Page 60 of Shattered Vows

I still can’t stop swishing my head side to side, amazed by how light my hair is.

“Kol is going to lose it when he sees you, trust me.”

I stop midstep. “You think he’s going to be mad?”

Anabelle throws her head back and laughs. “No, he’s going to be turned on.”

“Oh.” My cheeks heat, but I hope that she’s right, and this is what makes him give up on treating me like a valuable piece of porcelain when we sleep together.

“What do you want to do now? Are you hungry? Do you want to grab a drink?” she asks.

“That Black Magic place looks interesting.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Black Magic Bar? Sure, let’s go there. We can get some drinks, and they have food too.”

I smile at her. “Lead the way.”

We walk the short distance down the street, and Anabelle opens the door to let me walk in first. I’ve never been in a bar, so I don’t know what to expect. But what I see is what I think most people would term a dive bar, if it had creepy vibes. Lined up on shelves against an exposed brick wall are bottles of liquor, voodoo dolls, portraits of tarot cards, half-burned candles of different colors, crystals, and skulls. There’s more of them throughout the bar too. Stools are lined up along the bar, and there are worn wood tables littered throughout the space.

Anabelle comes in behind me and waves to the woman working behind the bar, so I follow Anabelle over there.

“Hey, stranger. It’s been a while. How’s married life?” she asks Anabelle.

“It’s perfect. Which is why I haven’t been here much.”

The woman laughs. “I bet.”

Anabelle turns to me. “Cinder, this is Rapsody. Rapsody, Cinder.”

“Nice to meet you.” Cinder gives me a warm smile and extends her hand over the bar.

She’s really beautiful, and if I wasn’t feeling so good about myself right now, I might feel self-conscious in her presence. Her long blond hair hangs in waves to her large breasts, and she’s wearing a tight white tank top and short denim shorts that showcase all her curves.

I take her hand. “Good to meet you.”

“What can I get you ladies?” Cinder asks.

Anabelle looks at me. I don’t plan on drinking after my last experience.

“I’ll just have a sweet tea please,” I say.

Cinder nods and looks at Anabelle.

“Wine spritzer for me since it’s not even dinner time yet.”

Cinder laughs and nods down toward the end of the bar at a couple of men who look to be in their early forties who have obviously been partaking for a while. “Not everyone waits until dinner.”

We laugh while Cinder works on our drinks.

Anabelle turns to me. “Want to sit at the bar or go get a table?”

I glance down at the dress I’m wearing. It reaches my knees, so I should be fine to sit on a bar stool. “Let’s sit at the bar. I’ve never sat at one before.”

Anabelle gives me a quizzical look and slides onto a stool, motioning for me to take the one next to her. She doesn’t say anything for a second, and I’m sure she’s wondering what planet I just descended from.

“You mentioned in the salon that you’ve never worn makeup and then you just said that you’ve never sat at a bar… I was just wondering—and I hope it’s not rude of me to ask, I just want to get to know you better—did you grow up in a really religious home or something?”

I don’t blame her for asking. I’d be curious, too, if I were her and met a twenty-three-year-old who was such a novice at so many things. So I explain to her the way my mom raised me, though I don’t mention the why of it. I may have shared with Kol that my mother was assaulted, but it’s not something I feel right about telling everyone.

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