I can see something else in his dark blue eyes, but I’m not sure what it is. All I know is that I’m very tempted to move closer to him and that I’d like to know what his lips taste like.
The alcohol hits me again—much harder this time—and I pull away.
“I need to go home.”
“Cab should be out front.” Nate stands and gestures toward the door with his arm. “May I walk you to the curb?”
“Certainly.” I give him a slight bow of my head. I don’t want to move too quickly for fear of being too dizzy to walk.
“This isn’t that big of a city,” Nate says as we walk outside. “Maybe I will run into you again soon.”
“Maybe.” I walk up to the cab, and Nate quickly steps ahead to open the door.
“Would that be all right with you?” he asks.
“I would at least say hello.” I try to give him a coy smile, but I have no idea if I’ve pulled it off or not.
“Good to know.” With his eyes locked on mine, Nate reaches down and takes my hand. He lifts it to his lips, pressing them lightly against my knuckles. “Good night, Cherice. I hope I will see you again soon.”
I sit in the cab, dazed. As it starts to move, the alcohol
really hits me, and I’m even more grateful that I don’t have to come up with money to pay the driver when he drops me off. I’m not sure I could count if my life depended on it.
Finding my keys in my purse is a bit of an issue. At first, I can’t get the keychain untangled from some of the other crap down at the bottom, and then I drop the keys on the floor but eventually manage to get into my apartment. I close the door behind me and lean my back against it, eyes closed and a big smile on my face.
What had started out as a perfectly horrendous evening had turned into something quite…nice. Yeah. Nice. I look down at the back of my hand where he had kissed it. It was nice. No, more than nice. It was good. Really, really good.
“What’s better than good?” I blink a few times, and my vision swims a bit.
My skin tingles when I think about Nate, leaning his elbow on the bar and looking into my eyes. His dark, slightly wavy hair, stubble, clear blue eyes, and a crooked grin completely captivated me. I had to fight with myself just to look away from him, and as soon as I did, I wanted to look back. My heart is still beating a little too fast, and my hands are sweaty. The couch and walls are moving around a bit, and I laugh for no apparent reason.
I’m clearly still drunk.
I drop my purse and keys on the floor just inside the door and stagger toward the kitchen. Grumbling something unintelligible—even to myself—about high heeled shoes, I kick the bastards off my feet, sending them careening across the floor and under the kitchen table.
“Vee, you aren’t going to believe this shit.” I head over to the refrigerator, head still spinning, and get myself a glass of water. “Date one was a total fail, but then…well, then I met someone else. Can you believe that?”
Vee does not respond.
“His name is Nate, and we had conversation—actual conversation! And he gave me a lead on a job. Like, a real job, not just part time. At least, I think it’s real and full time. Shit! He didn’t actually say. He owns the club and the maple syrup place. Did you hear me? He owns the fucking club, and he gave me a job lead working with the maple trees! He’s part of that family in the newspaper articles.”
I drop my ass onto a chair, grab my laptop, and immediately start digging through my search history. It’s late, and I should be drinking my water, eating some carbs, and passing out in bed, but my mind is racing.
“Here he is! Nataniele Orso—oh, Nataniele sounds sooooo sexy—son of Rosa and Carlo. I’m pretty sure this is him cutting the ribbon on Big O’s opening day. Why are the pictures so damn grainy? Nora Orso and Micha Orso must be his sister and brother. Or maybe they’re married to each other. He said he had a big family. If the pictures didn’t suck so bad, I might be able to tell if they all look alike.”
I keep looking, but I don’t find much more than the constant mentions of the Orso family’s contributions to Cascade Falls, or more specifically, to the east side of Cascade Falls. What I can’t find is anything that actually says what sort of business the family is into.
“This town is weird.” I shake my head and try to focus on the webpage, but my eyes simply aren’t working that well, and my typos are plentiful, so I give up and back away from the laptop.
“I’m borderline crazy, aren’t I?” Vee just sits there, offering no confirmation, denial, or advice. “I need to relax. Yeah, he was really nice and all, and he said he wanted to see me again, but maybe he was just being nice because he didn’t want the club blamed for that asshole Aaron. It hardly means I need to spend the remainder of the night, or early morning that is, cyber stalking him, even if it is fun.”
I laugh aloud and then quickly cover my mouth.
Even though actual information is sparse, one thing is absolutely clear—the Orso family has money. Capital M-O-N-E-Y, money. Where there is money, there is power and influence.
“There is usually a significant amount of drama, too, bitch.” I glance up at Vee, but she doesn’t seem offended by my language. “Maybe he can help me. Do you think he could, Vee? Do you think he has enough influence to get me the information I came here for, or am I barking up the wrong tree?” I think about what I said and then laugh aloud once more. “Wrong tree! Get it? He said I could get a job working with trees!”
Yeah, I’m definitely still drunk. How many martinis did I have?