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She hums to herself as she looks me over, then says, “I think you actually mean that.”
“I very rarely say things I don’t mean.”I think them all the time, though.
“Well, in that case, you’re welcome for the honesty.” She smiles and picks up a truffle chip from the plate. When she pops it into her mouth, a moan escapes her, and I have to work very hard to not react to that sound in any way. Fortunately, I am behind the bar. And fortunately, the moan turns into a weird little cough that I’mprettysureis fake. But then I’m not so sure, because she starts coughing harder, and tears shine in the corners of her eyes.
Raine must sense my anxiety, because she holds up a hand and wheezes, “I’m fine.”
“You sure? I’ve never had to do mouth-to-mouth, but I am up to date on my CPR training.”
She spits out a laugh that’s a little hoarse after all the coughing, then grabs another truffle chip and sways to the rhythm of the music as she examines it. She hasn’t stopped moving since I walked in here. Sometimes it’s subtle, like the swaying. And sometimes it’s not, like when she was massacring that poor bar napkin. All the moving means the tambourine in her pocket keeps on jingling. It’s like she’s got her own personal soundtrack.
She points the truffle chip at me. “Are you flirting with me again?”
Am I?Fuck if I know. I really am up to date on my CPR training. I’d never get any sleep if I weren’t. If Ihadto do mouth-to-mouth on anyone in this pub right now, I’d obviously prefer it to be her.
As soon as I think it, I’m horrified. I wouldn’t actually wish for her to choke on something just so I could have an excuse to kiss her, right? But shecouldchoke. I can see it now. She’ll choke on one of those truffle chips, and I’ll forget everything I know about CPR. I’ll just stand there doing absolutely nothing. She’ll topple off of that stool and die, and it’ll be my fault. The end.
It’s an unlikely scenario, but it’s not impossible. The image is too vivid for me to push away, so I cross my arms on the bar to keep my hands out of sight as I press each of my fingertips to the wood and think,undo, undo, undo, undo.Each word at the same mental volume. Each word at the same pace.
The lastundois too loud. Or maybe too fast. I’m not sure. All I know is it doesn’t feel right. Raine reaches for another chip, andbefore I can remind myself that thoughts are just thoughts and I can’t make something happen just by thinking it, I call out, “Wait!”
Raine pauses with her hand in midair.
“There’s a fly,” I say, though it’s January, and cold as fuck, and I haven’t seen a fly for months. I wave a hand to shoo this imaginary fly, then snatch the plate away. “I heard they shite every time they land.” Some truffle chips slide off the side of the plate, and I grab those too. I dart over to the nearest bin and dump the chips into it, giving the plate a good shake. I scan the floor around me to make sure I’ve gotten rid of every single one before setting the empty plate beside the cash register.
I avoid looking at Raine when I turn back around and grab a menu from nearby, flipping past the page with truffle chips before sliding it over to her. “You can’t call a plate of truffle chips dinner,” I say. “Where’s the protein? The vegetables? That is not a balanced meal.”
If Raine thinks anything that’s happened in the last thirty seconds is strange, she doesn’t show it. She looks down at the menu, then back up at me. “I couldn’t possibly—”
“A meal was the deal.” I push the open menu closer to her. “You give me your opinion of the pub. I get you dinner.”
Raine narrows her eyes as if she’s preparing to give me a good tongue-lashing.
Tongue-lashing, now that’s an interesting word.No, nope. Stop it, Jack.
“Fine,” she says. She hums to herself as she goes over the menu. When she looks up again, I pretend I haven’t been staring at her for the last two minutes. “I’ll have the stew, please,” she says, and snaps the menu shut. “Just know that when someone offers me free stuff, I only turn it down once. To be polite. So don’t go offering me anything you don’t actually want to give.”
“It wasn’t free. You worked for this.” I prop my elbows on the barand lean forward so that my eyes are level with hers. Really, her eyes are lovely.Focus, Jack!I try to look elsewhere, but my gaze automatically goes to her mouth again. Nose? That should be safe. But I notice she’s got a constellation of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and though I have never consciously thought about freckles before, I discover that I am a man who really likes freckles. Forehead? Yes. Nothing arousing about that. Nothing to admire but her eyebrows, red, which make me think of her hair, which looks very soft. I wonder what it would feel like to run my fingers through it and...for fuck’s sake.I decide looking into her eyes wasn’t so bad after all.
“Speaking of offers and work,” I say. “How would you like to work here?”
Raine stares at me for a moment. “Here? In the pub?”
“Well I don’t see how you could do it from anywhere else.”
“Do what?”
“Revamp the pub, of course! Do all those things you were telling me about. The board games and pub quizzes and all that. Hell, get rid of these fecking pictures.” That will certainly cause trouble, but there’s no need to mention it.
Raine’s brow furrows as she looks me over, and,shite, I discover that I am a brow-furrowing man too.
“I’m not following,” she says, looking at me as if trying to figure out whether or not this is a joke. I am almost always joking about something. But I’m not joking about this.
“We need an entertainment coordinator,” I say. “Someone to put some life into this place. And I want you to be that someone. What’s not to get?”
Raine laughs. “Uh... there are a lot of things not to get.”
“Like?”
