He turned, a couple of glasses in one hand, and saw me. ‘Oh. Hi.’
‘Hi,’ I replied.
‘I – um…’ I’d never seen him at quite so much a loss for words before. ‘I couldn’t sleep. Sorry. Nothing to do with you, I just…’
‘It makes you antsy when the bar’s not clean?’
He tugged at his hair, his expression sheepish. ‘That obvious?’
My heart, which had been aching, melted. This man. This beautiful,beautifulman.
‘Do you want to finish wiping down tables,’ I asked him, ‘or do you want to mop?’
‘What?’
‘I’ll mop,’ I decided. ‘You finish the tables.’
‘Fiona – I – no, you don’t—’
‘Don’t worry, boss.’ I wrinkled my nose fondly at him. ‘You can check my work after.’
We worked in silence for a while – not an uncomfortable silence, but a companionable one, the swish of the mop against the floor and the clatter of glasses as he stacked them in racks and carried them out to the kitchen the only sounds. He relinquished his cloth to me so I could wipe down the bar as he carried the mop bucket out to empty it. It was impossible not to admire the long lines of him as he walked away, the tendons in his left arm standing out from the bucket’s weight.
I’d just had sex with this man. I’d just had sex with Satoshi Tsukamoto, and it had been the best sex of my entire life.
I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth, trying to swallow the laugh rising up inside me, but I couldn’t. It bubbledout of me, rushing, fizzing, like a bottle of champagne that had been shaken up.
‘What’s wrong?’ There was a worried look on Satoshi’s face as he re-emerged from the back.
‘Nothing!’ I managed to gasp. ‘I’m just – will you come here?’
He did. I wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could, hiding my face in the curve where his neck met his shoulder, and laughed.
One of his hands came to rest between my shoulder blades, the other stroking the back of my head. ‘I thought you were crying.’
‘No.’ I kissed the hollow at the base of his throat. ‘Not this time.’
He drew back. ‘You’re all right?’
‘Satoshi,’ I went up on tiptoes so I could kiss his lips, ‘I’mgreat.’
He smoothed his hand down my shoulder. ‘Do you need to go? Or can I pour you a drink?’
I would need to go at some point. The sun would come up, and the world would be waiting for me, and I would have to meet it.
But right now, there was just this. Right now, there was just him. Outside, there might be storms aplenty, but here, in this place – this one special, safe place – everything was quiet and calm.
‘I would love a drink.’
I slid onto my regular barstool, ogling Satoshi shamelessly as he bent down to get something from the lowest tier of one of his wine fridges. ‘I like your new uniform. Very fashion-forward.’
He chuckled. ‘Do you think it’ll draw in more customers?’
‘Without a doubt.’
He turned the bottle in his hand slowly upside down before righting it and removing the cap. ‘What’s this?’ I asked.
‘Sake.’
