AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well,” I drawl. “You’ll need someone to cheer you up, and I’ve heard that I’ve got a knack for that when it comes to you.”
His arms tighten around me like bands of steel, and his tone holds a hint of awe in it. “You’re like this precious gift to me that I didn’t know I needed or deserved.”
I pull my head back to stare at him, my cheeks flaming. “I’m not that great.”
He laughs, pressing a kiss to the top of my nose. “Yes, you are. You just don’t know it.”
We stay like that for a few moments, until he makes a disgruntled sound. “It’s eight. I have to leave.”
He rolls me off of him until I am lying on my back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. “Where’re you going?”
“To the bar. It’s been a few days, and I need to have a word with the manager.”
“Can I come?”
He gets up and runs his hands through his hair. “No.”
“Come on,” I wheedle. “I won’t bother you.”
“It’s not safe, Sarah.” Fergus frowns at me.
I sit up. “Look, I won’t be asking any questions. I’ll take a book with me. Besides, Agatha said she’d be there tonight. And I want to hang out with her.”
“You and her get along, don’t you?” Fergus asks as he fixes his shirt.
I nod. “She’s the first real female friend I’ve had. Plus, she’s funny, and I think a little homicidal.”
“I think the term you’re looking for here is ‘crazy.’” Fergus’s body vibrates with laughter.
“I’ll tell her you said that,” I warn him.
“Snitch,” he says, affectionately.
Then he looks around his apartment. “I’ll be gone the whole night, and it’s the weekend tomorrow, so you don’t have to go to work. Okay, fine. You can come. But keep a low profile. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”
I look gleeful, and I am about to grab a book when he blinks. “Don’t tell me you’re going to read a book in the bar.”
I hesitate. “Is that odd? To read a book there?”
His sensual lips curve into a smile. “No, not for you.”
The bar is crowded, and Agatha sits to my left, studying the small bracelet that Fergus gave me. It was the first gift that I found on my bed. Foolishly, I accepted it, not knowing what was to follow.
“Good choice,” Agatha tells me. “Where are the earrings?”
“She won’t accept them,” Fergus mutters as he fixes a drink.
Agatha shakes her head at me. “If a man throws jewelry at you, Sarah, you take it. Then you sell it and get enough money to invest in a small enterprise of your own. That’s how you become rich.”
Ian sits on her left, nestling a beer in his hands. He eyes her, warily. “Remind me never to get you jewelry.”
“That’s it, Agatha. You’re demoted to the end corner of the counter,” Fergus tells her. “Don’t fill my girlfriend’s head with your ideas.”
“I’m your girlfriend.” I beam at him, suddenly realizing my status. “I picked up the bartender.”
When I laugh at my joke, Fergus puts an apple juice in front of me, grinning. “And don’t you forget it.”
Feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket, I take it out and glance at the caller ID.
