Page 11 of Every Moment with You

“It was great. Thank you.”

A man leans against the bar beside me, his arm brushing mine. My breath catches in my throat when I turn to tell him to go away.

“Dare you to stay and have another drink with me.”

Chapter Six

Liam

Aerosmith’sI Don’t Want to Miss a Thingplays in the background as I take in the woman’s appearance. She’s beautiful. Her thick, cinnamon-colored hair is an alluring contrast to her chestnut-brown skin, skin that looks dewy and smooth under the lights. A shallow crease appears between her eyebrows as she squints at her phone, probably reading an email or a message. We’ve exchanged pictures a few times over the last several days of talking, but none of them have done her justice. She’s far more attractive than I ever could have imagined.

She finishes her drink before getting up and heading to the bar.

I’m quick to stand and walk over to her, leaning beside her. “Dare you to stay and have another drink with me.”

It’s amazing how things might not seem to be going our way, but then due to a seemingly random series of events, things fall right into place. In my case, about an hour ago, the thumping on the wall between my bedroom and the guest bedroom had nearly had me on the brink of losing my mind. Why, you ask? Because no matter how much I hit the wall with my fist, it still didn’t stop my brother, Jason, from continuing to pound into whatever girl he had in there. I could even hear her giggles and moans, and I’d really been wishing I couldn’t.

But all terrible and painful things must come to end, even if I myself had to intervene. After getting tired of hearing the sounds of my brother’s energetic sex life, I grabbed my coat and took off. It’s not like I had an active social life or a large group of friends, so I simply opted to go to Poison Apple. I figured I could always grab a beer and see what’s happening from the perspective of a non-paying customer—as the owner of the bar, I should at least get free alcohol—and if I needed to roll up my sleeves and get some work done, I could do that too.

When I arrived, I bypassed a line of patrons at the door, glancing at the bouncer and nodding before heading inside. The band I hired for the night was playing on stage, getting the crowd up and moving. They’re a cover band called Desert Rose that has a very talented group of singers whose repertoire includes some good ol’ rock and roll from the 80s and 90s. I grinned, knowing that patrons hot and sweaty from dancing means more alcohol sales. We’d have a good night tonight, but I hadn’t shown up intending to work.

Apart from trying to remove myself from my house where lots of bullshit was currently taking place, I needed a drink and a space to relax for the night—somewhere to unwind and pretend my life wasn’t an absolute shit show. As I wove my way through the crowd, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I saw the woman, Tracey, who’d stood me up earlier, saying she had an upset stomach. Maybe she isn’t interested in me but didn’t want to come right out and say so because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings. Either way, my feelings were hurt. I had thought she liked me and wanted to get to know me better, to see if things could go further. I’m done with casual dating. I’m looking for something… someone permanent. I want to meet and be with the woman who is meant for me.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips.

Tracey didn’t see me, though. She was sitting at a booth alone, watching the band and smiling. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a whiskey, keeping my eyes trained on Tracey the entire time. I’m not a stalker, by any means, so I debated whether to approach her, especially since doing so would mean implicitly calling her out on her fib about having a stomach bug… unless she’d miraculously had a full recovery inthe last sixtyminutes. But if she’d really wanted us to hang out together, she could have called me. And we could have been here together right now, nixing the restaurant I’d booked. I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment. I thought we’d both been enjoying getting to know each other. And to be honest, I was low-key hoping we could have had something more.

Now, standing beside Tracey after daring her to have a drink with me, there’s a sliver of hope she’ll be game to take me up on my offer.

Her mouth falls open when she recognizes me. Seeing me here would have been unexpected. Although I’d mentioned via text message that I own a bar in the area, I’d never told her which one. Plus, she probably thought I’d stay home after she cancelled our date.

Embarrassment quickly replaces surprise. Tracey’s body seems to be frozen in place. She clears her throat and then says, “Well, this is the last place I expected to find you. Are you sure you still want a drink with me after I canceled our date?”

“And miss an opportunity to spend time with you?” I chuckle. “Not likely. I would love to buy you a drink.”

Tracey bites her bottom lip, glancing at her phone before nodding. “Alright, one drink.”

I look at Piper with a nod. “Bring two of what she’s having, please.”

Piper smirks but turns to make the drinks and then places them in front of us. I take a sip of the drink, a whiskey smash, and chuckle.

“Whiskey… my kind of woman.”

Tracey’s eyes are lit with a twinkle of mischief. “Alright, Casanova. Lead the way.”

I hold out my hand, waiting as she tucks her phone into her purse before taking my hand. She grabs her drink with the other, following as I lead her through the bar. There’s a decent sized crowd, but most of them were on the dance floor, gyrating to the sound of the songI’m a Lucky Bastard, leaving the booth Tracey had previously been sitting in vacant for us.

We sit and soak in the rich tones of Desert Rose’s version ofWaiting for a Girl Like Youby Foreigner. With eyes focused on the people dancing, Tracey bobs her head in time with the beat of the music. It gives me the opportunity to admire her without looking creepy.

Tracey wears a dress, which is a shade of red that reminds me of autumn leaves. It’s one of those wrap dresses, which makes her cleavage look deliciously plump, and there’s a sash that ties around her waist. The sleeves are long and flattering and cuff at her wrists. And of course, I don’t miss the fact that the hem of the dress is knee-length at the front and below her calf in the back, which shows off her thick warm-brown legs. It looks like parts of the dress are made from a stretchy material judging from the way it clings to her voluptuous hips, thighs and buttocks.Tracey is alluring and makes the dress look beautiful.

Soon, Desert Rose takes a break and house music is playing. It gives me the opportunity to connect with Tracey.

“Tell me about yourself.” I cross my arms on the table and lean against them.

“There’s a lot you already know.”

---