“I don’t know how to explain it,” he said, sliding my drink toward me. “You’re... lighter somehow. Nicer.”
I was definitely not nicer. That was in his head. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m actually mad at you about something.”
His eyes narrowed. “About what?”
“I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I’m still building my case.”
“Building your case?”
It was my turn to shrug. “You know, gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, investigating all possible outcomes.”
“I take it back. You’re not nicer. You’ve gone full psycho.”
“It could be both,” I told him flatly. “For instance, this drink is delicious, and you should definitely serve it next month. Maybe put it on the spring menu permanently.” I took another sip. “See? Nicer.”
“Come to think of it...” Will wiped at a few drops of sticky cocktail on the bar next to me. “It all started when you abandoned the bar and went out of town with Jonah for the night. Are you ever going to share where you guys went? What you were doing?”
I was honestly saving my bombshell reveal for a bigger conflict, so avoiding this question was my number one priority. “Are you ever going to tell me why you have a real estate agent? She called the bar looking for you.”
His gaze squeezed into slits. “Must have been a scammer.”
“Drug run,” I lied as easily as he had. “Jonah and I are drug mules on the side to pay for our expensive whiskey habit.”
Jonah took that exact moment to walk into the bar. He’d left my apartment Monday morning and gone to work. And then come over Monday night, and we watchedThe Witcherand made out for hours. Tuesday was much of the same, although he’d gone home to sleep in his own bed. He said he couldn’t sleep with me so close... but that obviously wasn’t true since the man snored all night long.
And held me very tightly in his arms.
What he really meant was he couldn’t sleep as much as he wanted to. Thanks to all the fooling around. We’d yet to have sex yet, but the building anticipation was making it hard to think about anything else. I appreciated that Jonah seemed to be working up to it. Giving us time to fully explore each other. Making each new physical adventure more familiar, more intimate. I couldn’t wait for what was to come. But I loved all these advancing steps along the way.
This was the first time we’d seen each other today, and I was valiantly trying not to ogle and drool over him. But I was afraid I was failing.
“Is this true?” Will asked as Jonah took the barstool next to me.
Jonah tipped his head toward my drink. “I’ll have what she’s having.” Then he turned and smiled at me, holding my gaze for no other reason than just to look at me. “Hey.”
I blushed. Head to toe, I turned bright red. I wanted to blame his unfiltered attention and how special he’d just made me feel... ignoring Will just to say hi to me... but honestly, it was the tennis audience approach Will had taken to watching us. His head bounced back and forth like we were the US Open, and he’d bet his life savings on the match.
“Hey,” I whispered to Jonah, hoping he would divert his attention elsewhere.
“Eliza says you’re a drug mule,” Will all but shouted. Several heads down the line of the bar turned to look at us. When it was clear I didn’t fit the description of a drug mule, they turned back to their drinks.
“I’m going to need more context,” Jonah shot back, not missing a beat.
“When y’all disappeared for the night,” Will gritted out. “She says you’re drug mules as a side hustle.”
Jonah whipped his head toward me. “You told your brother? I thought we agreed to keep it between us?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry. It just slipped out.”
Will scrubbed the now nonexistent cocktail spill harder. “You know, y’all think you’re real funny, but I’m going to find out. And then you’re going to be sorry you didn’t tell me yourself.”
I rolled my eyes. You knew things were serious when Will got extra Southern. “You first, big brother.”
He lifted his head and gave me a warning look. I was apparently diving into a sensitive subject. Headfirst. Good. He couldn’t keep secrets like that from me and expect me not to figure it out somehow.
Ada walked over the first chance she got. She’d shown up for work today, and all of us had breathed a big sigh of relief. “Hey, Jonah.”
“Hey, Ada. You survive Charlie Gate recently?”
