Page 11 of Liquid Courage
“Sorry. I’m too silly for my own good.” Kat approached the bar, the space she called her own damned domain most evenings out of the week. Well, she wasn’t working that night. She was actually off the clock at… well, how about that? She was supposed to be getting off work right now.Original plan was to go home and get some much needed rest. But this might be more fun.“What can I do for you?”
Vivian revealed a crumpled note in her hand. “I just wanted to apologize for last night. That was really rude of me, since you were so nice to me.”
Kat tried to scratch her head, but had forgotten that a beanie lay between her fingers and her scalp. Now that she was reminded of how nice it was to kiss this woman in front of her, she had the mighty need to sweat.Could take my hat off, but then she’d see how badly it messed up my hair.There would be no having any of that.
“It’s cool. No hard feelings.”
“I was just so freaked out after that date,” Vivian continued. “Guess I didn’t know how to handle someone coming onto me like that.”
“Like I said, no hard feelings. It’s all good.”
Vivian blew out her pent up breath. “Good. I just didn’t want you thinking that I thought there was something wrong with you. You know, after I was made to feel… I swear I wasn’t taking that out on you.”
“You were, though.” Kat leaned against the counter.
“I… was?”
How cute. Vivian was really that worked up over it.Guess that means she has a soul. Good to know, considering some of the other patrons we get in here.“Yeah. You make it sound like I was the only one kissing somebody last night.” Kat had expected nothing less from the way Vivian kissed. The woman had enough pent-up frustration to shake the foundation of the building. It was only natural for her to murder Kat’s lips.
Vivian still blushed. If she kept it up, she was going to pass out. “Well, that’s all I wanted to tell you. I was in the area because of work, so I thought I would stop by and let you know that I didn’t… that you weren’t… thatwe…”
Kat couldn’t take this second-hand embarrassment anymore. “Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll get you something to drink? Since you came all this way.”
“Oh, but I…”
“It’s on me.”
Vivian’s eyes widened. “You don’t have to do that. I was the one who ruined everything.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Kat patted the counter, indicating that Vivian should sit her cute ass down. “Because I’m about to make you a killer after-work drink.” Everyone needed a little liquid courage to get through these awkward situations. That may have included herself, but Kat had long learned to not drink on the job.
Vivian eventually hopped into her seat. Kat tried not to think about how darling she was in her little work outfit. The woman even wore a bold, red lipstick that was somehow still conservative enough to work in an office.Whatever she does, everyone around her must be in for a treat to see how she looks every day.That raven-black hair went well with her blazer and skirt. She had worn it back for her date. Kat much preferred to see it down, although Vivian probably considered it her “drab” look.
“What’s in this?” Vivian asked, when Kat produced a single glass for her to imbibe. “Not too strong, is it?”
“As strong as the boss will let me get away with.” Which was to say, hardly strong at all, particularly for a free drink. “I remember you liked vodka. So, there’s some of that in there.”
“You remembered that?”
“I’m a bartender. It’s my job to remember what liquor patrons like.”
Vivian sheepishly smiled as she pressed the rim of the glass to her lips. “Mm!” Her expression ran a gamut of impressed and absolutely disgusted. Kat held back a bigger laugh than the one she let escape her lips. “Shit! It burns!”
“What if I gave you a cherry, hm? Would that help?” Kat pulled a chilled cherry out of its container. She passed it by the stem, fingers grazing Vivian’s.
Vivian helped herself to some water before taking another sip. The cherry still dangled from her fingers. “You trying to kill me?”
“Trying to loosen you up.” This was the woman who downed three? Four? Drinks the other night. She couldn’t handle a little one like this? “Because you look like you need to loosen up a bit. Work got you down?”
She leaned across the counter, only a few inches away from Vivian, who twirled the cherry around the rim of her glass and took a tentative bite out of it. Her bright, white teeth punctured the cherry’s flesh. How reminiscent of the way she kissed when she was really into it.
Kat had to look away before she embarrassed herself. Because Vivian was trying to catch the pit of the cherry with her tongue, and failing miserably.Woo, boy. I could think of a couple of places for that tongue to go.Kat bit her lip and kept that thought to herself.
“My work isn’t really one way or another,” Vivian said. “I work as a secretary in a legal office. It’s a pretty big office, so there are a few of us non-lawyers in there. So at least when the lawyers act like they’re so superior to me, I don’t have to take it seriously. They treat all of us that way.”
“Still wears you down, though, I bet.”
“You get used to it.”
