“Brad asked me to have a quick drink with him.”
“And you agreed?”
“He wants to apologize.”
Sam laughed. “He must’ve bought himself a new dictionary, ‘cause that ain’t a word I would’ve thought he had any familiarity with at all.”
“Well, maybe he realizes he made a fool of himself yesterday.”
“And your gentlemen bikers showed him up.”
“Yeah, I guess they did, except they aren’t my bikers and probably not gentlemen.”
Sam smiled. “Maybe not… yet. Thing is, I think those two are hot for you, and you’re just slow at getting around to knowing it.”
“Sam! You dirty old man.”
“If I was a dirty old man, I would’ve been putting my hands all over you a long time ago, Simone. You’re a prime woman.”
She rolled her eyes. “If that’s intended as flattery, I’ll accept it, Sam. If you meant it some other way, speak up, so I can slap your face.”
He shook his head. “It’s me talking trash, that’s all it is. You know I took too many punches to the head already, Simone. You wouldn’t want to rattle my brains up any more than they are already, would you?”
“No, Sam, I wouldn’t.”
“So watch yourself out there.”
She stopped and looked at him. “Are you worrying about Brad or the bikers?”
“It’s the mix has me concerned. Oil and water, those. And with them all sniffing after pussy—it makes them crazy.”
She winced. “You are trying to be crude.”
“No, that just comes natural like.” He was smiling when she went out into the bar.
Brad’s table was empty, and she saw that he’d moved to a table near the door. That struck her as curious. She walked over to it and took a seat. “Needed a different view?”
He nodded at the occupied tables. “I wanted a little distance from the herd. I get sick of them after a while.”
“So why do you stay all night? Why not go home?”
“All that’s at home are my computers.”
“More than one?”
“Four. I have four of those babies, if you count this one, which I do,” he said, holding up his laptop.
“Why so many?”
“For different reasons. Some have special software on them. Others are monitoring things for me while I do work.”
“What kind of work?”
“Financial. Day trading, spot market shifts, and some consulting with international clients.”
“International?”
“Mostly Russia and the Ukraine. They hire me to set up programs and websites for them.”