Chapter Two

Mia Ferris sat and watched with resignation as her former co-workers debated ordering yet another round of Appletinis from the sexy bartender. She was tired and hot and bored, and all she wanted to do was go home. But Leanne had insisted that her birthday party be tonight, and here, and Mia had promised to go. She saw the girls so rarely since she’d left Peregrine Consulting four years earlier to write full-time, so she kind of felt obligated.

It was worse than she had envisioned, though. The girls were so drunk, it was kind of worrying. Mia didn’t drink much at the best of times, and seeing Leanne and Sally and Vanessa lurching around, eye makeup smeared and blouses slowly slipping off their shoulders, freaked her out.

Leanne leaned over to her now, her long red hair a mess, her breath reeking of alcohol, her words slurred. “Hey, Mia? Can you go pay for the last round?”

“What?”

“The last round? Can you pay? You have all the cash, right?”

“Oh. Oh, yeah. Did you order my juice?”

“Umm…. nope. We forgot. Sorry.”

“It’s OK. I’ll go now.”

Mia got to her feet, and carefully made her way through the dancers. She reached the bar, looked around for the bartender who had served her friends. She remembered that he had very short brown hair, but that was about it.

As she stood there, she noticed the women surrounding her, and she began to feel self-conscious. She had never much liked her body – her breasts were too small and her hips were too wide – and every single insecurity that she had when she faced her own reflection every morning reared its ugly head now. These women were tall and slim with impossibly huge breasts; they had figured out eye makeup usage and were not the slightest bit shy about showing what they had. Mia glanced down at her long, loose dress and felt fat and ugly.

Nick turned and saw the brunette standing there. She was pretty, he supposed, in an earthy, crunchy, granola kind of way. Not a lot of makeup that he could see, no nail polish, clothes that covered most of her body. Some kind of necklace that made him think of an ancient artefact from Thailand or India. Kind of refreshing to see this kind of woman here, and definitely unusual.

He walked over, and gave her the neutral smile that he reserved for average females. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she said. “I’m here to pay for that last round. And can I also get a cranberry juice added to that bill?”

“Sure,” Nick said. “You not an Appletini fan?”

She looked up at him, and smiled. He was taken aback at its sweetness – nothing lustful or greedy or horny about this smile. It was genuine and shining and somehow pure. He hadn’t seen too many smiles like that coming at him from the other side of the bar.

“No,” she said. “Not much of an alcohol fan at all, actually. I haven’t had a single drink tonight, I’m afraid.”

“Really?” he said. “Well, I’m glad more people don’t think like you. I’d be out of a job pretty quick.”

She laughed, and he watched as her face just lit up. “You could still pour out juice that’s marked up about three hundred percent.”

“True,” he said. “Speaking of which, let me get your ridiculously overpriced juice and the bill, OK?”

“Sure,” Mia said and sat down. She wasn’t in a huge rush to get back to the table.

“Just juice?” said a deep voice next to her. “That’s no fun.”

She turned and saw a guy about her age, maybe a bit older than her thirty-one years. He was OK-looking, but definitely not her type.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” she said. “But it works for me.”

“Really? How about your girlfriends? They look like they’re having fun.” He nodded over at the table where Vanessa was now doing body shots off some random guy, and Leanne and Sally were making out with various men on the dance floor. “I’m Trevor, by the way.”

Mia didn’t really like the way that he was looking her up and down. In this bar full of women begging to be the center of attention, why did this guy go for her? Also, how did he know which women she was with? It was kind of odd.

Nick came back with her juice and the bill. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” she said and reached into her purse for some money. “That’ll cover it.”

He nodded in gratitude at the tip, and then noticed the man sitting there and looking at her. Something about this guy felt wrong, and after tending bar for ten-plus years, Nick trusted it when his gut told him someone was off. He went back to pouring drinks, but he kept an eye on the creep. He was trying to talk to the brunette and she was being stiffly polite, but definitely not encouraging.