Page 22 of Cognac Secrets

Seeing him in the light of day had definitely been a treat for me thus far. God, he was pretty to look at.

“Surprised me, too,” he said, and I smiled as he sauntered up to the counter and leaned a hip on it, crossing his arms over his chest.

He looked at odds with his steel-toed boots, khaki business-casual pants, green polo over a white tee peeking out at the open collar, with his rough jacket and dirty patched vest over it all.

“How are you not dying in the heat like that?” I asked.

“Better to sweat a little and have my skin,” he said with a shrug.

“In those pants?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. He laughed.

“Most of my skin,” he said. “Some sacrifices have to be made.”

I had to laugh and shook my head.

“Thank you so much for calling your friends,” I said softly. “Hex and Louie are, ah?—”

“Quite the characters,” Rowan finished for me, appearing from the hallway to the back office and small bathroom we had back there.

“Ah, yeah, but Hex was the right man for the job, and Louie is a helpful guy. I’m glad we could help.”

“Me, too,” Rowan agreed and winked at me when Bennie wasn’t looking at her. I jumped slightly when it dawned on me that he was too busy looking atme.

“Why don’t you go on and get out of here?” Rowan said. “Y’all helped me so much today. Go find some dinner, on me.” She held out a one-hundred-dollar bill to me.

“Oh, no,” I said. “I’m supposed to close!”

“I won’t take your money,” Bennie said at the same time I did.

“Bullshit on the both of you,” Rowan declared. “I’m the boss and I make the rules. I can close by myself tonight,” she told me. “As for you, the least I can do is buy you a drink. You really saved my ass.” She waved the hundred between us and said, “One of y’all take this thing and get out of my shop. Enjoy your evening.”

“I know better than to cross a witch,” I said and snatched the bill, giving her a grateful look. “Shall we?” I asked Bennie.

He grinned at me, his teeth very white and straight which made me tone down my smile just a bit. I hated the gap in my teeth.

“I know a place,” he said and jerked his head toward the door. “I’m starving.”

“Bet,” I told him and took up my purse from behind the counter, slinging it crossways over my body and stashing the hundred in the top before zipping it closed. I took my jacket and edged around Rowan and out from behind the counter.

“Y’all have a good time,” she said, and I smiled and shot a grateful look at her behind us as Bennie proceeded me out of the shop. She gave me a tight-lipped grin and a wink. I had a moment of thought that she was absolutely insufferable in all the right ways as I joined him out on the sidewalk.

He stood, looking back at me, and when I turned back around to look at him, he had a small smile on his lips, his sunglasses back in place, shading his eyes and stealing his thoughts from my sight. I stopped short and looked back, just sort of drinking him in, not knowing what to expect, or being able to read him catching me off guard, putting me off center for just a moment.

Finally, he held out his hand to me to take if I wanted. I was so relieved that I hadn’t somehow, mysteriously, done something wrong that I just smiled and took it, linking my fingers through his and it felt… good. Nice.Normal… which I didn’t feel like I had a lot of those normal interactions. You know?

He led me gently up the sidewalk and I fell into step beside him.

“So, what sounds good?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise,” he said. “Anything you don’t like?”

I thought about it and paused as we were about to pass a motorcycle at the curb, parked between two cars, back tire resting gently on the low lip up to the cracked and ancient sidewalk we were on.

It was a beautiful machine – all sleek dark lines and shiny chrome. A work of art really, and I found myself wondering what riding on one would be like.

“Yours?” I asked when Bennie had stopped with me as I’d looked over the bike.

“Yeah,” he said. “Ever been on one?”

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