Page 6 of Inseverable (Carolina Beach)

“No,” I respond.

“You sure?” She frowns, like she’s confused. “You look like a Spanky.”

If I were a pit bull, my lips would be peeling back from my gums. “My name is Callahan Sawyer.”

She clasps her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. “My stars, he speaks.” She drops her hands and offers an exaggerated wink. “Or should I say Callahan speaks?”

I’m annoyed on multiple levels, don’t get me wrong. But the fact that Tinkerbell here has tricked me into telling her my name pisses me off more than it should. “Do you want a drink or not?” I manage, grinding my teeth.

“Sure,” she says, oblivious to my growing desire to strangle her. “Pour me a taste of your finest.”

I pour her a shot of Tequila and step back. She looks down at the shot, then back at me.

“What? No lime. No salt?” she asks. She leans forward, resting her arms across the bar in a voice that sounds husky, but I determine is grossly sarcastic. “I thought this was a classy establishment, sir.”

I bang the bottle of salt in front of her and pass her a lime punctured with one of those tiny swords, careful not to actually touch her. She licks the salt she added to her hand, slams back the shot, and attempts to suck on the lime.

I expected the usual, for her to actuallyswallowthe damn thing. But no. Not this woman. Instead she spits the booze out, spraying me in the face with enough force to slap the lime against my mouth.

The mangled piece of fruit falls back on the bar as I swipe at my skin. This time, I do blink. A lot. Booze to the eyes will do that to a man. As I watch, a deep shade of red creeps up her neck and into her face.

“I’m so sorry. So, so very sorry!” she says. She whips back around to look at her friend who now has her face buried in her hands. “Um. If you give me a second I think I have some tissues in my bag.”

She spit tequila at me—and a Goddamn lime!—and she thinks I’m going to let her wipe me down withtissues. As the sting eases from my eyes, I take a moment to question her sanity, and my ability to snap her neck without anyone noticing.

She covers her mouth. “Oh, my God. You look like you want to kill me.”

And she’s right. But then she starts laughing, because clearly this woman isn’t loud enough. Her face reddens further. Maybe she’s embarrassed and maybe she does feel bad. But something in the way that she blushes . . .

“I’m really sorry, Callahan,” she says. “That’s never happened before. I think it went down the wrong way.”

“It’s fine,” I say, tearing my eyes off her. I reach for a clean rag beneath the bar to wipe my face only to have her lift it from my hand.

“Here, allow me,” she says, dabbing my nose.

She passes the towel along my skin, using care that I’m not used to. I step away from her reach, wondering why the hell she touched me, and why the hell I let her.

“Look, Trixie?”

“It’s Trinity,” she answers quietly, her bright smile returning like I invited her to Disney to meet Mickey Mouse or whatever the fuck. This woman can’t possibly be real. No one is this . . .her.

“I really am sorry,” she says yet again. Her eyes, despite their dark color, sparkle beneath a veil of thick lashes, and the way she looks at me, it’s like she’s known me forever.

But she doesn’t know me. No, not at all. I slap the rag on the bar and wipe it clean in angry circles.

“So . . .” she says, resting her chin on her hand as she leans against the bar. “If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind pouring me another shot?”

I’m ready to tell her that I do mind—that something’s wrong with her, and that maybe she should skip back to her friends and far away from me. But those words lodge in my throat when I catch sight of her face, and notice something beyond that smile she’s pegging me with.

Before I can figure out what exactly that is, I pour her another shot, focusing on my task and once more wrenching my eyes off her.

Chapter Three

Trinity

I wave to my new best friend on our way out and throw in a big grin since that’s how I roll. “Thanks, Callahan. It’s been real!” I call to him. He pauses in the middle of shoving a chair beneath a table just to narrow his eyes. But I’ll admit, it’s my, “See you next week” comment that causes his upper lip to curl.

That man is all sorts of crazy about me.

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