Page 61 of Sharkbait
“Spherical? With a whole list of serving instructions? You’ll see. Anyway, food and drinks are pretty much ready. Just need to slice some more garnishes, and we’re good to go. Guests should be arriving shortly.”
She looks around at the place. “Alright then.”
The vocal warm-up sounds from the back room get louder.
Louise’s blue eyes widen.
“Those noises you hear are coming from the performers. They seem to be a bit… eccentric,” I say.
Tiptoeing toward the private room, she puts her ear to the door, then whispers, “Did she really hire burlesque performers?”
“Seems so.”
The noises get even louder.
“Well, this should be interesting,” she says as she moves back to the bar and finally takes a seat.
“I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t been keeping up with the party planning.” She takes a deep breath. “Thanks so much for hosting us.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
I take her in fully. Damn, this woman is gorgeous. She looks more tired than the last time I saw her, which somehow makes her even more beautiful. There’s an openness to her tonight thatI haven’t seen before. Her lips are painted a pale pink, and the ocean blue of her eyes has me drowning in their depths.
“Drowning in their depths? What the fuck, dude?” I say out loud.
“Excuse me?”
I scrub a hand over my head. “Sorry. I’m a little… distracted all of a sudden.”
She smiles.
“Can I get you a drink?”
“Sure. Soda water with lime?”
“You got it.”
Get it together, man.
“So,” she says as I pour her drink. “Where have you been?”
“Been looking for me, have you?” I smirk.
“No,” she emphasizes. “I just happened to notice you weren’t at the aquarium this past week, and before that, when I saw you there, you seemed like you were…” She tucks her hair behind her ears. “I don’t know. Never mind.”
I was trying like hell to keep my distance from her, that’s what I was doing, but I skip talking about that.
“I was in Hawaii this week.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” I place her glass down in front of her. “Miss me?”
“Nope.” She skates right past my flirtation and takes a sip. “What brought you back to Hawaii?”
“I go back monthly, actually.”
“Wow. That’s a long trip to take once a month.”
