Page 30 of Someone Just Like You

I removed my phone, not quite as done as I thought, and sent another text.

Molly:That message was for Yogi btw.

On the subway downtown, I listened to Rosaria’s latest podcast.MaybeI’lldo a podcast one day.

A text came in as we reached my stop at Grand Central/42nd Street.

It was from Jude: a photo of Yogi wearing a doggie t-shirt with the words “Too glam to give a damn” with a pile of hairbands at his front feet.

Chapter Fourteen

Molly:I snagged the last two seats at the bar!

I sat on one, plopped my purse on the other to reserve for Esther, and grinned at a bunch of strangers with a mixture of guilt and satisfaction. The bar scene at Hillstone was notoriously crowded, and scoring even one barstool was a coup.

Esther:Almost there. Still in a wee bit of shock you chose Hillstone.

My lips uncurled. It was true I typically avoided the restaurant given its star bartender—Jude. But like I’d told Esther, they had the best sushi in town, poured a generous glass of wine, and Jude and I were getting along better than we had since we both wore topless bathing suits. Being around him didn’t fill me with dread like it used to. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but the sushiwasdelicious. Speaking of Jude, I spotted him halfway down the circular bar. He was leaning over to talk—I blinked—make thatkissa customer. I dropped my eyes to the menu the other bartender had placed in front of me along with a glass of water.Professional, Jude. Real professional.

A few minutes later, someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned around and smiled at Esther. Patting the empty stool next to me, I said, “I had to basically stalk a couple as they finished their drinks, and I had a showdown withhim.” I motioned to a man standing behind the bar a few feet away who was glaring in our direction.You snooze, you lose.If he hadn’t stepped on my foot in his rush to claim it for himself and refused to apologize, I might have let him have the second stool, but his aggression overrode my impulse to share. “Scrappy, right?” I noted the ruddiness of Esther’s normally fair skin. “Did you stop at a tanning booth on the way over?”

“Not quite.” She snorted. “Funniest thing. When I got here, I thought I saw you face smashing the bartender and ran right over to see what had gotten into my best friend. Besides the bartender’s tongue. Less funny is that now I’m sweating like cheddar at a desert buffet and it wasn’t even you.” She swiped her brow.

My eyes bugged out. “Of course it wasn’t me! The bartender in question is Jude and his tongue was inhermouth, not mine,” I said, pointing to the girl whohadbeen kissing him. I was legit shocked the meresuggestionof Jude’s tongue in my mouth didn’t make me dry heave.

“I realize that now, but…wow.” She whistled. “She looks exactly like you from far away.”

“Yes, because all brown-haired and blue-eyed women look the same.” I checked Esther from head to toe. “Are you planning to sit, because the very bitter man over there would gladly take your seat.”

“Fine. Fine.” She sat and hung her black Baggu purse with mine on the hook under the bar.

Jude appeared with his trademark smug expression. “What brings Mole Blum to my bar?”

I feigned confusion. “But the name on the menu is Hillstone, not Rude’s Bar.”

His lips tugged up on one side before he glanced between me and Esther. “What can I get you two?”

After we ordered a glass of Pinot Noir for me and averydirty martini for Esther, Jude leaned his elbows on the bar. “Celebrating your new career?”

“It’s not a new career. It’s a new connection to put more pep in my existing one.” I bit back a smile. “That said, Rosaria is away on a regional tour, but we set up a lunch date for when she gets back.” It had been a week since I’d attended her seminar.

“Rosaria. First-name basis and everything.” He winked. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

“He’s quite cute,” Esther said when he was a safe distance away.

I took a sip of water. “Who? Jude?”

“Yes.”

“She thinks so too.” I motioned with my chin at the blue-eyed brunette tracking Jude’s every move.

“You mean your twin?”

“She’s not…” I lowered my voice as Jude entered our earshot to serve the group of guys next to us. “We look nothing alike.”

“Um hmmm.” Esther angled her body toward mine. “How’syourbartender?”

“My what? Oh, Timothy! I wouldn’t say he’smine, although I do like him.” We’d only seen each other once since our first “date” at Tuttles, but he was very easy to be with. “In fact…” I removed my phone from my purse. “He texted while I was on the hunt for barstools, but I was afraid to take my eye off the prize.” Now that we were seated, it was safe to read what he’d written. I touched my fingers to my lips. “How cute is this picture of his dog?”

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