“Crystal.” Once left alone again, he turned back to Tabitha. “Can I see your ID now?”
“Only if I can see your real one,” she volleyed, sucking up the remainder of her diet cola with a slurp. There was no way he’d admit to using a fake while in the bar.
As expected, she was right. Because he slammed his beer, set the empty on the bar with a twenty-dollar bill, and hopped to his feet. “You done?”
“With what?”
He pointed at her glass.
She nodded.
The protests coming from the back of Tabitha’s mind didn’t reach the necessary receptors because as the stranger (whose age and identity were heretofore unknown) clasped her hand she followed willingly.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere quiet,” he said with an eyebrow wiggle over his shoulder, still tugging her along toward the exit of the stuffy bar.
“I may have given you the wrong idea,” Tabitha managed to squawk as the cool summer night helped clear her head. Why had she left the bar with this guy? This clearly-underaged-fake-ID-having-guy with the solid forearms. He let go, and she automatically fell into step at his side. Dude was tall, and he walked fast, though Tabitha’s above-average height meant she had no trouble keeping up.
“Don’t worry, red. I’m not a creep.”
It was in her experience that men who claimed they weren’t something typically turned out to be exactly that.
“I still don’t know your name,” she said with exasperation. Finally able to stop her feet from following, Tabitha halted and crossed her arms.
He barely got a stride ahead before he stopped too. But instead of crossing his arms, he pulled his wallet back out and thumbed through the cards until he found what he was looking for.
Tabitha took the offered ID and scanned the image. Aside from the braces and shorter haircut, there was no doubt in Tabitha’s mind that she held the mystery man’s actual license.
“Zachariah Sebastian Hartford the third?” Not what she would have guessed. Though, come to think of it, she didn’t really know what to expect.
He winced. “For the love of all that is holy and sacred,pleasecall me Zac. Only my parents call me Zachariah. Or they did the last time we spoke.”
Tabitha nodded and eyed the birth date on his card. She blew out a breath of relief. “You’re twenty.”
“And ten months.”
She scowled at his amendment and handed back the ID. “Aren’t you a little old to be including the months in your birth date? I stopped doing that when I turned five.”
Zac chuckled, that husky sound delighting Tabitha, making her eager to hear it again. “I’m pointing it out so you understand how close to the legal drinking age I am. That I’m not some overgrown kid sneaking into the bar for a beer.”
“But isn’t that exactly what you are?”
He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. His straight, white teeth were on full display.Well done, modern orthodontia.He finally spoke. “Fine. You got me. I’m sure I’ve got a gold star somewhere around here.” The tease was accompanied by him patting his pockets in search of the sticker.
“Come get me when you find it.” Tabitha decided that close to twenty-one or not, she probably shouldn’t be running around town with a guy she didn’t know. “It was nice meeting—”
“Wait. You didn’t show me yours yet,” he interrupted.
Why did him stopping her from leaving make her so happy? “My what?”
“Your ID. For all I know you’re in high school and have been on my case to redirect attention away from your deception.”
Tabitha rolled her eyes. This guy. But of their own volition, her fingers reached into her purse and pulled out her license. She held it up and then jerked it away as he tried to take it. “Look, don’t touch.”
“That’s exactly what someone with a fake would say.”
“You have exactly five seconds to satisfy your curiosity.” She began counting down even as he stepped nearer and squinted.
