She took another sip of the green liquid, scowling now. “Is the man such a hound dog that women have to hunt him down?”
Tucker leaned over the counter, finding the woman cute in a cuddly sort of way. “Never happened before. But I was suspecting you were the exception.”
Another sip and she glared up at the man. “Why would I be the exception?”
One of those huge shoulders moved up and down. “You’ve pretty much been the exception to everything else in the man’s life. Why stop now?”
She wasn’t sure if that comment was positive or negative. And there was no way to tell from the man’s eyes. He was good at keeping his thoughts secret. “How do you do that?” she asked, sipping the martini again. “And what is this? It’s delicious.”
“An appletini and what did I do?”
She was feeling warm and comfy right at the moment, and more than willing to sit here until Creek arrived so that she could demand answers. And then she was going to….stomp on his foot and walk out the door!
“Your face. It doesn’t move. How do you do that? Because I’d really like to learn that trick. I’d like to face off with Creek, demand answers, and not show any emotion at all.”
“What kind of answers do you need from Creek?”
She scowled down at her drink, then up at the man, wondering why she’d even said something like that.
“It’s none of your damn business,” Creek’s voice said from the doorway. “Don’t you have some stupid stocks to sell?” he snapped, taking Violet’s arm in a strong grip.
Violet had to almost jump off of the stool in order to follow Creek but she pulled back, grabbing the martini glass and whatever delicious concoction was in it. Appletini, she thought as she took another sip while following behind Creek to a corner table. She was definitely going to have to learn how to make these. Maybe she’d make a whole pitcher of them tonight so she couldn’t really think about whatever Creek was going to tell her now. Or not tell her. Or maybe he’d tell her something but she wouldn’t want to remember it.
Yeah, that was probably what she’d need, she thought as she sat down in the chair and took another long sip.
“Slow down, Violet,” Creek grumbled. “Those are a bit more potent than you might realize.”
She ignored him, and glared over the rim of her glass as she took one more sip. “You haven’t spoken to me in a week, no calls, no texts, nothing. So I’m guessing that’s your way of breaking up with me. If that’s the case, well, then you’re an absolute jerk and I hate you, but that also means that you don’t have the right to order me around in any way. So I’m gonna drink whatever I like, at whatever speed I want to drink it. And if you have any objections to that, well, then, good! Because if you’ve broken up with me, then you don’t have the right to tell me what to drink or what to do!”
“And I did before?” he asked, interested despite his resolution that he couldn’t have anything more to do with Violet. His moral code just couldn’t sustain a relationship based on cold, hard cash.
She shrugged, and sipped more of the delicious drink. “You might have had some rights.” She set the liquid courage down on the table, and leaned forward on her elbows. She tried to be tough and strong, she wanted to look like a woman in charge. But as soon as she looked across the table at him, really looked at all of him, at the man she loved so deeply, and all of the places on his body that she’d touched and caressed…the pain was too strong. Not even the sweet drink could ease the pain of that loss. “Okay, so tell me what I did wrong? Was I bad in bed? Was I too annoying? Did I snore?”
He almost laughed at all of those questions. They were so ridiculous, he couldn’t believe she was even asking him. “None of the above,” he replied, leaning back in the chair. His eyes were devouring her even though he knew he could no longer do that with anything other than his eyes.
“So you’re just a jerk? You decided I wasn’t worth your time anymore?” She took another long sip of the drink, almost emptying the glass this time. “Forget I asked,” she told him and stood up. “Obviously, I’m not even worthy of an explanation in your eyes. I don’t know why I came here today. Please forgive me for invading your workplace. And if your boss is around, I’ll explain.” She grabbed her purse and her keys as she made to walk away.
Unfortunately, while drinking that concoction, she’d felt all warm and fuzzy, brave and confident, but as soon as she stood up, she realized how strong the drink really was because she could barely see straight. Probably wasn’t a good idea to arrive at a bar in a confrontational mood when she hadn’t eaten anything all day. The alcohol had hit her system faster than she’d thought possible!