His half smile turned into a full grin. With a wink, he leaned across the bar and in a husky voice said, “Then you came to the right place.”
“Hey.” His coworker tapped on the top of the bar between us. “Did you hear me, princess? I said I needed—”
“Heard ya,” Noel snapped, but he kept looking at me. Voice dropping again to address me, he said, “Be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
He returned with a whole batch of alcohol. “Two house beers, Corona, and a fuzzy navel,” he said, setting them in front of his friend. “And a Bud Light Lime for the lovely lady.” As he set my drink in front of me, he added with a wink, “On the house.”
I took a drink, relishing the way the cool liquid wet my dry throat. Noel stuck around to watch, his gaze dipping to my lips. Knowing how much he liked mouths, I drew my bottom lip in between my teeth and sucked a drop of beer off it.
He lifted his gaze. “Stay till closing,” he said, wording it as a half-question, half-demand. “I’m going home with you tonight.”
The futility of our situation flooded me again, but I nodded anyway. I just couldn’t keep away from him. And I didn’t want to.
So I remained until last call, and then I stuck around a little longer. By the time only a handful of customers remained, all four of Noel’s coworkers had curiously glanced my way, but none of them ever asked to me leave. I’m fairly certain they all knew exactly why I was here.
Though I’d been excited to spend time with him after he clocked off, I grew worried as I sat there. Did everyone he worked with know about us? We were being too obvious, weren’t we? God, how pathetic was this? We knew each other inside and out, had shared more intimacies than I’d ever share with another living soul, and we had to sneak around and hide everything like a pair of pathetic teenagers.
This had to stop.
As if sensing my mood, Noel glanced over. His gaze seemed to see everything inside me, and he started forward just as someone else approached the bar. I could tell by the way his jaw bunched that he gritted his teeth in frustration as he glanced at the middle-aged woman who interrupted us.
“Sorry, ma’am,” he told her. “But we’re closed.”
“That’s okay,” she answered, slowly and methodically setting her hand on the bar. “I didn’t come for a drink.”
Warning bells screamed inside my head as I turned more fully toward her and took all of her in. Something about her, from the neat, precise way she dressed to each and every calculated move she made, reminded me of my mother. This woman was a cobra, and she was coiled tight, ready to strike her next victim. When she turned to look directly at Noel’s coworker behind the bar, I had to turn and look too. Mr. Lowe, who took World Masterpieces from me with his ever-cheerful, energetic girlfriend stood at the cash register, counting the drawer, with his back to us.
As if he sensed eyes on him—or maybe he’d heard the woman’s voice and recognized it—his hands froze in the pile of twenties.
A breath passed before he turned slowly and stared straight at the cobra. Then he locked up tight as if she’d somehow immobilized him and trapped him in her sights. The color drained from his face, and a handful of twenty-dollar bills fluttered from his limp hand, scattering the air as they drifted to the floor.
The look on his face was so familiar to me. I’d seen it too many times in the mirror after I’d been attacked by Zach. Every time I’d wondered to myself, why did this happen to me, why does the world hate me so much, what have I done to deserve this, I’d had that very same expression on my face.
Tossing him a conniving smile, the woman murmured, “Hello, Mason.”
Directly across the counter from me, I could actually feel Noel stiffen. A glance at his face told me he could sense the unease between Mason and the woman just as thickly as I could. His gaze darted between the two and he looked as if he wanted to jump in and defend his friend, but wasn’t sure how...or why.
After taking a large swallow, Mason finally opened his mouth. “Leave,” he said softly, except the steel behind that one word sent shivers through me. If I were the woman, I’d have been gone, see you later, bye-bye now.
But she merely smiled as if his hard command amused her. Then she gave away her tell when she blinked, fluttering her eyelashes rapidly. He’d managed to make her nervous.
“I need to talk to you, darling.”
Mason’s face went from white to green so fast I thought he might vomit all over the floor. “Not interested,” he said and bent down to gather the fallen bills, his hands shaking enough to make him fumble.
Growing impatient with him, the woman leaned over the counter. “Don’t you want to know what I have to say? I came all this way just to see you.”
“I don’t care what you have to say,” he growled, still scrambling to collect all the cash he’d dropped. “I just want you gone. Forever.”