Emins’ Mate(33)

“Let’s find out!” Glory said, pulling Charlie along to Russ. “Excuse me, are you Russ?”

“Um, yeah,” the stocky redheaded man said. He took a deep breath and tried to calm the flame that was fast making its way up his neck. He could barely talk to Charlie on his own, much less when there was a second beautiful woman staring him straight in the eye. Not to mention half the bar that had turned to watch the interaction.

“Okay, great to meet you. I’m Glory. I was wondering,” Glory said and tugged Charlie up to stand a little in front of her. “Do you love this woman? Because I was watching you and it seemed like you might.”

Russ’s mouth dropped open. His eyes bounced between Glory and Charlie. He legitimately considered stiffing his tab and getting the hell out of dodge. But then, when? When was this perfect moment for telling Charlie that he’d dreamed about her for years? He’d ordered drinks from her for years, sneaking looks when she wouldn’t notice. And then he’d sat around like a chump while Emin had broken her heart. And all while he waited for some moment when he’d suddenly get taller or cooler? Just so that she’d suddenly notice him and ask HIM out?

That was bullshit. And he knew it. He was a firefighter for Christ sakes. He was as brave as they came whenever he was on duty. How different was this?

Russ took a deep breath, the way he did right before running into a fire. “Actually, yeah,” he said, looking right into Charlie’s eyes. “I do.”

“Oh,” Charlie said, letting one hand flutter up to her hair before she jammed it back in her pocket. “Oh.”

Russ stood, put his own hands in his pockets. “And I’d like to take you out on a date. There’s a fair over in Chesterfield this weekend. Would you wanna go?”

“Oh,” Charlie said again. “You mean like a real date?”

Something in Russ’s chest did a little jig. “Yeah. I’ll wear a button up shirt.”

A smile flashed like lightning across Charlie’s face. “Okay, Russ. Yeah. Um. No pressure, right?”

“None at all,” Russ said, rocking back on his heels, suddenly becoming quite a bit cooler than he ever had been before. It hadn’t been so hard at all. Like ripping off a band-aid. “Just a date. To see if you like me enough to go out with me again. Or at least enough to let me kiss you on your doorstep at the end of the night.”

Charlie’s cheeks flushed a little as she stepped closer to him. “I’ve got a break coming up, if you wanted to, um, chat with me a little?”

Glory melted back, away from them, toward her group.

“If you don’t marry her, I will,” Dora said across the table to Emin.

“You’re already married,” Danil reminded her, a playful growl in his voice as he took her beer out of her hand and took a swig.

“I don’t care. A woman like that? You reevaluate your life for her. Jesus! That was the most skillful brush-off I’ve ever seen in my life.”

They all turned and watched Glory sit back at the table, grinning and pleased, and flushed with happiness over her success.

“So skillful she doesn’t even realize it was brush-off,” Maxim said, chuckling into his beer. His brother was toast, that was for sure. And that was a good thing. Glory was a good woman. Maxim scanned the bar while they all leaned in over the table, laughing and chatting.

Maxim felt a tug in his chest when he realized that Anton had a small smile on his face. His little brother, Anton. So injured, so sad for so long, was smiling. Maxim knew he’d never get over the guilt of not being able to save Anton from Navuka. But his brother’s smile went a long way toward soothing that particular pain.

He sat back and scanned the bar some more. He knew almost everyone here. He didn’t miss the furtive glances from a few of the women at the bar that he knew… well. They’d been fun, lovely girls. And all of them he genuinely cared about. He wasn’t the kind of man to brush off someone he’d made a personal connection with. His heart was too big for that.

But he’d never felt anything close to what Danil so obviously felt for Dora. Or what Emin was obviously starting to feel for Glory. He didn’t let it make him sad. Someday it would happen. Or not. And he’d get by on liaisons. He had his family for companionship and his fellow firefighters as comrades.

He tipped his beer to Russ, down at the other end of the bar, and the man’s smile could have powered a small city. Something flashed over Russ’s shoulder, though, and caught Maxim’s eye.

Something green? Blue? A tail. A ponytail. Brightly colored hair. He could see it lying flat on a woman’s back, between her shapely shoulders, but he couldn’t see her face. Hair like a mermaid. Well, he thought, picking up his beer. He’d never slept with a mermaid before. He crossed the bar to see if he had a shot.