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“The drink tasting is in here.”
They stood in front of the pub and Cole laughed. “Was it the signSnowflake Spirits and Brr Brewthat gave it away? Come on, let’s go check it out. I think I could definitely use some Brr Brew. What about you?”
“I think I’m more of a Snowflake Spirit kind of girl.”
She laughed, and once again Amber found herself relaxing in his presence. It was so easy to be with Cole. Something about him just made her feel comfortable.
They walked in and found seats at the bar. Cole was served something that was blue and smelled faintly like black licorice, while Amber’s drink had some sort of smoke coming out of the clear liquid with a glass rimmed in sugar.
“Cheers.” They toasted their frosty concoctions and drank them down. They were better than they expected and for the next round, they switched and ordered what the other was having. Amber drank her second drink much slower, fully aware that in the last few days she’d had more alcohol than she’d probably had in the last six months combined. She wanted to ask Cole about what would happen when Josie got home, but she wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Would they continue their…whatever it was? Or would it end as quickly as it had begun? She could have made herself crazy thinking about it, and the last thing Amber wanted to do was ruin their evening, so in the end she just said what she was thinking.
“So, Josie will be home tomorrow.”
Cole nodded. “That’s what her text said. Oh, and she asked me to get some costumes for tomorrow night’s party.”
“Costumes?” Amber groaned. “I hate costumes. Besides, Halloween was last month. Why costumes?”
“It started years ago,” the bartender interrupted with a shrug. “Sorry,” he added. “I couldn’t help but overhear you.”
“It’s okay,” Amber said. “But tell me, why costumes? I thought it was the Snow Ball?”
“About ten years ago, there was a terrible virus that spread through town right before Halloween. Most of the kids were too sick to go trick-or-treating, so they kind of postponed Halloween. Since it was so close to the First Frost Festival, the mayor just decided to combine the celebrations into one. It was a tradition that just kind of stuck. It’s fun.”
“Costumesarefun,” Cole agreed. “But where will we find something on such short notice?”
“I know just the place.” He handed Cole a piece of paper with a phone number on it. “Katie will hook you up. She brought in a truck full of options so the people who weren’t able to leave town to go to the city to get something would have a few choices. I’m sure she’ll have something left. Give her a call.”
“Thanks, man.” Cole smiled mischievously, grabbed the paper and tucked it into his pocket.
“Well, aren’t you going to call?” Amber wasn’t sure whether she should trust the look in his eye.
“I am.”
“But?”
“Do you trust me?”
Amber laughed in response.
“Wait here.” Cole stood. “I’ll be right back. Stay right here.”
She did as he asked,and watched him leave the bar to make the call. She kind of wanted to know what the costumes would be, but at the same time, she didn’t much care. Amber had never been a big fan of costumes. If it had been up to her, she wouldn’t have dressed up at all. But if Cole was excited enough to sort them out, she’d be happy enough to go along with it.
“Another drink?” The bartender held up her empty glass. “I can make you a Spiked Icicle or a Frosty Freeze if you want to try something new?”
She laughed because he managed to say the names with a straight face. “I’m not sure I want to know what a Spiked Icicle is.”
“It’s really good, I promise. I’ll get you one of those.”
She shrugged, but didn’t bother protesting. It’s not as though she had anything else to do. Besides, she was having fun and Amber definitely couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a good time.
As if the universe had some kind of limitation on how much fun she should be having, her cell phone rang. When she glanced at the number on the screen, her heart leapt into her throat. Joshua Magnus, her internship supervisor from the accounting firm in Toronto.
She should let it go to voicemail. She was, after all, sitting in a bar, drinking themed drinks on a Saturday afternoon. She wasn’t drunk by any stretch of the imagination, but was she in any state to talk to Joshua?
Probably not.
But she couldn’tnotanswer it. It just wasn’t her style.
