15. Colder

I kept glancingaround to see if Naomi was coming through the door of Lonegan's.

It was getting later in the evening, and I'd forgotten to get her number before rushing off to get ready for work.

"Yo! I need a keg."

I waved to Danny, one of the bartenders I was working with that night, and sneaked into the back to the cooler where they were kept.

"What, you walk away without noticing me? Is our love over?"

I glanced over my shoulder and grinned. "Jackass. Who let you back here?"

Duncan Alexander, my best friend and all-around pain in the ass, leaned against the wall in the hallway outside of the cooler. "Susie." He waggled his eyebrows as he straightened.

"She's still sweet on you. Don't let Cal see you."

"He'll just put me to work like he's been threatening to do since you started here."

I picked up a case of Heinekens and shoved it at him. "Speaking of. Make yourself useful."

Duncan took the bottles. "I better get a beer out of the deal."

"Don't you always?"

"Sometimes I tip you."

I went back in and threw a keg up on my shoulder. "Go."

"Going!"

"When did you get back in town?"

"This morning. I got a shitty email from my landlord that cut my trip short." He hefted the case onto the edge of the bar.

Susie, the blond waitress, flashed Duncan a wide smile. "I see you found your boyfriend."

"I did, even though he didn't notice me standing at the end of the bar when I came in. I fear our love is waning. Won't you take up the mantel, fair Susie?"

"We tried that. You conveniently lost my number, remember?"

"Ah, it was Mercury in Retrograde, I swear it. I transposed the numbers."

Susie laughed and smacked his ass with her serving tray. "You're full of crap, Duncan." She refilled her tray full of beers that Danny had pulled and took off into the crowd of Saturday patrons. There was definitely an extra bounce in her step for my idiot best friend.

I finished hooking up the keg and shoved Duncan out from behind the bar. "Finish your story, Dunc. What happened with your landlord?"

"Right." He planted himself on a stool and I poured him his preferred microbrew. "Thanks, man."

I refilled the ice in the chest at the end of the bar and shoved a few of the Heinekens in to chill down. "Spill it."

"He's selling the building. We have to be out at the end of the month."

I whistled. "Shit. That's not much time."

"No. I looked at the rental agreement, and of course, the fucker has a loophole in it so I can't fight it."

"You hate that craphole place anyway."

"I know, but now I have to find a new one."

"You're actually making some green these days. You can afford something better."

"I can afford it, but I don't have time to look all over the damn city for a place."

I wiped down the bar and refreshed the garnish station. "I can put some feelers out."

"Anything available in that swanky place you live?"

"I'll check with Aunt Deb, but I think there's a waiting list again." I grabbed my water bottle and took a long swig. It was a warm one tonight, thanks to all the bodies.

I nodded to the trio of guys who came up to the bar. "What can I get you?"

"Three Guinnesses, please."

"You got it." Bah. My least favorite. I took down the Guinness glasses and started the slow pour. I glanced back at Duncan. "At least you have a few weeks."

"Yeah, too bad I'll be in Seattle for two of them."

Duncan was a sportswriter and podcaster, and this was his busy time of the year with hockey playoffs. He dabbled in a few other sports, but hockey was his favorite and his podcast had just gotten some national attention, which meant he was even busier than usual.

The front door opened, and a welcome blast of cool April evening air came through. I glanced over and my gut tightened at the redhead who sauntered in. But she wasn't my redhead. Mine was more golden with red tones. "I'll hit up a few people and see if we can find you something."

"Thanks, man." Duncan sipped his beer. "Now tell me what has you so distracted."

"Who says I'm distracted?"

"The fact that your eyes have darted to the door no less than three times since I sat down. I was waving at you like a lunatic and you didn't even see me when I came in."

I rolled my eyes. "Dramatic much?"

He flicked his hand along his neck. "The hickey might have given it away."

I slapped my neck and looked in the mirror behind the bar. There wasn't a mark there at all, but when I turned around, Duncan just grinned. "I don't have a mark, you asshat."

"No, but it proved my hypothesis."

"Shut up."

"You got a girl, Banks?"

I sighed. "I don't know."

I finished the Guinness pours and set them in front of the customers then rang them out. "Thanks, guys."

"You don't know?" Duncan craned his neck. "Got any pretzels back there?"

"We don't put out pretzels on Saturdays."

"C'mon. I'm starving."

Susie came back for another drink pickup.

"Hey, can you put a ticket in for some chili fries for my favorite idiot?"

"Can do." She nudged Duncan. "Not that he deserves it."

I filled Susie's tray with tonight's special—Dark and Stormy. "He doesn't, but I guess we'll feed him, anyway."

"Aw, you do love me." Duncan lifted his beer. "Cheers."

"Oh, you're paying for them."

"Damn."

I laughed and shook my head.

I took a few more orders as the bar started getting busy again. Saturday nights were an ebb and flow. Lots of people just wanted to chat while they nursed their drinks, but tonight was a lively crew.

During the next lull, I downed half a bottle of water.

"So who's got you all wound up?" Duncan popped a fry in his mouth.

"Not gonna let it go?"

Duncan smiled smugly. "No. Of course not. I have to live vicariously through your conquests."

