“O’Ryan what are you doing here?”
She turned in surprise at Cleo’s caustic tone. Did she not like Noah?
Noah raised his second eyebrow. “This is my bar. I go where I like.”
Cleo snorted. Juliet half-hid behind her, peeking out at Noah nervously. “Maybe you could go somewhere else?” Cleo snapped.
Georgina gasped at her rudeness. But Noah simply moved closer to Cleo. Then he peered down at Juliet and his gaze softened. “Juliet, sweetie, why don’t you sit down and I’ll send Amy over with a drink for you.”
Juliet nodded and slid into a seat.
“As for you, missy,” he said to Cleo sternly. “We’ll talk later.”
Then he whacked her on the butt and left. Georgina’s mouth opened in shock.
“Don’t worry,” Isa told her, leaning in closer. “They’re always like that. Cleo gets extra mouthy when she wants a spanking, she says something rude to Noah and then he’ll put her over his knee and redden her butt and she’ll be sweet as pie after.”
“That is not what happens,” Cleo protested. “We do not do that.”
“Sure you do,” Kiesha replied. “But I don’t know why you just don’t ask him to spank you.”
“It’s complicated,” Cleo replied as Kiesha set down the drinks she’d been carrying on a serving tray.
Georgina sat back down and looked over at Juliet with a smile. “Hi, I’m Georgina.”
All of them froze. Now what?
“Juliet, this is my new bestie, Georgie,” Kiesha quickly said. “This is Juliet. She doesn’t talk.”
“Oh.” Then realizing she was being rude by acting so shocked, she smiled. “Do you use sign language?”
Juliet’s eyes widened.
“Okay, so she does talk,” Kiesha said. “She just doesn’t talk to strangers. She won’t be able to talk directly to you until she’s known you for, umm . . . about five years.”
Georgina blinked. All right.
“So, who’s ready for a drink? Georgina, I got you the special.” Kiesha plonked a huge glass in front of Georgina. It was pink. And on the top swam a paper flamingo. Okay, it was seriously cute.
Georgina loved it. “What is it?”
“It’s a pink flamingo. Try it, you’ll love it.”
She gave Kiesha a skeptical look. “I don’t ever drink.”
Kiesha waved a hand at her. “It’s got hardly any alcohol in it, you’ll be fine. Just one.”
“Just one.”
Famous last words.
4
“You guys are ah-ah-amazing. Wow, that was hard to get out.” Georgina looked at her drink suspiciously. “Are you sure there’s no alcohol in this?”
“Of course there’s alcohol in it, silly,” Kiesha cried, throwing her arms back in a cry. “It’s a pink flamingo.”
“Oh no! Juliet, is she telling the truth?” Georgina leaned over to the quiet woman who was busy filling out the current trivia question.