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I looked at the beautiful woman who’d slid onto the empty barstool beside me, gesturing at my beer. Some craft shit I was probably enjoying a little too much.
I nodded, taking her in as I returned her smile.
Natural hair twisted into thick ropes framing a deceptively pretty face, big brown eyes.
Fine, honestly.
“I’ll have your neck snapped before any help can get to you, sweetheart,” I leaned in and told her, cutting through the bullshit as I met those big, pretty eyes with mine. “But that’s really not how I wanted my day to go.”
A full-blown smile, none of the flirty shit spread across her face then. “I’m sure you think so,” she said. “But it’s a good thing we don’t have to test that theory, huh? My boss just wants to talk to you.”
“Fuck you, and fuck your boss,” I told her, shaking my head. “People who just want to talk make a phone call.”
She nodded. “I get it. I had theexactsame reaction before I was brought into the fold. I didn’t trust shit, because why should I? Submitting to‘just a conversation’went against every damn thing I was taught.”
I stared at her, knowing exactly what she was doing. It was the same thing I would do if I was on the other side of this exchange.
Still.
“Your persuasion tactic isn’t working.”
“It’s not a persuasion tactic,” she countered. “I’m just telling you what I know. You don’t need to be persuaded.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”
“The conversation isn’t a request,” she scoffed. “You’regoingto have it. It’s just that you could make it easy, orwecan make it very, very hard.”
I ran my fingers along the condensation of the glass bottle, using the moment for some necessary mental calculation. “Was there any scenario where you thought I’d choose easy?”
She grinned and shook her head. “No. But it was worth a shot.”
“Is your employer the type to make a scene in a room full of people?” I asked and theRoseshook her head.
“Nope. I’m sure you can get past us in here—make it outside,” she admitted. “But you won’t get any further.”
“I think you’re underestimating me.”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“How many of y’all are there?” I asked, and she laughed.
“Now why would I tell you that?”
“Aren’t we family?” I asked. “Grown on the same farm, all that jazz...”
She chuckled. “That’s cute.You’recute. We’ll revisit thatfamilything after you talk to the boss.”
As if that was ever going to happen.
Willingly, at least.
I pushed away from my seat with no preamble, heading toward the back of the bar.
“Oh, we’re starting now?!” she called after me.
Yeah.
We were starting now.
