Then There Was You(96)

It took me two seconds to decide. “Let’s do The Cellar. And nine sounds great. That will give me time to grab a quick shower.”

So that was that. I grabbed a shower and slipped into the shortest, tightest dress I could find packed away in the back of my closet—something I wore in my younger days that could really turn some heads.

Paige arrived at nine o’clock on the dot. That’s one thing I never had to worry about with her. She was always precisely on time. I always laughed and chalked it up to her obsessive compulsive nature. She claimed it was just a matter of respect.

“Girl, you have no idea how much I need this night,” I told her, hopping into her Suburban.

She swept her blonde bangs out of her face, tucking them behind her ear. “Why? What’s up? Graham?” she asked, glancing at me with her sympathetic, brown eyes.

The mere mention of my ex-husband made bile rise in my throat. “Yeah, Graham. Life. Chris. You name it.”

“Chris?” She frowned at me with one perfectly plucked eyebrow raised. “Chris who? Do I know him?”

Shit! She hasn’t seen the media ramblings yet. I shouldn’t have said anything.

I waved her off. “No, just some random dude I had one date with. Haven’t heard from him since. Kinda gives a blow to the ego, you know?”

“I hear ya, girl. Well, let’s go out and drink that memory away!” She pumped a delicate fist in the air and shook her hips in the driver’s seat.

I laughed at her, remembering all over again why I loved her. “Sounds like a plan,” I said.

We blasted the radio all the way to the bar, singing and dancing in our seats like we were a couple of teenagers. But when we walked into The Cellar, I suddenly felt completely out of my element. The Cellar wasn’t a college hang out, by any means, but it certainly wasn’t for nearly forty year olds either. I felt like a fish out of water.

Paige must have noticed my insecurity because she whispered, “Don’t be intimidated. You’re as hot as any of those twenty-five year olds sitting over there. Hold your chin up, and let’s go find us a hottie to buy you a drink.”

I laughed. Leave it to Paige to calm my nerves. She grabbed my hand and led me toward the bar. The music was thumping and strobe lights were flashing on the small dance floor at the back of the building. I felt awkward as I pushed past the group of twenty-somethings to get to the edge of the bar where the bartender was serving.

“What’ll it be?” he asked. He leaned on the bar, exposing his sculpted biceps sleeved with colorful tattoos.

“Um…” my mind went blank. I couldn’t think. I hadn’t been to a bar in ages.

Paige piped up, “She’ll have a Sex on the Beach.” She pointed a perfectly French-manicured finger at me. “I’ll have a Long Island Iced Tea.” She gave the bartender a flirty grin.

“You got it,” the bartender nodded and quickly began mixing and squirting liquids so fast I could barely keep up.

“Thanks,” I said to Paige. “I don’t know what came over me. I just feel so out of my element.” I felt a little guilty that I couldn’t tell her the whole truth. Through the years, we’d grown pretty close. She was a secretary for the vice president of the investment bank where Graham worked, and she’d seen my marriage come to a screeching halt the day I’d found out he was cheating on me. She’d been there to wipe my tears on numerous occasions, but I just didn’t feel like turning this fun girl’s night out into another sob-fest.

She shot me a look. “Girl, you better get into your element fast because you’ve got some baby blues staring at you.” She pointed one long finger to my right, mouthing, “Three o’clock.”

I glanced to the direction she was pointing and saw exactly to what she was talking about. A pair of crystal clear, aquamarine eyes stared directly at me. And the face attached to those eyes was pretty easy to look at too. His nearly black hair was gelled up in a sexy, hot mess. He looked like he could have stepped right out of a cover model photo shoot. The sleeves of his plaid button-up shirt were rolled up to the elbows, exposing the thick brown leather band of his watch. He caught my gaze, and quickly nodded once in acknowledgement. The corner of his mouth tugged up into a half grin. Everything about him and those deep blue eyes exuded sexy.

I whipped my head back around to Paige. “Oh my god, Paige, that guy can’t be over what? Twenty-six?” I tried to hide my grimace. I can’t do this. These men are babies.

Paige shrugged her shoulders. “So? Girl, he’s so busy making eyes at you that he obviously doesn’t care. Age is just a number. Stop worrying,” she whined.