Page 9 of Only for Tonight
“I think me not putting my hands forward to block my face was me having faith in you, don’t you think?” I laugh as I close my eyes and put my hand to my head.
“Do you still have the puck I got for you?” he asks me and I shrug my shoulders. “Wow.”
“Do you know how many pucks I have in my house?” I cock my hip to the side. “I’m sure it’s there somewhere. Anyway, as much as I would love to go down this memory lane with you, I’m on my way to the bar to get some water.”
“Oh, as Tori would say, that’s deflection,” he jokes. “Besides, I owe you a drink anyway.”
“Really?” I move a step backward so I’m eye to eye with him.
“You bought me the last drink, so now I have to return it by buying you a drink.”
“But it's an open bar.” I put my hand to my chest and the smile on his face fills his whole fucking beautiful face.
“A wise woman once explained to me how these things work.” He takes his hands out of his pockets and holds one out toward the bar in the corner.
“That wise woman must be something else.” I start to walk and look over my shoulder at him, winking. “You should definitely listen to said woman.”
“I think I just might.” He chuckles as we zigzag through the people standing around and chitchatting
When we get to the bar, he looks at me. “What will it be?”
“I’ll have a bottle of water,” I tell him.
He turns the tables on me and sings, “Borrringgg.” It makes me bite my lip to stop from smiling and I don’t know why, but I just burst out laughing.
“I’m in training.” I turn the tables back at him and he points to me. I tap his hand away. “Besides, it’s about moderation,” I tell him, “which sounds as boring as ‘I’m in training’ but the rule of thumb is one glass of booze, one glass of water. I have failed miserably at that tonight since I’ve had about five shots and maybe one glass of water. So I figure having a whole bottle of water now will offset all the other drinks I’ve had without water.”
He puts his elbow on the bar, bending it and leaning into it, his bicep looking like it’s going to bust out of the suit jacket. “Is this another universal rule that I didn’t know about?”
“Well, considering you’re in training”—I lift my fingers up to do air quotes for the word “training”—“you wouldn’t really know this rule.”
“I’m really learning all kinds of interesting things tonight.” He winks at me and my stomach tingles and then it shoots into other areas that he should not be affecting, but is.
“Old dogs can learn new tricks.” I lean against the bar, mimicking his stance.
“How old are you?” he asks me.
“A little bit past a quarter of a century,” I tell him and he just stares at me. “What?”
“You couldn’t just say twenty-five?”
“That was a test.” I shrug. “Congratulations, you passed.”
“What’s the prize?” he asks me and my body flushes. I don’t know if it’s the booze or the heat or maybe it’s a bit of both.
“What do you want the prize to be?” I ask him, and his eyes just stare into mine. I wait a few seconds as he blinks a couple of times. I’m waiting for his answer, and before he can say a word, the bartender comes over.
“What can I get for you two?” he asks, putting a napkin down in front of each of us.
“I’ll have a water,” Jaxon orders, “and the lady will have?—”
“A water and a cranberry on the rocks with a splash of vodka.” He nods his head at me as he walks over to grab the two water bottles, opening them, and putting them on the napkins in front of us before he walks over to make my drink.
“A splash of vodka?” he asks me and I nod my head.
“I usually like my drinks a light pink,” I inform him, “but I’m going to have to go easy on the booze until I get more water into me.”
“Like your cheeks.” He points to my cheeks.
