When he lowered the glass to lick his lips, I had to avert my eyes.
“That’s pretty good. Not what I’d normally drink, but good.”
Tiff was unsurprised. “Thanks, I know.”
Turning to me, he said, “And she is right, you can’t taste the gin at all. You should try it.” He held it out to me.
It was tempting, but I had a strong feeling I was going to need my wits about me tonight, and gin was not the way to do that. “Oh, no, thank you.”
“Go on, Auds, weren’t you just telling me how you want to try new things?” Tiff was not so subtly nodding in his direction. “Come on. I’ll make you a fresh one. Or would you prefer something special tonight?”
I know what you think you’re doing; I wanted to say to her. But the best I could do with the gorgeous man next to me was glare at her and hope she understood.
From her barely disguised chuckle, I knew she did.
“Just a glass of the prosecco will be fine. Thank you,Tiffany.” The use of her full name always annoyed her.
She moved gracefully behind the bar to get my drink. “You’re lucky I love you, refusing a perfectly good drink like this. But since we’re celebrating, I’ll allow it.”
“What’s the occasion?” The man beside me asked.
“Um,” I stumbled. Thanks, Tiff. Well, it was nice while it lasted. “It’s … an anniversary.” My throat tightened. “A year since I got divorced.”
“One year since you were free,” Tiff corrected me, a glass of prosecco now placed in my hands.
“You’re divorced?” He sounded curious, surprised even, but not judgemental. Still, I couldn’t help but recall Will’s accusing tone from the other night.
Swinging on my seat to face him, I asked, “Are all men scared of a woman who’s been in a long relationship before, or are you all expecting us to just wait patiently as virgins until you show up to rescue us?”
Oops. Might have gone too far there. I fully expected him to huff and leave, so I was shocked by his hearty laugh.
I apologized. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I had a bad experience recently.”
“Any man scared of a woman with experience isn’t worthy of you,” he said, sounding genuine. Which was unfair because I knew it was a line, yet it worked on me anyway.
“I’ll drink to that,” Tiff said, holding up a glass of water. She wouldn’t ever drink while she was working, but I appreciated the sentiment. “To freedom.”
“To new experiences,” the man added with a wink, and I hid my blush by taking a sip of my drink.
“I wish dating were easier,” I admitted, repeating the thought I’d had since I decided to put myself out there again.
Tiff leaned against the bar. “I keep telling you. Casual sex is the way to go.”
There was movement in my periphery, but I kept my eyes on Tiff. Sarcastically, I responded, “Sure. As long as I don’t mention the divorce, I don’t have anything to worry about.”
Tiff regarded me with a smirk like she knew something I didn’t, and then she’d pulled away to attend to a customer at the other end of the bar, leaving the handsome stranger and me alone. My fingers traced the slender stem of the glass before I finally gave in to the urge to look at him again.
That sparkle was still in his eyes as he watched me; a small curl set in the corner of his mouth, the faint indent of a dimple visible beside it. It was new, having someone wait. Having the time to decide what I wanted and the space to act on it. Unfortunately, all my thoughts were fairly singular right now, mostly just a growing list of all the places I wanted to touch him.
Small laugh lines appeared as if he could read my thoughts before he turned pensive. “Can I ask what happened with your ex?”
I sucked in a slow breath. Where did I begin? “The short of it is, we fell in love, we fell out of love. Then he left.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Any particular reason you’re asking?” I challenged.
Those eyes smoldered. “Just wondering what would make a beautiful woman like you fall out of love.” He slowly took a sip of his drink, not breaking eye contact, “I wouldn’t want to make the same mistake.”
