drinks on the server mat in front of me.

“Thanks, Eric.” I grabbed one in each hand and surveyed the best way to get back to my table. Friday nights always proved tricky as the place filled up with over-paid, over-worked business types looking to blow off the stress of the week. The group of gold diggers in six-inch stilettos and skintight dresses moved like a school of fish toward the booths and left me an opening. If there was one thing you learn as a cocktail waitress, it was evasive maneuvering. I spun my way through the crowd toward the opening, but it filled with bodies before I could make it.

Damn. New plan. I jumped in behind the Glamsquad, letting them break the path to get me closer to my table. Their high-pitched squeals nearly shattered the glasses I guarded as I looked for an opening.

“He’s gorgeous!” one cooed.

“He’s mine!” another said.

“He’s looking at me. Suck it, bitches,” the one with the legs up to my ears argued.

Who are they looking at? Craning my neck around I searched to get a glimpse of the man they still bickered about. The thick crowd and the Glamazons blocked any chance I had of sneaking a peek. No luck. Oh well, not like I could do anything other than stare anyway.

“Waitress! We’re thirsty!” It was Chomps Houlihan. He waved his hands like a man stranded on a desert island trying to hail an overhead plane. I rolled my eyes and gave up my quest to see the man causing an all-out girl war in front of me.

Holding my breath, I squeezed between two lawyers debating who had argued their case better today. They made no attempt to move or acknowledge my awkward maneuvering trying to get two full drinks and my ample breasts between them. Rubbing your boobs on strangers all night while you squeeze between them was a part of the job I would never get used to.

I made it through with both drinks still intact, but when I turned the opposite way to begin my next military-style maneuvering the last ten feet to my table, I ground to a stop and growled. The Glamazon pack had managed to get there before me and once again blocked my way.

Son of a...

“It’s him. That’s Henry Cavill. Swear to God!” The tallest of the girl squad peered over the heads of the others.

Henry Cavill is here? He’s so hot. Okay, this I need to see.

I saw a parting in the pack and took the opportunity to sneak a peek. Standing on my tiptoes, I craned to see the corner booth where they focused all their attention.

And then I saw him.

Holy shit.

My jaw slackened while I soaked in the sight of him. He looked the other way, but it gave me a great profile view of his chiseled jaw and straight, perfect nose. His dark, thick hair was swept back into a style that would send Ken Barbie into a jealous fit. A designer suit flowed over his broad shoulders and tapered to a set of perfectly chiseled abs hiding behind the table. At least they were in my mind’s eye. Now I could understand all the fuss.

He was talking to someone I couldn’t see because the redhead in the black Prada dress I had eyeballed in this month’s Vogue blocked my way. His head turned back, and blue eyes the color of ice passed over the crowd and found their way to mine.

Sweet Jesus, he’s looking at me.

But he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking through me. My skin prickled and my spine shivered with the intensity of his gaze. I knew I shouldn’t stand there gawking at him, but my feet and my eyes both ignored my pleas to move. I stood there clutching those gin and tonics for dear life while arguing with my jaw to stay shut. As I soaked in the sight of the gorgeous man at the booth, my breath stalled in my lungs. Not Henry Cavill after all. Similar, yes, but this man was even more striking. He was... beautiful.

The girl with the legs up to my neck wobbled on a too-tall heel and stumbled back a step. Her lanky arm swung for balance and collided with the bottom of the gin and tonic in my right hand. It tipped backward, and ice cubes and liquid chased the path the beer had laid between my breasts.

Shit!

I broke his gaze and looked down at my breasts that were now covered with gin and tonic. Another glance at the glass showed it only half full. The smell of junipers mixed with beer wafted from my breasts to my nose and I choked down a gag.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

To add insult to injury, she didn’t even turn around to apologize. My cheeks flushed with heat as my blood heated to scalding. Would this shitty night ever end?

“Oh, come on! Waitress!”

Chomps Frickin’ Houlihan.