“Sticks, this is Pick, my...” Asher fumbled a second and grabbed at a piece of his hair as if suddenly uncomfortable. But then he finished, “The, uh, the owner of Forbidden.”
A brief flash of disappointment flickered across Pick’s face before he forced his smile to return.
I held my hand out to him, saying, “Nice to meet you. Awesome place you’ve got here.”
I’m not sure why I shook with him and none of the others, maybe because he was Asher’s boss, maybe because he seemed to give me more attention than the others had, or something in the way Asher reacted to him, but it felt as if he needed more...I don’t know, notice? Respect?
Something stiff and uncomfortable emanated from Asher as Pick thanked me and told me I’d done well on stage. Then Asher was tapping on my arm to pull my attention from his boss. “And this guy is Noel. The other bartender working over there is Quinn, who you sort of met earlier.”
Torn from Pick, I nodded at Noel, who nodded right back. Quinn was at the very other end of the bar in front of a blender making what looked like, oh God...a pi?a colada. I would die for one of those right about now. Then Quinn went and put a little umbrella in it, along with a pineapple wedge and cherry, and I nearly whimpered.
Pi?a coladas were my vice.
I was about to go all Jimmy Buffett and start singing about making love at midnight and getting caught in the rain, when Asher told Noel, “Hey, man. Get me an Angry Orchard, will you?” And I suddenly remembered, crap, if I was going to drink anything, it couldn’t be a girly mixed drink like pi?a coladas.
Could it?
No, probably not.
“We’re out,” Noel called back as he filled a pitcher with Miller Lite at the tap.
Asher scowled. “Are we really out, or are you just messing with me?”
“There’s none behind the counter. If you want to go back to the stockroom and see if you can dig up a fresh case of warm ones, be my guest.”
“Sure, I can do that.” Asher turned his gaze my way. “Hey, Remy. You want one?”
I’d never tried the brand before, and I wasn’t a fan of malt liquor, but I couldn’t go drinking a pi?a colada, and no way could I say no to him for some odd reason, so I shrugged. “Sure.”
“Remy?” Ten repeated with a frown as Asher strolled off. I jumped, surprised he’d appeared out of nowhere on the other side of the counter. Whirling to him, I dragged my stare from Asher’s perfect ass and into Ten’s hazel eyes. “Hmm? Sorry, what?”
He frowned at me, turned his attention to a departing Asher, and then came back to me. “He just called you Remy.”
“Yeah...” I said slowly. “Probably because that’s my name.”
Just as I said that, Jodi reached my side and slung her arm over my shoulder. “Hey, puta. What’d you order me?”
“Well, well, well,” Ten murmured knowingly. “If it isn’t Jodi.”
Jodi whirled to him, her gaze immediately heating with interest. “Oh! Hey, Ten,” she purred in her most seductive voice.
Unease stirred through my stomach, but fudge nuggets. If Jodi knew Ten, they’d probably slept together. Shit.
I motioned my finger between the two of them. “You two...know each other?”
As I silently begged them both to say no, Jodi licked her lips and skimmed her gaze down Ten’s tight black shirt. “Not as well as I would’ve liked to.”
Ten’s eyes narrowed slightly. “As well as you’re ever going to, you mean. I’m married now.”
Jodi’s smile spread slowly. “Hey, that’s fine. I don’t mind if the wife watches.” She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “I’m actually better when I put on a show.”
“Okay, down girl.” I grabbed her arm and yanked her backward, away from the married bartender. “Try to keep your hands off friends of my new bandmates, especially the married ones, please.”
She sniffed out a sound and scowled at me. “Speaking of bandmates, that bastard Billy Galloway refuses to give me my panties back.”
I blinked at her, momentarily clueless what she meant before I tipped my head to the side and asked, “How the hell did he get your panties?”
She lifted her eyebrows. “How do you think, puta?”
My mouth dropped open. “?Dios mío! You had sex with him? Just now? But...you...how...Holy Lord, you just met him. And you were only gone five minutes.”
She shrugged. “What can I say? He hit the right spot. Didn’t take me long.” Then she paused, her eyes growing big. “Oh, shit. You didn’t want him for yourself, did you?”
“What?! Eww, no.” Wrinkling my nose with disgust, I shook my head, still trying to deny what she was telling me, but...no. I didn’t want her to have any kind of carnal knowledge of any of my bandmates. Especially that one.
“So...you didn’t mind that I...?”
When she lifted her eyebrows, I sighed. “A little too late to ask me that now, but no...I guess not. I just can’t believe you actually wanted him.” He was disgusting.