She flinched. "Yes. A little. When I was a kid."
"Do you shred the guitar?" Then they could have a duet. That could be fun.
She shook her head. "No. No guitar."
"Piano?"
She shook her head again. "Nuh-uh."
"You gonna tell me?"
"Some things are better left in the past." She seemed caught up in a good memory with the way her expression went distant and her lips twisted into a semi-smile.
"Well, now I really want to know."
"I kind of like the guessing game." She folded her hands under her chin.
Then she caught Pam as she passed by. "Do you do frozen cocktails like a piña colada or something? I think I want something stronger."
"Now we’re talking," Pam said, under her breath. "We don’t, actually. But I have been instructed that you can have whatever you want. So if you want a piña colada? I will have someone run and get a blender. We’ll make it happen."
Darla nodded. She caught his gaze.
He nodded back. "That’s the rules. You get what you want tonight. Might as well make it good."
Darla bit at her bottom lip. "Do you know that donut shop off of the 16th Street Mall?"
Pam nodded. "I know the one."
Everyone knew that place. Best donuts in Denver.
"They’re closed." Darla caught Mach’s eyes again, hers sparkling. She was cute when she was having fun. "But I’d really like one of their cream-filled glazed with chocolate and Captain Crunch on top."
Mach sat back and admired her enthusiasm. Not gonna lie, he was a little proud because Darla was going to use her temporary power of "anything you want" not to wreak havoc, or go rent a helicopter, but to get herself the best damn donut around. This was a woman with priorities he could be on board with.
"I’ll take one, too," he said.
Pam was all about this. She gave Darla a sly grin. "Let me get that going for you."
Darla’s face lit up with excitement. "This is a fun game."
He shifted in his seat, leaning into the table so he didn’t have to talk so loud over the crowd. "Why order the club soda before if you really want a fru-fru cocktail?"
"Because before I thought you were legit," she said. "Like a legit date, I mean."
"And I’m not legit?"
"Not now. Being on my best behavior mattered then. Now? Not so much. I’m free to ask for donuts and piña coladas." She rubbed her hands together like an evil genius cartoon.
"What’s it like being a nurse?" he asked. That was a safe question and it showed that he did care about her life outside of this bar. "Takes a special kind of person to do what you do."
She took a small sip from her glass and fiddled with the straw. "It’s like you are helping people and some really appreciate what you do. But then not everyone wants to be helped. And then you get puked on. Very glamorous."
"Pretty sweet that you save lives for a living," he said instead of asking her to do the straw thing again with her mouth so he could watch.
Instead, he listened as she told him all about how she preferred to give an IV in the forearm because the patient has more mobility, even if it’s harder for her as the nurse. About how her favorite pen to chart with had the super fine tip but was really hard to find, and how she hated the word Flumazenil because it tasted weird when she said it.
"Sorry. That’s enough about me," she said, abruptly cutting herself off. "I mean, you make people happy with music for a living. That’s pretty fantastic."
