Page 51 of An Unexpected Everything
“This reminds me of that place we went in Arvada. Do you remember that?”
“Oh I do. Though, I’m really grateful that smoking isn’t allowed anymore.”
I shuddered. “Oh, thank God.”
A few people turned our way, but then went back to their own beers, not really caring. There was a pool table and dartboard in the back, and a few people dancing to whatever music was playing. But the centerpiece of the business was a large wooden bar, shiny in some places, dented in others. And it just felt like a good dive bar. Somewhere I hadn’t gone in far too long. After all, I was the prim and proper Isabella Cage Dixon. I had a family and siblings to take care of. I didn’t do shots and beers at a bar.
“What will you have, Weston, and Ms. Cage?”
I didn’t bother to correct him about my real last name, I just looked over at Weston and grinned. “How about a shot of whiskey and whatever local beer you have on tap that would go with it?”
“Well then,” Weston said with a laugh. “Make it two. You know what I like.”
The bartender whistled through his teeth before he went to pour.
“Whiskey and beer? You’re asking for a hangover on a work night, Bella babe.”
“Well if we’re living in the moment, I’m going to pretend.”
“I can do that.” He put his hand around the back of my neck, tilted my face up, and crushed my mouth to his.
Somebody whistled beside us, as others clapped, and I just ignored them.
“Just making my claim,” he said, though he wasn’t looking at me.
I rolled my eyes and gestured toward the drinks the bartender had handed over.
“Thank you,” I said with a grin.
“No problem, Ms. Cage. You keep this one on his toes. He needs it.”
“That I can do.”
I held up my shot. “Ready?”
“Oh, I think I can handle you.”
I rolled my eyes, tapped the shot glass to the bar top, and tossed the whiskey back down my throat.
It burned, but it was a good burn, so I swallowed without coughing and licked my lips. Weston had done the same thing. As everybody shouted in cheers, I knew we had done the right thing.
“That was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” he said as he leaned forward, whispering in my ear. His warm breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine, and I reached for my beer, needing something to quench my parched throat.
“We’ll just have to see about that.”
We drank our beers as I laughed with a few of the regulars, getting to know another side of Cage Lake. Nobody here seemed to care that my family owned much of the town and I was still a newcomer. All they cared was that we bought our drinks, didn’t make too much of a ruckus, and when Weston pulled me to the back room, I didn’t think much of it. But when he closed the door behind us, and put my back to it, I frowned.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice low.
“What I’ve wanted to do since I first saw you tonight.” And then he crushed his mouth to mine.
I shivered in his hold, a little drunk, a little warm from the whiskey, and raked my hands through his hair, before sliding them down his back.
He was on his knees then, my breath coming out in pants as he undid my zipper quickly.
“Weston. We can’t. Not here.”
“Oh. But we can.”
