Page 38 of The Caretaker
“You’re gorgeous,”I’d said, then cursed my nonfunctioning filter.“I mean, you look relaxed.”
He’d pursed his lips, taking what I’d said into consideration.“I like gorgeous better.”Then he’d gone back to reading.
“Pauly, this is Noon. Noon, meet Pauly.” Solace’s introduction hauled me from my thoughts.
“Hey, there,” Pauly said, extending a hand. I accepted it, smiling through the secret hand-squeezing contest that ensued. Pauly relented first. “Why don’t you two sit at the bar?” he said before dropping his tone and staring down at Solace. “Then I can give you my undivided attention.”
“I think undivided is a bit much,” Solace said, his voice holding a subtle warning. “You do have other customers to take care of.”
I scanned the place, counting only three frazzled servers taking orders.
“I have to agree with Solace,” I said. “Just take our drink and food order, and I’ll handle the rest.”
Solace didn’t need any of Pauly’s damn attention because I planned on giving him all of mine.
“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head about that,” Pauly said to me, smirking when I failed to suppress my bristle. “We’ve got a few girls clocking in as we speak.” His eyes twinkled with unconcealed amusement. Pauly swaggered over to the two stools closest to the tap and patted the seat of one. “Come on, place that sexy little rump right here, sweetheart.”
“Pauly,” Solace cautioned again, his eyes narrowing on the large man.
“I’ll be a good boy,” he promised, holding his hands up as he made his way behind the bar.
“I’m sorry,” Solace said once we were seated and Pauly was out of earshot. “Takes a while to get used to his brand of humor.”
“Are you sure he doesn’t have a thing for you?” I sized Pauly up from where he stood laughing with another patron at the other end of the bar. I was taller, broader, and better-looking in jeans. My lips curved into an egotistical smile that had Solace’s brows lowering.
“I’m positive. Just ignore him. Actually,” he said, looking around. “What do you say we go sit in the booth way in the back?”
“I say, what are we waiting for?”
Pauly still made it his business to serve our table, even with a now fully occupied bar. He also didn’t miss any opportunity to take Solace’s words out of context, or to drop a few double entendres of his own.
“I’ll have the beef tenderloin and a bottle of still water,” Solace ordered.
“Single serve bottle?” Pauly asked.
“I’ll go with the large.”
“Someone’sthirsty tonight,” Pauly said, wiggling his brows.
“We’re going to share it,” Solace replied, not bothering to hide his exasperation.
“That’ll be all for now,” I bit out after Pauly took my order and then stood there staring at Solace.
We were lucky enough to eat and drink in peace, but then Solace challenged me to a dart throwing contest.
“I’ve never thrown darts a day in my life,” I said, finishing up my food and cleaning barbeque sauce off my fingers. Pauly was an asshole, but the food was exceptional.
“How do you know?” Solace leaned into the table. “For all you know you could be a dart throwing champion.”
I laughed, moving a strand of hair hanging from his bun before it swung into the drops of steak sauce he’d spilled on the table. “I’m pretty sure Leland or my sister would have told me if I’d become some glorified dart champion within the two years I can’t recall.”
“When’s the last time you spoke to your sister?” His tone turned subdued. Solace felt for the people in my life. For the people who missed me.
“It’s been a while. We mostly text now, and when we do, I keep things brief. Thankfully, she’s too busy with her twin boys to make too much of a fuss about it. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to her… It’s more like I don’t want to talk to anyone. No one gets it.”Except you.
He nodded as if he’d heard those two unspoken words and agreed. “You have nephews.”
“Yeah. Guess I do.” I hadn’t thought of them in that way until then. I’d been so preoccupied with keeping my distance from the people who cared about me that I hadn’t accounted for the two infants who were growing up without their only uncle in their lives. I’d turned down every request for me to visit, and couldn’t find it in me to even FaceTime. “I need to do better.”
