Page 49 of Worth the Wait

“Happy?” she asked me with a smile.

“Getting there,” I responded honestly.

I’d only be truly happy if she moved back home and in with me.

“Can I get you a drink?” Bella looked tentative, like she was suddenly afraid to interrupt whatever was going on between me and my ex.

Addi glanced at the glass I held in my hand. “What are you drinking?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Bella made it,” I said.

Bella laughed. “I didn’t make it. I poured it. It’s just whiskey.”

“You drink whiskey now?” Addi asked, her eyes soft and sad, like she’d missed out on some sort of monumental personality shift or something.

“Not typically.”

“I can make you something else, Addison. Something pretty,” Bella said as she shoved a tiny menu across the top of the bar.

Addi reached for it, her eyes scanning each and every drink and the description. Her finger ran across the words as she took them in, her lips moving as she read.

“Bella, did you create these cocktails?” Her eyes were as wide as the smile on her face, clearly impressed.

“Yeah.”

“She’s an incredible mixologist,” Matthew answered as he came to a stop next to me.

“How would you know? You only drink beer,” Bella said, and for once, my brother lacked a comeback.

“So, Sarina, how was meeting Jeremiah? You haven’t seen him since you left, right?” Matthew asked.

Sarina’s face damn near lit up. “No one told me how handsome he was. Or how built!” she exclaimed, and the five of us laughed.

“Yeah. Your dad could quite literally kick all our asses if he wanted to,” Matthew said, and I gave her a look that told her it was true. “He scares me.”

“I thought you used to be some big-time professional athlete. You’re scared of a fifty-year-old man?” Sarina teased.

“Damn straight, I am. He’s bigger than most of the guys in the NHL,” Matthew explained.

I glanced at Addi, who was half paying attention to the conversation and still reading the menu Bella had handed her.

“Want to try one of those?” I asked.

Her eyes met mine, and I fucking melted.

This woman is my undoing.

“They all sound so good. But I think I’d like to try a Christmas cosmo,” Addi said as Sarina finally sat down next to her.

I might have blown out an actual sigh of relief at the fact that she’d chosen a stool away from Matthew instead of sitting next to him.

“Ooh, me too. A Christmas cosmo sounds great!” Sarina chirped. “VerySex and the City.”

“Bella, do people order these? I mean, how popular are they?” Addi was all business now. I could practically see the wheels spinning in her head. Knowing her, she probably had a seasonal menu paired with the drinks already listed in her mind.

Bella looked a little dejected. “The saloon really isn’t my target audience, you know? They’re more the beer and bourbon type. But the tourists seem to like them when they come in.”

Addi nodded, like this made perfect sense to her. “That’s what I thought. Do you like bartending?”

---