“You did,” Aiden says before whispering into my ear, “and thank you.”
“What are you drinking?” Pops asks as he walks to our table.
I stand and hug him. “Hi, Pops.” There are brackets around his mouth as if he’s been frowning all day. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” He glares at his friends.
“What did they do now?”
Pops points to the bar which I hadn’t noticed is packed with women dressed in short skirts, high heels, and revealing tops. Uh oh.
Suzie giggles before handing me her phone. The Facebook app is open to the McGraw’s Pub page. My eyes widen as I look at the poster with Pops’ face on it declaring tonight as Ladies’ Night. Pops is smiling and motioning to the camera. Over his jeans are the words – Come in for a stiff one! It’s Ladies Night! All night long.
Aiden stands. “You want me to get rid of them.”
“Nah.” Pops shakes his head. “They’re all ordering those fancy drinks that cost a bundle.” He smiles at Phoebe. “No offense.”
“Oh no,” I mumble when I see the comments below the poster. He’s single, ladies! Serious relationships only.
No wonder Pops is pissed. He may be single, but he is not interested in a relationship. I’m not an idiot. I know Pops started taking women up to our apartment above the pub once I moved out. But the occasion is extremely rare. Silly man. He still feels guilty for cheating on a woman who left him nearly two decades ago.
“On top of which, these bozos have been encouraging the ladies, telling them I like it when the woman takes the reins.”
I laugh. Pops letting anyone take an ounce of control? Yeah, no.
“Do you need my help behind the bar?”
Aiden grabs my hand before I can walk away. “You have your bartender’s license?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, officer. Would you like to see it?”
“He’d like to see something, all right,” Suzie mumbles under her breath. I glare at her before returning my attention to Aiden. I raise a brow and wait for his response.
“Sorry.” He drops my hand. “Cop reflex.”
“That’s the one and only time you’re allowed to use being a cop as an excuse,” I tell him before bending down to peck his lips. “I’m off to help Pops.”
“I don’t need your help,” he says as we walk back to the bar.
“Of course, you don’t,” I say. “But if you think I’m going to let the uncles get away with that poster, you are mistaken.”
He holds up his hands. “I don’t want to know.”
I follow him behind the bar and grab an apron and tie it around my waist. “Who’s next?” I shout. No one answers me. Of course, they don’t. They’re licking their lips and tracking Pops with their eyes. Ew. I rap my knuckles on the bar to get their attention. Eyes swivel in my direction. “Who wants to know which men in the bar are single?”
There’s practically a stampede to me. Good thing there’s an actual bar between me and the crowd of horny women. I lean close and motion for them to lean in as well. “You see the table over there?” I point to where the uncles are now sitting alone. Thank goodness Suzie understood my game plan and moved Aiden out of the danger zone.
“Each one of those men is single.” They start to throw questions at me, but I hush them with a raised hand. “Not only are they single, but not one woman has been able to tame them.” Women do like a challenge after all. “Except for Sid.”
“Which one is Sid?”
I point to the blond god sitting at the end of the booth. “He’s been married five times, but he’s on the lookout for wife number six.”
“Are they wealthy?”
“One of them is.” I point to Wally who’s glaring at me as if he knows what I’m up to. He probably does, but Barney is sitting at the end of the booth blocking him in and he’s not budging.
“Will they buy us drinks?” asks another woman. I look her up and down. I don’t know anything about her clothes as I know next to nothing about fashion, but her jewelry is definitely not fake. She looks like she could afford to buy this bar by pawning the rings on her fingers alone. Some women give all women a bad name.