AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Wanting something.
“I know you’re my new neighbour,” he said, before straightening once more in a smooth movement.
“You do?” I asked, placing my now-empty glass down on the smooth bar. “My name’s Maggie, by the way.”
Archie (holy Terra, that name was going to take some getting used to) had gone back to polishing the bar, muscles leaping in his forearm and bicep as he did so. His eyes flicked to mine once more as he said, “I know that, too.”
I laughed. “Is there anything you don’t know?”
Now it was his turn to chuckle. The scotch-smoked sound of it warmed my chest once more.So it is the laugh. Not the ale.
“Ask Penny. If anyone is ready to list off my intellectual shortcomings, it’s her.”
He jerked his chin somewhere behind me. I swivelled on the stool, expecting to see a human woman, given the name. But I realized he was gesturing towards the young orc waitress weaving nimbly between tables.
“Penny. She’s ...” I began, turning forward once again. She’d seemed a little young to be a girlfriend or wife, but I certainly wasn’t an expert at judging orc ages or lifespans.
“My sister,” Archie said, a little too quickly, tucking the rag into his back pocket once more.
I bit down on my lips to keep from smiling in bizarre, stupid relief at the fact that the cute young waitress orc wasn’t a romantic attachment.
Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a wife somewhere, or a husband, or a... Someone else,I told myself sternly.There is no reason for you to be this giddy about some orc you just met. Focus!
Penny called over, then, as if Archie mentioning her had caught her attention, even though the music and din of the pub certainly would have drowned out our conversation.
“Are you going to stay planted in front of that beautiful gold-giver all night, Archie? Or are you going to dig deep down, call on some of your limb-hardness, and tear yourself away long enough to help your poor, beleaguered sister?”
I burst into laughter as Archie grinned, giving me a look that could only be described as expressing something akin tobusted.
“I’ve not yet decided,” he said, crossing his arms leisurely. “For she is certainly more beautiful than you are beleaguered. Good conversation over here, too. I’m not sure your piteous claims are enough to tempt me away.”
I rolled my eyes. “Go help her, you ridiculous man,” I said, still laughing. “I’m going to have to leave an extra tip for Penny now, customary or not, just for her putting up with you as a co-worker tonight.” Even though I’d just met him, it felt like I could say something like that and get away with it. Archie’s warmth and flirtations invited a friendly intimacy.
“Alright, I will,” he said, the light catching on the tips of his tusks as he gave me another of his stomach-melting smiles. “But not before I’ve gotten you another drink.”
He popped the lid off another bottle of ale and filled my glass once more.
“This one’s on the house,” he said. He placed the glass before me. “Welcome to Elora Station.”
