I rest my elbow against the bar. ‘The inference being I’m a loser with no friends?’
She strikes my shoulder and it goes tingly. ‘No!’
The barman passes me a beer with a wink. God dammit he makes me look so cool. I smile in thanks and point to Minnie’s empty margarita glass. He nods and starts hunting for tequila.
‘I’m here with my performance coach,’ I say before she can make a big deal out of the free drink.
‘Oh yes, paying someone to be with you is much classier.’
I’m laughing when a perfectly manicured hand slides onto my bicep. ‘Congratulations on today,’ says a woman I’ve never seen before. Probably a model. They usually are.
I thank her and return my attention to Minnie, who’s looking more and more awkward by the second. The intruder doesn’t want to leave but doesn’t know how to stay, so we’re all suspended in limbo. I’d have slipped her a crisp £50 note if I knew Minnie would react like this. She looks like she wants the floor to swallow her whole, and it’s taking everything I have not to cry with laughter.
At last, right before Minnie implodes, we’re left alone.
‘You ok there?’ I give her a playful nudge, and regret it when she wobbles like she might fall over.
‘That was beyond awful.’ She takes her fresh frozen margarita off the bar and gulps it down.
‘I thought it was funny.’
‘Of course you did.’ She glances up at the heavens, but I can see her smile returning. ‘Yes, congrats, Bowden.’
‘Thank you, thank you. How did you find my race? Boring?’
‘You know what? I’m just going to ignore you because you can’t be reasoned with.’ She pretends to focus on the barman flipping a cocktail shaker.
I lean close to her ear and that gorgeous scent washes over me. ‘I know a way to make you stop ignoring me.’
Her throat works. ‘Oh yeah?’
‘Mhm.’
With a hand on her lower back, I guide her away from the bar towards a darkened corner, far from the speakers and thrusting. Lads’ eyes follow us as we move through the crowd. I bet she’s a favourite when she walks through the paddock. The thought makes me hold her tighter, and I immediately slacken my hand. I don’t like feeling possessive. It’s not me. I focus on how warm her body is beneath the black satin, and I imagine what it would feel like to run my fingers across her naked back. To press my lips?—
‘What’s this mysterious ploy then?’ she asks.
I put my beer on the table. ‘You know everything about me, and I didn’t know anything about you, and that wasn’t really fair, now, was it?’
Her forehead wrinkles. ‘I don’t think?—’
‘So I did some Googling.’
‘Oh god,’ she breathes, and it shoots straight to my dick.
I clear my throat. ‘You’re not the only one who can have a binder, you know.’
‘What did you learn?’
A whole lot of things. I tongue my cheek. ‘You have lovely straight teeth.’
A pause. ‘For fuck’s sake!’
‘I didn’t know you could get colours in train tracks.’
She covers her eyes with both hands. ‘It was a trend! I was faddy.’
‘I also really dug the glasses. They screamed “I read faerie smut when I’m alone”.’
