Page 16 of Recklessly You
“What can I get you, Liam?” Will, the owner, asks as he surveys me. We’ve been coming here for years.
“Two beers, please.”
“Everything okay?”
I run my fingers through my hair. “So much shit going on, with the case against Rachel and an old investigation we are working on.” I take a deep breath.
“Yeah, I bet it’s a lot on your shoulders. Many don’t realize what you do is hard as hell. You deal with so much shit.” He hands me two beers, and a couple wave him down.
I nod and thank him as he leaves. I take a long swig of my beer, letting the icy stream relax me.
A woman slides over to the stool next to me. Her long cinnamon hair trails down to her ass. Her brown eyes scan me like I’m her favorite treat as she licks her lips. “Hey, handsome, what are you doing here alone?”
I smirk. “Waiting for a beautiful woman to join me.” I wink, and she beams.
The door swings open. I glance up and groan. Of all people, grenade walks in, accompanied by a woman with pink hair—the girl who works with her, I think. I bite my fist. Fuck, Sophie’s hot. She’s wearing a short blue skirt, tall black boots, and a tight blouse. Her breasts are perky and look firm. Her creamy white skin glows. She’s sculpted to perfection, curvy and beautiful. Her blue eyes sparkle in the light. Every head turns toward her, mine included. I watch her like a creep. She’s walking to a table, but she stops and turns as if she can feel me. Eyes the color of sapphires stare me down. Sophie’s gaze shifts to the woman beside me who’s raking her fingers down my chest. She’s so close I can smell her cheap perfume. A spark of disappointment, or maybe disgust, flashes in her eyes. She turns and sits with her friend. I have the urge to push the woman away from me.
“Tell me your name, handsome,” the flirtatious woman says.
But I never get to answer.
Sophie squeezes between me and the woman at the bar, pushing the woman to the side. “His name is Liam, and”—she turns to me—“by the way, Liam, the pharmacy called—your penicillin and cream is ready for your rash…down there. The last woman you were with must have given you syphilis.”
I stifle a laugh from erupting from my chest as the other woman’s eyes widen, staring at Sophie.
“Good thing I warned you,” Sophie says, turning back to the woman. “It’s very contagious, you know.” Sophie’s tone holds a thread of challenge when she returns her attention to me, cutting the other woman off from view entirely.
The woman walks off without a word, and I shake my head at her with a vast fucking grin.
“Jealous, Grenade?” I tip my head, taking a drink of my beer.
“Nope. Just repaying the favor. You ruined my date, so I ruined your one-night stand.” I don’t miss the way her jaw tightens. I don’t know why I feel the need to say this to her, but I do.
“I wasn’t going to sleep with her.”
She scans my profile. I like the way she looks at me.
“Sure, you weren’t.” She stands, and we just stare at one another like we’re in a trance. “I should go back,” she says, breaking the silence.
Pulling out the chair beside me, I point for her to sit. It’s a bad idea. “Let me buy you a beer.”
Her eyebrows rise. “Okay.” She sits, and her cheeks turn pink.
I wave Will down, and she orders a Vanhattan, whatever the fuck that is, but Will knew just what it was.
“Syphilis, huh? You couldn’t think of anything else?”
She giggles. “That’s the only way I could get you back for ruining my date.” She shrugs.
“Fair.”
“You come here a lot, Casanova?” Her accent is thick and sexy.
I raise my brow at her. “Casanova?”
“Huh. Yeah. So, you come here a lot?”
“I do. Been coming here for years. It’s where Dominic, Santiago, Mark, and I shoot the shit. And sometimes with the guys from work.” I can’t help but stare at how she grips the glass, how her plump lips press against it.
