“Bad day?” he asks with a smirk. A smirk! It comes so easy to him, unlike some people that don’t even have smirking muscles in their faces.
“You have no idea,” I sigh.
“Tell me about it.” The guy sets the drink in front of me and presses his forearms to the bar top. “I’m a bartender. We’re practically licensed therapists.”
I shouldn’t. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Yet something about being in a public place around normal people is painfully refreshing, and I kind of just don’t give a shit anymore.
“My boss is a dick.” I pick the lime wedge from my glass and squeeze it into the drink before tossing it aside.
“So get a new job,” he suggests.
I take a sip. Still as awful as I remember it, but it’s not the poor guy’s fault I can’t order what I really want. “I wish it were that easy.”
“Who says it isn’t? You’re a cute girl. You could get a job anywhere.”
“Not a job like this one.”
“Yeah?” The guy leans even closer. He smiles like cinnamon and bad choices. “And what makes it so special?”
You mean, aside from the fact I am the personal assistant to one of the most powerful CEOs in the country? Not to mention the soon-to-be kingpin of the local Bratva?
“It pays well.”
“I’d pay you well.” I almost spit out my drink. “What? You don’t believe me? You’d make a killing if your skirt was a little shorter and you tacked a sweet smile onto that sarcasm of yours.”
I smile, but not because he told me to. The conversation is amusing because this guy has no fucking clue.
He smiles back, waiting for another response. But the one I give him is enough to make him leave me alone. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
The bartender tosses his towel back over his shoulder and moves on to a couple of girls who just walked in. I finally get a second to breathe. A second to enjoy my cocktail in peace.
Until my phone starts ringing.
Damnit, Amara, you spoke too fucking soon.
“Hello,” I answer, because it’s Electra and if I don’t answer, she will probably send the hounds in search of me because of how flaky I’ve been. Not that it’s my fault.
“Well, look who actually picked up for once!”
“Yeah, well, I do get a day off once in a while.” There’s a bit of a tone there, half because of her comment and half because I did get the day off… involuntarily. I feel like that word is the theme of my life recently. Nothing is my choice anymore.
“That’s good. Does this mean your big bad wolf of a boss is lightening up?”
I nearly laugh at that, but I’m able to stifle it in the back of my throat before it comes out. “Something like that.”
“So how are things with the mystery man? Do I get to meet him yet or did you kick him to the curb? Because if you kicked him to the curb, I might have a guy for you.”
“Electra…” I whine into the phone. “No. I am very much still seeing this man. No more blind dates.”
“How often are you seeing him?” she presses.
“Daily,” I mutter before thinking about how that might sound. But Electra isn’t paying attention.
“So itisserious? I love it. Well, you will be happy to know that I went on a date too.”
“How’s his nose?” I ask.
“What?”
