"Dani's not here," she tells me. And as the words settle, and realization sinks in, a slow grin spreads across my face.
"She talks about me?"
The woman's lip twitches with an amused smile. "I'd tell you you're the first one she's ever told me about, but I'm afraid the knowledge might make your head explode with that smile you've got going on."
"You're not wrong," I admit without shame, that smile growing another inch wider.
She smirks at me for another moment, but then her expression sobers. "She's not here. She's working a job tonight. Otherwise I would've had her in here to help me with this shit show."
I glance through the window in the door to the masses packed out front like sardines. "No kidding. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place so busy."
"Normally I'd tell you not to bother her at work, but I know what you two did on my pool table, so I'm considering this payback. She's down at City Hall."
I feel the blush burn my cheeks, which is enough to make her chuckle. She flaps a hand in the air. "Don't worry about it. I was young once, too. Go get her."
"Thanks," I murmur awkwardly. I turn to leave the room, but then something occurs to me and I face her again. "Are you hiring bartenders?"
"I just need the occasional one that I can call when I know there are events in the city that will keep me busy. Tonight it's the margarita crawl that has this area teeming with drunk college kids." She straightens from her spot on the wall. "Why, you know someone?"
"Maybe," I answer thoughtfully, the wheels turning in my head. I give her another hard look. "Are you single?"
At that, she raises an eyebrow. "Are you hitting on me two minutes after I implied my girl is into you?"
I chuckle, liking this woman more and more. Knowing someoneelsewould like her even more than I do. "Not me—someone just like me, but about twenty years older. He used to bartend when he was in college. Sometimes he says he misses the excitement of it."
She looks intrigued despite herself. After a moment, she nods. "Okay. Send him in. We'll see if he can keep up."
I grin, unable to help myself as I say, "I'm sure he's not too old to keep it up."
She lets out a bark of laughter at that, then turns to gently push me through the doors. "I can see why Dani likes you. Get out of here, kid. Your girl is waiting."
* * *
I spot Dani as soon as I step into the crowd gathered around City Hall. It’s just like at the bar, where I subconsciously knew she wasn't there, except this time my gaze is immediately drawn to her. Something inside me just knows to look to the right of the spectators that are currently crowded around the podium where the mayor is standing.
And there she is. Camera up, so focused on the shot she's taking that the world could probably collapse around her and she wouldn't notice.
And yet, she pauses and drops the camera. Slowly, her eyes travel over the crowd until her eyes land on me, and pleasure lights up her eyes. She gives me a smile and holds up her finger with the universal signal ofgive me a minute.
I don't mind. I like watching her work.
Andfuck, is she gorgeous doing it. Just as breathtaking as she was the first day I saw her. Only now, there's an air of seriousness about her as she does it, a sense ofthis is what I'm meant to do.
So I don't mind letting her finish getting the shots she wants. I don't even know how long I stand there, with my hands in my pockets and my gaze glued to the dark-haired siren slowly making her way around the space, teeth sunk into her bottom lip in concentration. I just know I could watch her do this all day.
These kinds of thoughts have been happening a lot more lately. For weeks it was enough to just have the best sex of my life, but then we spent more and more non-sex time together and we became friends. I got to talk to her, get to know her, make her laugh. Talk about her work and see her light up when she did. I got to know way more of Dani than I anticipated, and the more I knew, the more Iwantedto know.
It's become a borderline addiction. Definitely an infatuation, as is evidenced by the fact that I'm content to stand in the cold February air and watch her work.
Eventually, she puts the camera back in the padded bag hanging off her shoulder and starts walking toward me. It vaguely registers that the mayor is still talking up on the podium, but my entire focus is zeroed in on Dani coming closer, her smile growing bigger with every step she takes toward me.
"Hi," she chirps. "What're you doing here? And how did you know where I was?"
"Your bar manager may or may not have outed you," I admit wryly. "And then she said it's payback for what we did on her pool table."
Dani lets out a loud laugh. "That bitch. She's fucked on that thing more than she has at her own apartment."
I wince at that news. "Noted. No more pool table sex."