“So considerate.”
“Women should always come first,” he says with a wink as he spreads his hands on the bar and points to each item. “So: salt, shot, lime.”
“Is this your proven bad date cure? You’re going to get me insanely drunk very quickly?”
“Nothing like that. It’s a game. Whoever has the worse date, loser takes a shot.”
“And the manwhore thinks he can beat me? Haven’t you heard about my dates?”
“Oh, I have stories that would make your toes curl.” He leans over the bar—I bet it’s not just his stories that would make my toes curl. Whoa there, I scold myself silently. Am I really considering letting Cash Gardner make my toes curl? It’s been longer than I thought. I mean, he is gorgeous, but he’s a friend. Keep reminding yourself, Savy.
“Down boy,” I say to him. “Trust me, you got nothing on me.”
“If you say so.” He smiles. “Being a gentleman, I’ll go first. And speaking of domesticated animals, a woman once meowed at everything I said and did.”
I snort. “A man once took me out to dinner and watched me eat everything by myself.”
Cash shakes his head. “You lose that one. Sorry. Try harder next time.”
“I always play to win,” I glare. “Although Cat Woman sex does sound amazing—as long as she was declawed.”
Cash motions to the shot. I lick the salt off my wrist quickly, trying to ignore the intensity of his eyes on me, down the shot, then chase it all down with a bite of lime. I fight back a grimace and flash a thumbs-up instead. It’s been a long time since I’ve done shots, and I can feel the alcohol go straight to my head. Cash pours another.
“Nice work with the salt there,” he says, deadpan, though I can see a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. “Looks like I’m up again. A woman once made me a painting out of felted hair that she collected from her drain. True story.” He looks at me and folds his arms.
I’m agape. “Do you actually sleep with these women?”
He shrugs. “They don’t seem as crazy in person. At least, not right away.”
“Tonight a man wanted me to be his get-out-of-parent-rage girl. He figured it’d be okay to quit lawyering if I was there to impress his mom and dad. And he wanted me to go to his band’s gig on Saturday and also see about getting him a job here as a DJ. Also, he said I’m too sexy to work in law, which I guess, besides being sexist, would negate the first part of the bargain and leave neither of us with the ability to appease the doting parentals.”
I take a deep breath after letting all that out in such a long rush. Cash debates, and then takes the salt-shaker.
“I think I actually lose that one.”
“You do.” I push the limes in his direction with a small, satisfied smile.
He licks salt off his hand, taps the shot on the table, and takes it, chasing the drink with a lime.
Several horror stories later, we’ve amassed a small pyramid of shot glasses and the edges of my vision are beginning to unravel and fuzz. The world’s taken on a new glow, and it makes my simple problems feel so much less important than I once thought of them.
“I just—why can’t I find a man? I mean I’m a catch, right? Do I just have loser stamped across my head?” I ask as Cash pours another shot.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
“I’m not saying I wanna get married,” I slur, “or that I need a man to complete my life. I can take care of myself, you know? But I’m wound up tighter than a spring right now. I will take anything with two legs and a dick that can give me a passable orgasm. Seriously.”
“Have some standards,” Cash urges.
“Says the man with none,” I retort.
“Ouch. Just for that, you get the next shot.”
Salt.
Shot down the hatch, but when I grab for the lime my fingers slip and the lime goes flying. The tequila burns me from the inside out.
“Bite down, Savy.” Cash holds up a lime and I lean in and bite down, sucking in the juice from the fruit. Looking up through my lashes at Cash, a million dirty things rush through my head. All of them starring Cash Gardner. It’s enough that when he pulls the lime away and runs his thumb along my lower lip, I catch it with my teeth. His eyes darken. This isn’t just two friends having fun. There’s something happening.
One more push and this could happen. Not just that, I would gladly let it happen, and probably enjoy every minute of it.
Cash clearly thinks the same, because he leans closer. “You know, Savy, if you ever need to relieve that stress, all you have to do is ask. I promise by the time I’m done with you, you’ll come so hard you’ll be grateful for asking.”
I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol or my hormones finally kicking in, but I’m halfway to saying yes before my brain kicks in.