He grinned and focused back on me. “Aren't we? I thought I was doing well.”
“That's what you got from our conversation?” I set the mojitos on the bar. “Wow. You're clueless, aren't you?”
Julie gaped at me as she slid me a twenty. “Um, keep the change.”
“Thanks, Julie,” I said warmly.
“So, that's how you sound when you're being nice,” Darius mused. “I think I prefer the bite.”
“Good. Cuz I'm all bite for ya sugar.”
“Well, nice to meet you,” Julie stammered as she carried her drinks away.
Darius didn't notice. He was still staring at me, now with his head cocked. “Do I detect a note of Nawhlins in your voice?”
I grimaced. “Dang it. It comes out sometimes when I get annoyed.”
“So, I'm annoying you?”
“Now, you're catching on.”
“Two JDs, a shot of Cuervo, and two Heins,” Jackie, one of my waitresses, said as she set her tray down. “Hey, Darius.”
“Hey, Jackie,” he said absently. Then he focused on her. “I'm trying to hit on your boss here, but she's giving me a hard time.”
Jackie and I snorted together as I started to make the drinks.
“You're not her type, Romeo,” Jackie, who was hardcore without the help of a potion, said. “Swing it somewhere else.”
Darius chuckled. “What if I have to have her?”
Jackie and I both gawked at him.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I demanded as I popped the lid off a bottle. “Go away.”
“No,” Darius said. “I think you're fucking incredible, and I'm not leaving without your number.”
“Here's my number. It's easy to remember.” I flipped him a single digit. As in finger. The middle one.
Jackie burst out laughing. “Told you. Just give it up.”
“Do you really think it's fair to judge me as you are?” Darius asked me. “Come on. Give me a chance.”
“Like you just gave Julie a chance?”
“Who's Julie?”
I snorted. “The girl that I made those mojitos for.”
Darius frowned. “I'm sorry, did Julie ask me out?”
“Did you ask me out?” I countered.
“I'm trying to.”
“Are you though?” I asked in that dubious mocking tone people used.
Jackie laughed again and sauntered off with her tray, tossing a, “Good luck, Darius,” over her shoulder.
