“Of course.” He grinned. “But you didn’t work here until you were twenty-one, which leaves a few years in between. Maybe the answer to your quandary lies there.”
Lola leaned toward him over the small table. The bar was busier now and the conversations more animated. She told herself it was to hear him better, but she was actually afraid of missing even one word. “And what quandary is that?”
“The one about what happens if Hey Joe goes under.”
“Ah, that one.” She picked at nothing on the table. “No, it won’t answer that question.”
“I’m pretty good at problem-solving,” Beau said. “Try me.”
Lola was unaware she even had a problem. A new idea to explore, sure, but not a problem. She opened her mouth, about to tell him to mind his own business. She wasn’t ashamed of her past, nor was she proud of it, but something about Beau made her wish there were nothing to tell at all. Instead, she gave him a version of the truth. “I did some things, met some people. I went through a stage where I partied a lot and crashed on friends’ couches.”
“That’s vague,” Beau said. “How much is a lot?”
“Too much.”
“Is that why you dropped out of school?”
She nodded. “I blew my money on alcohol and going to see bands. Sometimes drugs too. I couldn’t keep up with the tuition, but I’d been missing classes anyway.”
Beau studied her. “How’d you end up here?”
“Johnny,” she said right away. “He’s the reason I got my life back together.”
He cocked his head. “Really? Why?”
Lola picked up the darts from the table and backed away, suddenly disgusted with herself for discussing this with a stranger. Johnny never judged her, never made her feel ashamed. She was by his side every night because he’d believed in her without having any reason to. She didn’t need to explain herself to Beau. “Let’s finish the game,” she said.
Beau lowered his drink, but held Lola’s gaze a little longer than necessary as they exchanged a private moment. He turned back to the pool table.
“He seems especially interested in you,” Vero said.
The memory scattered along with their moment. Maybe it hadn’t been as private as Lola had thought. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and got back to cleaning. “Sure,” she said, “if overworked barmaid is his type.”
After a few minutes there was a cheer from the table, and Johnny high-fived Quartz. He set the cue in its rack and walked over to Lola. “Won back the money you lost at darts and then some,” he said, leaning over the bar for a kiss.
“Good job, babe.”
“I’d better quit before I do any more damage,” Beau said from behind Johnny.
Johnny turned around. “You taking off?”
“Once I settle my tab. I might be a little short after that game, though. ATM?”
Johnny pointed toward the back wall and watched Beau walk away. “Lo,” he said under his breath. “See if you can convince him to come back. Maybe bring some of his moneybag friends.”
“What’s it matter?” Lola asked warily. “The bar’s closing anyway.”
“Nothing’s set in stone, babe. It’s a long shot, but those business types love to slum it up once in a while. Go now, while he’s alone.”
Lola’s stomach knotted just thinking about it. It didn’t feel right, but Johnny rarely asked her for much. “What am I supposed to say?”
“Just be cute, flirt a little.” Johnny eyed Beau then did a double take at Lola. “Not too much, though.” He printed out Beau’s tab and handed it to her in a black, vinyl sleeve. “Bring him his bill and ask when he’s coming back.”
Lola rolled her eyes but took the bill even though she doubted she could flirt with someone who always had the upper hand. If Beau wanted flirting, he’d be doing it. She approached him as he was taking his money from the ATM.
“Hey,” she said with a smile. “Thanks for the game tonight. It’s been a while since I lost.”
He raised an eyebrow as he counted out some bills. “You’re thanking me for that?”
Lola averted her eyes from the money to be polite. “It’s good for my ego.”
He smiled, returned his wallet to his jacket and nodded at her hands. “Then you’re welcome. Is that my check?”
She handed it to him. He slid money into the fold without looking at the total and gave it back to her. “A little extra for the great service.”
She took it. “Johnny says you can come back any time you want.” She fidgeted with the folder. Tonight had been something different from the usual because of Beau. Most nights she and Johnny had the same dinner, talked about what the bar needed to improve, saw the same faces. She wanted Beau to come back too, but if he knew that, he might get the wrong idea. “I think he likes you,” she added.
His eyes narrowed on her as if he was trying to figure something out. “Does he?” he asked. “What about you, Lola? Do you like me?”
She fumbled for an answer. “Do I like you?” she repeated, stalling. Heat crept up her neck. That was twice in one night he’d made her blush. “Sure. I enjoyed talking to you.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “That’s it?”
“Yes,” she said. “Should there be more?”
“I thought there might be.” He looked past her a moment, then his eyes shifted back. He cleared his throat. “I’m an early riser, especially when I have to work in the morning. Meaning, not much could keep me out this late.”
“Well, I’m glad you had a good time,” she sai
d.
“What I’m trying to say is, you’re the reason I stayed.” He stepped a little closer. “Any other night I would’ve left with the people I came with.”
“But I’m so boring.” She said it with a smile because smiling and making a stupid joke seemed like the only safe response to what he was implying.
“You’re the least boring person I’ve met in a while,” Beau said, “and it goes against my nature to bite my tongue. I like you, Lola. I think you already figured that out, though.”
“Let me guess. Subtlety goes against your nature too. How many women have fallen for that?”
“Have you seen me even look in another woman’s direction tonight?”
She hadn’t. Once Vero’d brought up Amanda, Lola had been curious to see if Beau would talk to her. Amanda wasn’t a bad-looking girl, but Lola didn’t worry about her because Johnny just wasn’t a cheater. He didn’t have it in him.
But if Beau was looking to take home a sure thing, and he had a penchant for a bar girl he could flaunt his wealth for, Amanda was it. Yet earlier, when Amanda had smiled at him across the pool table, he hadn’t even acknowledged her.
“That excuse is too convenient,” Beau continued. “You’re trying to cheapen our attraction by suggesting I’d take anyone home.”
Attraction. To be drawn to him—to want to feel even closer to him when they were standing right next to each other. It fit them too perfectly, and that sent a chill down her spine. “I think it’s best we end this conversation here,” she said, keenly aware that her boyfriend was mere feet behind her.
“So I’m wrong then,” Beau said. He stood far enough from her that their conversation wouldn’t have appeared intimate. But each time he spoke, it was as if he removed another layer of her clothing, and now she was too close to being exposed. “I’m wrong that this attraction is one-sided?”
Lola glanced over her shoulder. Johnny was saying goodnight to his friends at the door. She looked back and almost told Beau he wasn’t wrong, that it wasn’t one-sided, just to see what he’d say. Flirting with him gave her a thrill she hadn’t felt in so long. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression,” she said instead. “Johnny and I have been together a long time, and we’re happy.”