"She's not a conquest, man."

"Oh…I see. Not just wound up but twisted up. Interesting."

I recapped my bottle. "She's my new neighbor." I stashed my drink under the bar. "I like her."

"Wow, not like you to shit where you eat, Colder."

"It's not like that." I might have had a few one night stands over the last few years, okay…maybe more than a few. But they had been far and few between lately. It just didn't hold the same appeal as it used to. "Just because you still play with the puck bunnies doesn't mean I go home with a girl every night."

He winced. "Harsh. True, but harsh." He picked up his beer and waggled the empty glass. "Another, please."

I poured him another beer and slid it back in front of him.

Thankfully, the crowd was thinning as some people moved on to the club a few blocks down. The conversations cranked back to a low murmur instead of the headache-inducing shouts of laughter. Usually, I liked the Saturday night crowds.

I liked people and liked overhearing—and participating in—conversations even more.

Tonight, I had one thing on my mind.

The doors opened again, and my chest tightened as Naomi came in with Iona. Her hair was scraped back into a high ponytail, and she had big hoops in her ears. Her curves were on display in a misty gray dress with a killer pair of pink heels showing off her legs. Legs I was intimately acquainted with.

Had to be pink.

Fuck me, man. From an innocuous pink jacket to a mind-bending afternoon of orgasms.

Duncan glanced over, his beer stalling an inch from his lips. "Damn."

"Yeah." I frowned at him. "Don't make me break something."

Duncan grinned. "So which one? Never mind. It's obviously the redhead. Who's her friend?"

"She'll chew you up and spit you out, son."

"My kind of girl."

Iona hopped up on a stool. She was dressed in all black with a dusting of some sort of glitter on her bare shoulders. "You know what I want."

"Hello to you too, Iona." I started building her Negroni as my gaze slid to Naomi. "Hey."

She climbed onto the stool beside Iona, that secret smile in place. "Hey." Damn those blue eyes killed me. "Sorry we're late. We grabbed some dinner at the Rooftop Garden."

"Swanky place." I dug my lighter out to warm the orange rind, then I chased the rim of Iona's glass before setting it in front of her.

"Thanks." Iona brought it to her lips. "I've had these all over and you make them best."

"What are you having, beautiful?"

Iona slid her glance toward Duncan and gave him a withering stare without replying.

Duncan shrugged and went back to his beer.

"Iona, meet Duncan. My best friend."

Instead of looking chagrined, she seemed even less impressed. She simply nodded and gave him her back.

His eyebrows shot up and he glanced at me.

I shrugged.

"Duncan, meet Naomi."

Naomi leaned forward and waved at him. "Nice to meet you."

"So you're the one who's put a big stupid grin on his face?" He pointed his thumb at me.

Her cheeks turned rosy. "Did I?"

I leaned on the bar and trailed my finger over her wrist. "You know you did."

She nibbled on her lower lip. "When do you get off tonight?"

"I've got the closing shift."

"Oh. Makes sense." Her brow furrowed. "I was hoping to see you tonight."

"Haven't had enough of me?" I pitched my voice lower.

"Definitely not."

"Have your phone on you?"

She dug it out of the little purse she had on her shoulder. "Yeah, why?"

"You don't have my number."

"Oh. Wow, I can't believe I keep forgetting to get it from you." She unlocked it and slid it over to me.

Huh. Most women wouldn't do that. But I had a feeling there weren't a half dozen men texting her like some others I knew. Quickly, I put my information in her contacts and slid it back toward her. "Now that we have that out of the way, what can I make you tonight?"

"Surprise me."

Since I was learning that my girl was a little sweet and tart, I decided to go with a Paloma. It was a pretty pink color that reminded me of how I found her on my doorstep this afternoon.

She seemed to be thinking along the same wavelength when she took her first sip.

"Well, that's dangerous." She took another sip. "I saw you pick up tequila and expected to have to be polite."

I snaked my hand around the stem of her drink to flick my finger along her inner arm. "Never need to be polite with me."

Her eyes dilated, and I resisted the urge to lean over and take a taste of her.

"Get a room." Callahan came by and snapped his towel at my shoulder.

I leaned back and threw a look over my shoulder. "Cal, have you met Naomi?"

"You the one who's got him all moon-eyed?" Cal nudged me.

Naomi smiled and took a quick sip of her drink. "I doubt that."

Iona rolled her eyes. "You deserve one another." She gave Cal an easy smile. She was a regular at the bar a few times a week. "You guys have had a full house every night this week."

"Even with the rain. I might have to hire more people." He nodded at Naomi. "Nice to meet you, but don't distract him too much."

"I'll try not to." Naomi slipped a five-dollar bill into the tip jar. "But I'm getting addicted to his drinks, that's for sure."

"Drinks, right," Iona said out of the side of her mouth. "Pretty sure you're addicted to skills of his he's never demonstrated in this bar."

"Oh, but maybe he will." Naomi flashed me a hopeful smile. "My possible lesson list includes many things."

Man, what did she have in mind now?

At the definite stirring beneath my waist, I got busy polishing the bar. And why did it already feel like the one who was about to be schooled was me?