Page 3 of Love on the Rocks

“Ugh,” I groan and hit the heel of my palm against my forehead. All I needed to do was tell him I didn’t feel good, or I wanted to spend more time with Jack. Anything other than to leave him thinking I didn’t want to spend time with him, or that I was ashamed of our business would have been stellar.

I linger a little longer in the office, trying to find the confidence to talk to my own husband. That stupid saying,the clothes make the man, apparently they make the woman too. It’s stupid, I’m still me no matter what I’m wearing, but I’m also not because I don’t feel like me. I feel like I shed my confidence and personality along with my old wardrobe.

“Stop being a scared little bitch,” I lecture myself. I roll my shoulders back and try and strut out into the bar. As much as one can strut in a skirt that makes a swooshing sound as you walk.

I just need to march out there and spill everything to my husband and let him help me fix it like he has fixed everything for the last decade. I’m comforted by this thought until I turn the corner and see the new, and very pretty, young bartender making eyes at my husband.

She reaches out and touches his arm, and he doesn’t shove her away. It’s not like I’m catching him with his pants down, balls deep with her bent over the bar, but we’ve been so disconnected lately it wouldn’t be hard for her to capture his attention.

“I guess I’m the one in the way, huh?” I blurt out and hurry toward the door.

Donovan calls out to me, but my ears are buzzing too loud to hear what he’s saying. Mercifully, I’m able to hold the tears at bay until I’m safe inside my car. Maybe safe is an exaggeration considering I drive across town blubbering like a baby.

My best friend runs, well, waddles is probably a better description, out to my car to meet me. Wren leans forward and rubs her nine-month-pregnant belly while she tries to catch her breath. “Saw you coming through the window while I was in the cafe. Why are you crying, B?”

I sniffle. “I’m going to need chocolate.”

Wren puts her arm around me and leads me into the cafe. Through hiccuping sobs, I tell her everything from the gossiping moms, to seeing the new bartender trying to feel up my husband. “And the worst part is she’s young and pretty, while I look like a potato.”

“You do not look like a potato,” she pushes back. I give her a scathing look. I do not want her pity, no matter how pathetic I am.

Wren’s lips twitch. “I’d say you look more like a cardboard box.”

A laugh bursts free amid the sobs, and before I know it I’m laughing like a lunatic. “What was I thinking? Look at me.”

“I am, and I’ve been wondering what’s been going on with you lately, but no way is Donovan cheating. You need to talk to him,” she says.

My lip curls up and I look down at myself. “I’m sure talking is all we’ll be doing.”

“Please tell me you didn’t throw out your normal clothes, because I have a plan.”

3

Donovan

Griffin strollsinto the bar a few minutes later. At fifty-two he still manages to turn the heads of almost every woman he comes across, my new bartender included.

“Can I get you a beer?” she asks, a bit breathlessly. She’s really putting it out there, leaning forward to entice him with a flash of her cleavage. “Or anything else?” she adds after a lengthy pause.

That settles it, I’m going to have to fire her. I open my mouth to do just that, but Griffin beats me to telling her off. “Little girl, I’m thirty years older than you and I have no interest in helping you work out your daddy issues.”

She bats her eyes. “That’s not the kind of daddy I had in mind. You might enjoy being with a younger woman.”

Griffin chuckles. “I definitely do. Every single night, in fact. I’m married to a much younger woman, and this daddy knows how to take care of his baby bird.”

The humor melts off his face and is replaced by a sneer I haven’t seen on him since the days he was pretending he wasn’t lustingafter his daughter-in-law. “But, you probably already knew that because you’ve been working here for longer than five minutes, which means you enjoy chasing married men. Thing is, we’ve all fought too hard to get where we are, so how about you hand over your apron, and get the fuck out of our lives.”

Angela takes off her apron and drops it on top of the bar. “Mr. Miller, I’m turning in my notice,” she says without looking at me.

“I think that’s for the best,” I agree and snatch her apron off the top of the bar.

Once she’s out the door, Griffin turns his attention back to me. “That was the first step.”

“The first step? I stumbled into one of your grand plans, didn’t I?” I ask.

He snorts. “There’s only ever one plan. Remind your woman why she’s with you. Wren and I will watch Jack tonight, so you can take Bess on a walk down memory lane.”

I look around the bar and realize that I’m now down a bartender on Valentine’s Day. There aren’t a lot of places to go out here, which means we will be slammed tonight. “Yeah, one problem with that. I’m short a bartender now since she was the replacement. I don’t see how I’ll be getting out of here now.”

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