“Hi, Ink. How you doing? What’s happening with the Jaz situation?” Bones asked, seemingly in a good mood.
“That’s what I’m calling about. I’m sure she’s cheating. Once I know more I’ll let you know,” I said in a low voice, my hand covering the phone.
“Good. Keep me posted on it. We have a meeting coming up too,” Bones reminded me.
“All good. Let me get back out on the floor and I’ll see you at the meeting,” I replied.
“Cool. Later,” he shot back quickly.
I hung up and went back out to the floor. I floated around the tables where Jaz normally circulated, but she wasn’t at any of them. As I strolled past the bar, I saw a woman sitting on a stool, dipping her straw in and out of her drink.
The woman was like a chameleon. One minute she was dressed up like Catwoman and the next, she was wearing her hair down. Tonight, she wore a high ponytail, a teal top and black pants with sexy heels.
I slipped into the bar area where jazz music played softly in the background, and the golden downlights hanging from the ceiling set the mood. A few people were seated in different areas. Some were alone and having an alcoholic drink. Others were coupled up, speaking in hushed tones with their partners. A few were at the bar itself and having a drink.
I approached Jaz.
She jumped as the contents of her drink splashed around. “Oh, my god! You scared me. I’m not even on the tables, so if you’ve come to harass me for cheating, then you can get lost.” The look on her face was downcast and she didn’t seem like her upbeat sassy self.
“I’m not coming here to harass you. I came over here to ask you a question.” I treaded lightly with her. After all, I was trying to gain access to her. This was my chance to get to know more about Jaz. I only had a few minutes before I had to get back on the floor. Every time I got near her, I wanted more of her, as if I’d been bewitched.
“You did?” Jaz held onto the bar and pretended to be shocked. She wore minimal makeup, but she still looked incredibly good.
Her ever-changing looks amazed me. “Yes, I did. I want to officially call a truce and ask you if you’d like to go out on a date with me. I was thinking we could go for a coffee as a start?”
This time, her face displayed genuine shock. “You want to date me?”
I made a topsy-turvy motion with my hands. “That part is debatable.”
“Ouch,” she said sullenly and put her face down towards her drink.
“No, you didn’t let me finish. I’m just saying that it’s a first date and we can get to know one another with no pressure. What do you think?”
She lifted her drink and swirled the contents. She looked sideways at me and then back at her drink. “I think that’s a good idea. I want to know about you too. I want to know who you are when you’re not trying to ‘secure’ people.”
I smirked, still a little firepower flamed up in her voice today. “You’d be surprised who I am. I look forward to showing you. Here’s my number.” I slipped her a business card for the private security detail that I used to do. On it was my cell phone number.
She held the business card up to the light. “Hmm. Okay now, I have a number to call when I get into trouble. Thank you.”
“Your welcome and you do. Can I have yours? This seemed to be a ‘show me mine, show me yours’ type of situation.” I did not intend to leave without her number. I wanted her.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why not?”
I handed her my phone and opened up the ‘add contact’ section. It almost seemed unbelievable that she offered her number so freely to me. Maybe she’d grown tired of playing games. I gazed at her as she input her number into my cell phone. Her fingers were thin and elegant like those of a piano player. Her nails were dark, with sparkly silver shimmers running through the nail polish.
She handed it back to me when she was done. “There you go. I look forward to your call.” She tucked her knees back under the bar and turned back to drink her drink.
She’d left me speechless. I wanted to say something else to her, but I let it be. I would call her and see her outside of work. I would find out about her one way or another.
Watching the water down near the wharf calmed me down. Not that I had the desire to be calmed down. I felt pretty good within myself, even a little more curious and intrigued about this mystery woman. I wanted to see if she kept the same persona she’d kept at the casino. We were meeting at a little bar and eatery joint facing the harbor. I’d arrived early, waiting for her at one of the tables. I kept tapping my feet and enjoying the cool breeze.
Jaz came bounding around the corner, her dark hair swaying. Dressed in blue jeans and a white t-shirt and a gold chain necklace. Simple and down to earth.
All I knew was she made my pulse pound in my chest.
“Hi, I made it. Sorry, am I late?” She looked confused to see me sitting there.
“No, you’re right on time. I was in the area and decided to come early and sit by the water.”