As I’m shifting foot to foot a gorgeous little redheaded bartender about my age approaches from across the bartop. Her hair is in loose curls down past her shoulders and she’s wearing a halter top with cherries all over it. I smile at her and the one she returns to me looks fake as hell. I shake it off, figuring she’s probably just over this night and ready to head home.
“Can I get a vodka soda, please?”
“Sure thing,” she says and swiftly moves away from me to make the drink.
“Hey there, can I buy you a drink?”
The voice is right next to my ear and makes me jump. I take a step back and turn to eye the man that’s saddled up to me without me noticing. He’s attractive in that clean cut frat boy kind of way that totally would have been my thing freshman year, but that was a long time ago.
“That’s okay. I’m getting one already, but thanks for the offer.” I give him a polite smile and turn back around looking for the bartender.
“I’ll buy your next one then.” I turn my head and notice he’s edged even closer to my side. I wish I could say he was drunk and that’s why he’s coming off as pushy but he looks stone cold sober. That means either he can’t read signals or he just doesn’t care.
“That’s okay, really. I’ve got this.”
“C’mon, don’t be like that, doll.” Ugh, I hate when men I don’t know give me little nicknames they think are cute. At leastwhen Carson calls me Sparky it doesn’t come off as sexist. Jesus Christ, I can’t get that man out of my head.
“Look, I’m not a doll and I’m not interested. I can buy my own drinks tonight. But like I said, thanks for the offer.”
“You don’t have to be a total bitch—”
“Hey, Jackson, don’t make me eighty-six you and get security over here. She told you to back off a hell of a lot nicer than I would have.” I turn to see the tiny bartender has returned with a fierce look in her eye. I’m confident in my ability to take care of myself but I’m also all about females helping females. I just raise my eyebrow at frat boy who I guess is named Jackson and watch as his head whips back and forth between myself and my new friend behind the bar.
He raises his hands in the air in front of him in a placating gesture. “Hey, no harm, no foul. I was just trying to be friendly, Amelia.”
“Yeah, well go be friendly with somebody that’s actually interested. Shoo,” she says. Making a sweeping hand gesture that tells him to get away from her bar. He mutters under his breath as he turns and walks away.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” I say with a smile.
“No problem.” She grabs a cardboard coaster and tosses it onto the bar before setting my drink down on it. “He was out of line.”
“So, you’re Amelia?” She gives me a nod while she busies herself wiping down the bar in front of her. “Well, I’m Bianca. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too.” She has a half smile like she’s not sure if it’s nice to meet me at all.
I take a sip of my drink enjoying the burn of the vodka down my throat. “You know that guy or something? You called him by his name.”
She lets out a sigh. “Yeah, you work here long enough and you get to know most of the regulars.”
“I haven’t seen you here before but I only come in every once in a while.”
She nods her head and avoids my gaze while she starts collecting empty beer bottles and glasses. Her next words are so quiet I almost don’t hear them over the din of the bar. “So, you didn’t go home with Jake?”
I’m confused for a moment until I remember she said she knows most of the regulars and she probably saw me talking to him. I know this bar is close to Jake’s place so he’s probably here quite a bit and like I said, he has a reputation for a reason. I let out a laugh, “No way, it’s not like that with Jake and me. He’s like an older brother or something, I’ve known him since I was a kid. He works for my dad.”
“Oh!” She says with genuine surprise. “Sorry, I just assumed…” Her words trail off like she’s embarrassed about what she was going to say but all I can do is laugh. Since she works here, she’s probably seen him with more women than I want to think about.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s a legitimate assumption when it comes to him.” She seems to deflate a little so I’m quick to follow up with, “But he seems to be turning over a new leaf. He told me he’s done with all that.”
“Really?” She looks skeptical and I can’t blame her. I’m skeptical myself. I look her over again. She really is gorgeous. She’s also tiny, like almost as small as my best friend Violet but she seems to have the curves of my other best friend, Hollie. Her hair is a deep shade of natural red that the girls who buy box die could only dream about. Her eyes are big and brown, framed by dark lashes. Sure, she looks like she’s younger than Jake, like a lot younger, but I could totally see them together. And judging by how she handled that asshole just now, she could totally keepJake in line. I wonder if I should play a little matchmaker. I’m about to say something more when a rough voice shouts down from the end of the bar.
“Hey Amelia! You gonna serve some drinks or just gab with your girlfriend all night?”
She rolls her eyes and apologizes before shouting back, “Hold your horses, Mack! And if your security was doing a better job, I wouldn’t have to be doing it for them.” She turns back to me. “It was nice meeting you, Bianca.” Then she flings the towel over her shoulder and struts down the length of the bar like she owns the place.
Yeah, I like her attitude. And she seemedveryinterested in Jake but there’s nothing I can do about it right now. I push the interaction to the back of my mind and finish off the drink she gave me before making my way back to the dance floor. I’m surprised Jenna hasn’t come looking for me yet, but once I get back over to where the bodies are moving on the dance floor I realize why. She’s grinding up on a guy that totally looks like Henry Cavill, if he had glasses and was ten years younger. Huh. I guess she wasn’t kidding. And if the way he’s pulled her hips tightly against him and his lips against her ear are any indication, I think it’s safe to say that Barista Michael is interested.
I smile and head back out to the floor and get near them but not too close to ruin her vibe. I catch her eye and give her that look that asks, “You, okay?” She smiles and gives me a single nod before going back to paying attention to the guy that’s starting to wrap himself around her like some kind of boa constrictor.