Turning my back to him, I fetch the menu.I shout over my shoulder after placing the menu down.“That’s what we have in stock.Call me over when you’ve made a selection.The Glenfiddich is nice—or so I’m told.”
I’m not being rude.Another bar patron has caught my eye.He is just a dark shape standing behind the overhanging pendant light illuminating the counter, but I feel compelled to serve him.
“What would you like to drink?”No matter how far I lean across the counter, I can’t seem to get a good look at the man standing in the shadows.
“Heh.”That’s all I get.He gives a short bark of humorous laughter as if he wants me to see the irony.“What are you offering?”
My insides turn to water as he leans into the light.
The man is impossible in every way there is!Impossibly handsome.Impossibly tall and imposing.Absolutely impossibly well-built.And when he smiles at me, I get the feeling that he might just be impossibly charming, too.
“Wow.”
Oh please don’t let me have said that out loud.
I try to make a recovery, for my pride’s sake.“Whew, I mean.We offer a wide variety of alcoholic beverages at Harry’s Saloon, sir.”But the man with the flashy belt buckle is holding the only laminated menu.“Do you like whiskey, beer, or cider?”
The loud crack of pool balls colliding makes me jump.That’s how tight this man has me wound up.
I think I’m holding my breath as he inclines himself towards me.He’s so tall, he has to move to avoid the pendant light.“Surprise me.”His voice is a rumbling growl, bass enough to penetrate through the music.
Mister Flashy Belt Buckle seems sulky as I give my attention to my new customer.
“Excuse me!I was here first.”Rapping his knuckles on the counter, the high-end guy waves the menu in my face.
Stepping back, the tall man disappears into the shadows again.I get a glimpse of black on white.His t-shirt.The logo of a moon rising behind a strangely shaped mountain and some words: Midnight Son.
Hmm.Biker for sure.
“I’ll have the Glenfiddich, twenty-five years aged.Double.”Flashy Belt Buckle stabs at the menu with his finger.
That’s going to set him back a C-note.Quickly calculating the tip on that makes me smile.I guess I’m in a naughty mood—something is making my blood pump faster through my body tonight—because I hook my fingers intotwodouble shot glasses and pinch them against my thumb.
Grabbing the bottle of Glenfiddich with my other hand, I set one of the shot glasses in front of Belt Buckle and pour him a double.“Water?”
His lower lip pooches out as he scoffs.“I take it neat.”But I’m gone before he can toss back the drink.
Shaking the bottle in front of the tall man, I dare to smile as I put the other shot glass down.“Is this surprising enough for you?”
Angling his head to one side, the tall man gives me a calculating look.His deep gaze is telling me all kinds of things: pleasure, amusement… and assessment.
“Who doesn’t like surprises—when they are nice ones.”He nods his approval for me to pour him a tot.
“Water?”
“Yep.Room temperature spring water.”
I have to go to the backroom to get it.By the time I return, I have three guys to serve with beer and am required to pour Belt Buckle another double tot.My tips are going to be huge tonight.
When I turn my attention back to the tall man, he is still standing at the bar counter like some darkly beautiful statue.The whiskey and water bottle are untouched.
I want to serve him something he will find tantalizing and pleasing.He has that kind of effect on me.“Why do you want to ruin a good whiskey with water?”Standing on tiptoes, I get as close as I dare to his face.“Guys like you, I should be pouring you a second tot by now.”
“And what do you know about guys like me…?”He waits for me to tell him my name.
“Aila O’Hara.No relation to Scarlett.And for the record, we get a lot of bikers in here over the summer.”I hold out my hand over the counter, praying for him to take it and shake it.Desperate for one brief touch.
“Hm.”He acknowledges my outstretched hand by tapping his knuckles against mine for the briefest moment.“Theron Rabane.”He pronounces his name carefully.T’rron Rrrbain.Is he foreign?“Pleased to meet you, Aila.Here.Let me show you how perfectly whiskey and water go together.”
