Page 15 of Starshine
She reached under the bar to grab a small cauldron. “Julienne, go grab my herbs from upstairs,” she called before she filled the cauldron from the wine cask. It thudded as she set it on the counter across from Garrett. “Go hang that over the fire.”
Garrett raised an eyebrow as he looked at the filled cauldron. “Will you get in trouble for this?”
Bridgette leaned her elbows against the bar. “It’s one of the few perks of the job - we’re allowed a modest amount when we’re entertaining clients.”
Garrett looked around the empty brothel with amusement. “Is that so? Guess it was a busier night than expected, then.”
“That’s the spirit,” Bridgette said, and Garrett chuckled as he picked up the cauldron and hung it over the fire next to the water cauldron. He returned to his normal table in the back and watched as Bridgette took a bag from Julienne. She grabbed a couple pinches of something from the jars before she went over to the cauldron and tossed them in. A few minutes later, Garrett smelled clove and allspice mulling with the wine.
Once it was warmed, Bridgette scooped out a cup for each of the other girls before filling two more. She came over to his table and set one of the cups down in front of him. “This one’s on me tonight.”
Garrett smiled as he scooped up the cup and raised it to her. “A generous person in charge.”
Bridgette chuckled as she slid into the seat across from him. Garrett cast a wary glance down the hall to Monika’s rooms, but Bridgette seemed to read his mind. “When I went back to check on her, I could hear her snoring through the door. As person in charge, I give you full permission to speak to me tonight.”
Garrett took a sip from his cup, enjoying the burst of sweet and spice across his tongue. “Averygenerous person in charge.”
Bridgette looked pleased by that. “So. Since you haven’t had a chance to say yet, how has your first week been?”
“Aside from the nonsense rules, this place is a dream,” Garrett said.
Bridgette’s laugh was tinged with irony. “Monika’s has been called many things, but I don’t think it’s ever been called that.”
Garrett shrugged and couldn’t quite meet her eye. “I didn’t have much before you got me the job.”
Bridgette grinned at him over the rim of her cup. “I’d argue those fists got you the job. Where’d you learn to fight?”
“My mother taught me,” he said, but quickly changed the subject. “I’m a little afraid I’m bringing in more trouble than I’m preventing.”
Bridgette hummed thoughtfully. “I think some of the miners see you at ease in a room of beautiful women and feel the need to see who’s got the bigger dick.” An easy smirk spread across her face. “But by those rules, you’ve more than proven your endowments at this point.”
Garrett chuckled as heat crept up his neck. “I just hope Monika doesn’t decide I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”
“She won’t. We need security, and you’re far more effective than our last guy was,” Bridgette said. “And far more interesting, too.”
He couldn’t stop a huff of a laugh. “That’s kind of you to say.”
“I’m being honest,” Bridgette said. “When you talk to people for a living, you start to hear the same stories over and over again. Most of my callers were born here, raised here, and will die here. Their stories don’t change much from one person to another. You though… you’re a mystery, and it’s a story I wouldn’t mind hearing.”
Garrett shifted in his seat. “There’s nothing to tell.”
Bridgette gave a very unladylike snort. “I think that’s one of the things I like about you, Garrett. You’re a bad liar.”
Garrett brought his cup with him as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. She called him a mystery, but he’d seen just enough to realize how little he knew about the woman. She had built a facade just like he had to get by. While his was one of strength and brutality, hers was one of seductive acquiescence. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that hidden depths existed underneath it.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” Garrett said at last. “A question for a question. And no lying. You have to answer honestly.”
Bridgette considered him before she got to her feet. She grabbed his cup from his hand, and Garrett’s hopes sank, but she only went to the cauldron over the fire to refill them. When she returned to the table, she set his cup back in front of him. “Deal. But I start.”
Garrett tried not to let his relief show as he raised his cup to her. “Alright then.”
Bridgette considered him before she said, “Who was human - your ma or your da?”
Garrett gave her a curious look. Other than Melodee, most humans saw the tusks and immediately assumed he was full-blooded. “My da was. He came to the high plains after leaving Airedale,” he said before he took a sip from his cup. “Have you always lived in Frostcliff?”
“My da brought me here from a little town a few miles away when I was a child, but I barely remember it,” she said through a sigh. “Have lived in Frostcliff ever since.” She leaned forward, elbows resting on the table as she said, “I once heard that orc kin age faster than humans do. How old are you?”
“I reached my fifth decade back in the spring,” he said. “So you heard exactly wrong. Full-blooded orcs can live to be two centuries, usually.”
