AllFreeNovel
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“Don’t say that ever again,” he said mildly.
“Oh, shush. I’m trying to flirt.”
“Why?”
“Life skill.”
“Is it, though?” His forehead crinkled at her.
“Bite me, Levi. You guys need some food?”
“I need another architect is what I need,” Levi muttered, rustling the blueprints.
“Mind if I take a look?” Lucas asked.
Levi looked over. “Oh, hey,” he said. “You went to school with us for a while, didn’t you? I’m Levi Cooper. Chief of police here in Manningsport.”
Lucas shook his hand. “Lucas Campbell. Bryce Campbell’s cousin.”
“Right, right. Good to see you. This is my brother-in-law, Tom. Well, almost my brother-in-law. He’s marrying my wife’s sister in a few weeks.”
“Hallo, mate,” Tom said, shaking hands, as well. Lucas moved down to look at the blueprints.
Great. Three beautiful men, all in a row. Two spoken for, one...not.
“Are you an architect?” Levi asked.
Lucas shook his head. “A building projects manager out in Chicago.”
“Oh, yeah? What kind of buildings?”
“Skyscrapers, hospitals, that kind of thing.”
Annie, one of the new summer hires, came behind the bar with a menu for Lucas, her pad in her other hand. “Hi,” she breathed, and Colleen envisioned the girl’s ovaries exploding. “Can I get you anything?”
Lucas smiled. Annie staggered.
“Go clean the bathroom, Annie,” Colleen said sweetly. “I’ll take care of Lucas. He and I are old friends.” She folded her arms under her chest. “Lucas, can I get you something to drink? Would you like to see a menu? Or are you meeting someone?” Yes. Pretend he was just another customer, as unthreatening as Reverend Fisk, who was eighty-nine years old.
“I’m meeting Bryce,” he said. “But I’ll have a beer.”
“Absolutely. What kind, hon? We have Sixpoint Harbinger, Southern Tier IPA, Sly Fox O’Reilly’s Stout, Empire Cream Ale, Naked Dove Bock, Blue Point Toasted Lager, Cooper’s Cave IPA, Victory Donnybrook Irish Stout, Stone Vertical Epic, Captain Lawrence Brink Brown, Ithaca Flower Power IPA, Dogfish Head Immort Ale, Sly Fox Maibock, Bud, Bud Light, Miller, Miller Lite, Coors, Coors Light, Corona, Stella, and, in honor of our New York heritage, Genesee.”
Her regulars applauded, as they always did, when she recited the beer list in one breath.
“I’ll take the Dogfish,” he said.
“Coming up.”
She went over to the beer taps and filled the glass halfway, then filled the rest with 7Up.
“Enjoy,” she said, putting it in front of him.
He took a sip, choked a little, then swallowed. “You like it?” she asked. “Limited release.”
He raised an eyebrow. His phone beeped with a text, and he glanced at it and sighed. “Bryce ditch you?” she guessed.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” he said.
