She was leaving too.
She smiled when she saw me looking at her. “That’s my cue to dash.”
I didn’t want her to go just yet.
Apart from the fact that she’d impressed the hell out of me because Aria was completely fascinated with her, I was fascinated with her.
“You’re going to let me drink that wine all by myself?” She’d brought a bottle of pinot noir.
“You want me to drink it with you?”
“Why not?”
“People may think you’re my sugar daddy.” She laughed.
When she tried to move past me, I caught her arm and pulled her back.
“I don’t tend to care what people think, and you don’t seem to either.” I’d realized that right off the bat.
She gave me that seductive smile. I released her arm when she looked down at my hand holding on to her elbow.
“I don’t.”
“Then stay. I’m still trying to impress you, and Aria took up all the time.”
“I’ve decided I’m not sure you can impress me.”
She had to be kidding.
“So, you still haven’t forgiven me?”
“I forgive you for yesterday. I can see how it would be tough thinking I’d discouraged your daughter from going to college, but I still feel traumatized about my first day here.”
She was trying to say it with a straight face but ended up smiling.
“Fresh start, remember? So it’s like none of that actually happened. Now I’m just a guy asking you to stay and have a drink with me. I’ll even make you a cocktail.”
“You make cocktails?” She looked me over in disbelief.
“Yes, I do.”
“I highly doubt you can make my drink, and if I’m going to drink then I need to make sure it’s good.”
“Try me.” My grandfather was a bartender, and I’d worked in his bar for a few years before joining the force.
She folded her arms under her breasts and stared at me. Something wicked flashed in her eyes. “Sex on the beach, mixed with…a screaming orgasm.”
Of course. Why in the hell would I be surprised she would say that?
I knew how to make those drinks individually; that wasn’t the problem. The problem was I was now thinking of her having sex on the beach and screaming as an orgasm took her over.
Somehow I thought that was her intention, either to shock me or turn me on.
I wasn’t sure which.
* * *
I whipped up her drink in a jiffy and when she sipped on it, she closed her eyes and seemed to savor the taste. When her eyes fluttered open, she smiled and set the glass down on the counter.
