Page 1 of Bartender's Surprise Baby

1ROB

“Sorry I’m late!” Kayla rushed over to the booth, shrugged off her green wool jacket, and dropped down in the booth beside me. “Mac wanted me to hear the new version of one of his songs.” Her cheeks were flushed with love and probably something a little naughtier. “I told him I could wait until he was back in town for the St. Patrick’s festivities, but he needed me to hear it now.”

“Hey, I’m just glad you made it. All of you, actually,” I said honestly, and looked around the table at the friends I’ve known most of my life, though I haven’t seen much of them in the past decade.

“Sorry,” Torey apologized sincerely. “We’ve been terrible at touching base lately.”

The last thing I wanted was for my friends to feel guilty for moving forward with their lives simply because mine was at a standstill. “It’s okay, really. I miss you girls, but I understand.” I’d spent the past decade rarely keeping in touch, not because I didn’t love and miss them, but because I was out making something of myself, trying to prove something to somebody.

“Still,” Nix began with a sympathetic smile, “we all suck, and we’re all here tonight because our men are out of town.”

“I know,” I smiled brightly, as if I didn’t feel like the biggest loser in the world. “That’s why I picked tonight for us to hang out.” Ryan was off meeting with his commanding officer about his return to the Army, Lee was in New York doing whatever billionaires do in The Big Apple, and Mac was with his band in the studio, laying down their next album. “I’m glad you all came.”

“Always,” Kayla promised, and laid her hand on top of mine. “How are you?”

I sighed heavily, my shoulders drooped forward, but I tried to keep my full lips tugged into a smile. “I’m fine.” I was washed up at the ripe old age of almost twenty-six, which was almost thirty, which pretty much made me a senior citizen in the world of modeling. “Still trying to find my way forward before Sonya drops me.” My agent was like any other, solely motivated by money, and right now I wasn’t making her any, which made me less than useless.

“You’ll find your way,” Torey insisted. “I found a way to turn both of my loves, baking and marketing, into two careers that pay the bills and then some.”

That was the problem: I never gave myself time to figure out what I loved beyond fashion and being pretty. “I don’t even know what else I’m good at.”

Nix smiled. “You’re an amazing stylist. Remember how much you helped me find clothes and a style that flattered my body? I’ve never forgotten those tips. Truly.”

“That was nothing. You just needed a push, and now you’re a knockout, even in jeans and a t-shirt.”

Nix’s cheeks flushed prettily. “That’s good, I suppose, since I live in jeans and t-shirts.” She laughed at her own joke. “Lee doesn’t mind though, and neither do I.”

“That’s what matters.” Nix was proof that being yourself was better than dressing up and putting on a show—or maybe she was just lucky.

“Nix is right,” Kayla agreed. “You can use your fame to document your second chapter, starting over and finding what comes next. Oh! You can get sponsorships and stuff based on your followers…and stuff.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Mac talks about it, and I’ve picked up a lot, just not the specifics.”

“Is that, I don’t know, like a step down?” Was I really so pathetic? “Sorry, that came out wrong.”

“It’s all right,” Torey said. “You’re accustomed to having your face on magazine covers and billboards around the world. It’s going to take a while to adjust.” She took a big sip of her pineapple margarita and sighed. “Do you want to leverage your name and your fame to help, or do something else completely?”

“When you put it like that, I have no clue.” How could I, a grown woman, have no idea what to do with my life when there was so much of it left ahead of me? “I’ll figure it out. Let’s talk about something else. Anything else, please.” I sipped my gin and tonic while the girls caught me up on what was happening in their lives over a gigantic platter of nachos, which I mostly picked over.

My friends were happy and successful, and most of all, they were in love. I was happy for them—incredibly happy, in fact. Love had always been elusive to me, just out of my reach. That’s why I’d spent all of my time and energy on my career, building up a nest egg so that when my beauty began to fade, I would have something to fall back on.

I just hadn’t spent any time thinking about what I would actually do when that time came. “Next round is on me.” I stood with an eager grin, my hands itched, and my limbs tingled uncomfortably.

“Sorry,” Kayla stood and reached for her jacket. “I have an early shift, so I need to get to bed, but let’s do this again soon?”

“Sounds good.” My tone was disappointed, but I tried to hide it behind a smile.

Nix stood up next. “I always have to get up early, and it is well past my bedtime. Thanks for a fun girls’ night, ladies.”

I glanced down at the mostly eaten platter of nachos and sighed. Girls’ night was over. Torey squirmed in her seat, and I rolled my eyes with a laugh. “Go on, you know you want to.”

“Are you sure? I don’t have to get up early, so I can stay a bit longer.”

She didn’t really want to, though. “I’m sure. It’s fine. I’ll sit at the bar and then head home.”

“You sure?” Torey stood and wrapped her arms around me. “I am down to stay for another drink.”

“Your heart isn’t in it. Go home and have dirty talk with Ryan.” I hugged her back, keeping my smile in place as we walked to the front door. I went left and sat at the bar, while Torey headed for the exit.

I felt low. Really, really low. I hadn’t felt this way since that first month in New York, when I couldn’t land an agent or a job and seriously considered waiting tables or finding a sugar daddy. At least Levi is excellent eye candy. The bartender was a beautiful, auburn-haired man with a cropped beard, a smattering of freckles, and deep green eyes that tempted a girl to get lost in them. He was tall—taller than me, which would put him at over six feet—with broad shoulders, a lean waist, and thick thighs that did amazing things to denim.

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