AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hopped down onto the floor, thinking about that damn sex tape my ex-husband had made that was all over the internet, especially in my hometown. Maybe I couldn’t ever go back there. Amber wouldn’t. “Come on, shug, I’m hungry.”
We ate in the upscale pub, sitting in wingback chairs at a red table, and chatted with our cute waiter. Amber nervously glanced over her shoulder about every five minutes while drinking down a couple cocktails.
Next we went to the Vanderpump Cocktail Garden, which they were branding as a “sexy garden oasis.” The light fixtures were stunning blown glass and crystal sculptures radiating purple pink and golden light. It was a bit like having a cocktail in a forested wonderland after stumbling into a rabbit hole.
I was interested in the cocktails, particularly the English Garden, which is made with Hendrick’s gin, elderflower, basil, lemon and lime, black pepper, lavender, celery bitters, and Aquafaba. Inside, I was still a kid from a modest family,pretty stunned to find myself drinking a twenty-two-dollar cocktail.
To distract Amber from her Mario watch, at the bar I got us talking to a couple of guys with Eastern European accents. They stared at us like we were bits for sale in a window and they were trying to find a flaw.
“Are you girls for party?” one of them asked, his eyebrows drawn together.
I rolled my eyes at Amber. “Did you notice,” I said to her, completely ignoring his question and stepping toward a photo on the wall, “that Vanderpump has a dog that looks like Charley?”
Amber blinked at the photo. “You mean that white puppy you found at the shelter?”
“Yes. Well, he’s more of a middle school kid pup, in dog years.”
“Wait,” said the other Eastern European guy. “We buy you drink.”
“Well,” I said, “isn’t that just the sweetest offer. No, thank you.”
“Oh no,” squeaked Amber. “He just walked in.”
“About freakin’ time. I was starting to think we’d need a SWAT team to rescue Bob for you.”
“Don’t talk about Bob.”
“Hi, ladies,” said Mario, walking up to us with a sly grin and his eyes on Amber.
She whipped around. Then started fanning her face.
Mario hugged the black shoulder bag, pressing his cheek against the leather top. “Don’t worry, I took good care of everyone. I’m going to miss them.”
“Oh my God.” Amber covered her eyes.
I sipped my cocktail and tried not to smile. “Let’s go sit at one of those pretty tables under a tree. Can you stay and have a cocktail, Mario?”
“Sure can. I’d love to.” He carried both bags over to a table.
A server took our drink orders right away. There was a whole lot of side-eyed staring going on between Mario and Amber who were sitting next to each other.
“So,” I said, breaking a loaded silence. “IsWar and Peaceyour idea of a little light vacation reading?”
“I find it far easier to read after a couple drinks. I’m brushing up for a high school class I’m teaching in the fall. I grabbed my bag this afternoon, determined to get in a hundred pages, and found something much more entertaining.”
Amber sat her glass down with a clunk. “Okay, can we stop talking about that now?”
“About what?” Mario stared at her, his face blank.
“Did you take my bag on purpose, huh? Answer that.”
He leaned closer to her. “You know what, Amber Brown, size six, prefers lace and silk, maybe I did. Unconsciously, for a purpose, take your bag.”
She pointed at him. “That is private information.”
“It surprised me,” he said, putting an arm along the back of their seat. “What is a woman who was afraid of flying doing with a bag like that?”
I slipped away at that point to use the restroom. A server with a tray full of drinks walked by and I stopped to let him pass. I turned around to peek at the table and saw Amber bend forward and press her mouth against Mario’s. His whole body jolted. He leaned in, an arm sliding around her back as it pulled her in closer.
