Page 7 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“He most certainly was that,” I agreed. But my mind wasn’t thinking of sixteen-year-old Josh. I was thinking of Matheus, the bartender.

“Come on, let’s go get a drink,” I stood up, lurching a bit but catching myself on the table.

“I thought we were having a drink here,” Mae said, looking a bit confused.

“Let’s go down to the Waldorf,” I smiled, swaying a little bit as I headed towards the door.

Me and Trina exchanged a look as they stood up to join me. Trina shrugged. “You two go along. I’ll get back to work.”

Chapter 5

My blood was throbbing in my veins as we walked into the Waldorf. I hadn’t felt so rejuvenated and enlivened in years. I wanted to give a holler and jump up on the billiards table and dance. It was about the only good use of a billiards table I could figure out. Nobody knew how to play the damn game. At least, nobody in Cougar Creek.

Mae was with me, bringing me some levity, and I took a deep breath instead of releasing my excitement. There was no point in freaking her out on this little outing. I was just getting to build our friendship.

“That tea made me feel so good.” I giggled as I swayed my way to a table. “Did Trina say she put something in it?”

“Well, she doesn’t call it Witches Brew for no reason. She puts tonic in most of the teas to help people feel a little better,” Mae said, glancing over at me curiously.

“Well, I feel like a million bucks.” I could feel the grin splitting my face from ear to ear.

“All right, million-dollar baby. Maybe you want to take it slow there, killer.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward a booth in the back.

“I was just gonna go say hi to Matheus,” I mumbled, wondering why it was so difficult to get the words out. They all kept getting caught up in my tongue.

“He’s a bartender,” Mae stated blandly. “He’ll come to us.”

“Don’t bartenders tend bar? He’s going to stand behind the bar and take care of it. I should really go over there.” I tried to explain to her as reasonably as I could why it made absolutely no sense for me to go sit in a corner in a booth when Matheus was right there.

And he looked good.

I mean, Matheus looked good all the time, with his full lips, dark skin and short black hair. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get to know Matheus better? He had that tall bronze look about him, with chiseled features and raised eyebrows that made him seem like he was just the kind of guy you’d want to get into trouble with.

I turned to Mae. “He takes care of people.”

She looked at me with complete confusion. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“It’s not obvious?” I asked, sliding my butt into the booth. I jiggled a bit as I sat, but I didn’t mind. It kind of felt good to have curves. I liked them.

Mae was still looking at me in complete confusion. “Not in the slightest.”

I leaned in close, grabbing her hands and staring intently in her eyes. “The bartender.” I explained it slowly and clearly so that she could really understand my words. “He takes care of people.”

“Right,” she smiled, pulling her hands back from mine. “The bartender standing right here?” My gaze followed her finger, tilting my head up to look at Matheus standing right in front of me in all of his tanned beauty, his green eyes flashing at me.

“I like to take care of people,” he said with a smile, as if it was a normal part of the conversation and I hadn’t been caught completely red-handed talking about him.

My skin burnt and I’m sure it turned a bright infusion of beet red as I blinked up at him.

“You could take care of me anytime.” I said the words without even realizing they were coming out of my mouth.

Mae burst out laughing. No help whatsoever.

“Maybe I can get you a glass of water,” Matheus said, his expression carved in concern.

“Why are you looking like me like that?” I asked. “Stop looking at me like that,”

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