Page 26 of Rekindled

Kai straightened his posture and squared his shoulders. He eliminated space between him and Tevin, and Tevin backed away a little the moment he realized Kai towered over him and wouldn’t back down.

"I said, my bad," Kai repeated, this time with a slight growl in his voice. "Get some club soda from the bartender and spend a little time in the bathroom pushing up on that stain instead."

Tevin paused the quick clean up of his suit's pants to turn and tell me, "If you'll excuse me."

The first genuine smile to crest my lips pulled the corners of my mouth up. "Please, take your time."

Tevin stomped off, and I focused on Kai. "Thank you."

"No problem." He grabbed another loose napkin and cleaned the rest of the brown liquor off the barstool before taking a seat. "I see you've been waiting here for a bit."

"Yeah." I nodded. "Seems like I'm invisible in here."

"Impossible." Kai's eyes did a slow dance down my form, at least what he could see from my seat. "The way you're wearing that jumpsuit..."

I attempted to fight back my smile but had to give in to it.

"We're still at war," I reminded him. "Don't try to exchange pleasantries with me."

"I'm waving the white flag," he assured.

I stared at him for a moment. God, those deep browns were always my weakness. How the man could melt me into a puddle of everything good by just looking at me was a mystery I didn't care to solve. I just knew I enjoyed being in his visual crosshairs.

"Plus..." Kai ran his fingers down his trimmed beard. "I saved you from Too Short. So, I think I can exchange pleasantries with you."

I burst into laughter. "He was notthatshort."

"Yes, he was." Kai turned to peek in the direction Tevin stormed off in. "And dude was unnecessarily aggressive.'I’m not one to take no for an answer?'Really?" Kai scoffed. "He’s lucky all I did to him was purposely spill his drink. Speaking of which..."

Kai moved his eyes off of me long enough to focus on the bartenders. He wedged his thumb and index fingers between his plump lips and blew, sending a loud whistle into the space. It was so loud, he'd gotten the attention of one bartender. The second they made eye contact, the guy made his way over to us.

I licked my lips while crossing my legs. Kai always made sure he took care of me whenever we went out. Would reserve the best tables at our favorite restaurants, pick out the most delicious desserts I'd always end up hooked on. He made everything an experience to remember.

"Good evening," Kai addressed the bartender. "I’ll have a rum and coke and a dirty martini for the beautiful lady, please."

"Right away," the bartender promised before moving to the shelves of drinks to mix.

"Just like that, huh?" I asked. "I had to sit here and endure a guy who wore so much cologne he smelled like a men’s fragrance counter at a discount department store..."

Kai chuckled.

"But you approach, blow through your fingers and you get a 'right away'?"

"Well." He shrugged. "What can I say?"

I sighed while shaking my head.

The lounge area was my next focus as I allowed my eyes to roam over the faces and to take in the atmosphere. "This was not the night I was going for."

The bartender returned with our drinks and Kai pulled out his wallet, singling out two twenties, and handing it over to the guy. "Keep the change."

The bartender's eyes lit up like the Christmas tree back at the cabin, and I snorted a laugh in response. Kai, the big tipper who made everyone in services night.

"Thanks a lot, man!" The bartender accepted the money and moved on to other patrons.

"What kind of night were you trying to have?" Kai asked, picking up where we left off in our conversation.

I lifted my dirty martini to my lips and drew in the briny semi-sweet drink. "After your kiss took me off guard back at the cabin, I planned on coming here to find a distraction."

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