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A big sign covered the front door, ‘Closed for a private event, will re-open toh the doors of the bar, she stopped short, the door sla her over And as it? In all his ginger glory, right in front of her, sitting at the bar having a drink – Eric Newcastle Her anxiety spiked through the roof at seeing hi to Charlie, Mark’s long time bartender
Taking deep breaths, she attempted to act natural With each step closer to hiot clammier Every time her foot landed, the floor turned to putty beneath her Sheand cautiously sat on one of the bar stools next to Eric A trickle of sweat rolled down the center of her back Charlie’s familiar face popped up from behind the bar Spiked blonde hair and a killer sirls
“Hey Charlie, can I get a Boar, raspberry liqueur and a blackberry, all served over crushed ice It went doay too easy
“Colass anda drink for her As he mixed it he turned back to her It took every bit of self-control she possessed not to sneak a peek at Eric sitting beside her “When are we going to go on that date?” Charlie said, leaning on the bar, s
“I think your boyfriend e-whispered to him
“What he doesn’t knoon’t hurt hi up the drink “But I’ible bachelors out there ould knockpretty quickly” He tilted his head toward Eric Her eyes widened and she hoped that Eric hadn’t noticed Charlie’s ridiculously over the top exchange She couldn’t figure out where to put her hands or her feet She folded and unfolded her arain? Should she talk to him and make a fool of herself or not talk to him and make a fool of herself? He took the choice out of her hands
A hand extended out in front of her face That hand belonged to Eric Newcastle, her heart pounded and she worked to keep her breathing natural The patchwork of tattoos up and down his arms didn’t make any sense as far as she could tell, but that made him even more mysterious There were tarot cards, cartoon characters, sylanced over at him
“Eric,” he said, turning on his stool toward her
?
?Keira,” she said, extending her own hand and shaking his She continued to pump it up and down
“You’re a friend of Mark’s?” Eric said, giving her the once over
“Yeah, and you?” She realized their handshake hadn’t stopped and her hand’s cla a dead fish A flush crept up her neck and across her cheeks The shaking continued, she couldn’t stop herself Just stop shaking his hand Any time now Charlie slid her drink to her and she took that distraction to finally let go of his hand Picking it up, she pushed the tiny straw out of the way and gulped the drink down
“I guess so, he gives me free booze, and that’s always a friend in lass toward hers “A wo his own drink and slaht smile took her breath away
“Another round?” he said, giving her solass to Charlie My god this ether and swiveled back to the front Her stomach summersaulted and churned, but she couldn’t tell if that was one hundred percent because of Eric or her culinary adventure earlier that night
“I think that would be a bit too fast for lass toward Charlie “Another round, Charlie?” He placed the new drink down in front of Eric and went to make hers