Bzzzz Bzzzz Bzzzz
The vibrations from my cell phone going off slammed my hazy senses back to reality. I looked up and stared at Gage, still not able to think clearly, before he nodded to the phone sitting on the counter with my small wristlet wallet.
"That's your phone, sweetheart."
"Hmmm," I muttered. The second wave of vibrations pulled me the rest of the way to reality. "Oh!" I gasped, shaking my head and feeling like an idiot.
Gage chucked my chin as he stepped away, calling behind him, "I'll be back in a while."
I watched him walk away like a lovesick girl. The need to check for drool on my chin was overwhelming. Clicking the phone on and sliding my finger across the unlock button, I glanced at the text awaiting me.
Sara: so i forgot to tell you i cancelled your date tonight. stop fighting gage and GO with it girl! <3 Sara
You've got to be kidding me. I mentally kicked Sara in the head twenty times as I typed out a reply:
Me: i can't believe you two hounded me about how badly I needed to go on this date. i can't believe you cancelled on the poor guy last minute!
Sara: relax. i told him you were sick and would try to reschedule when you got better. AND you did need to get out. you need to admit you have it bad for the sexy crocodile hunter and jump his bones, mate ;)
The unbidden picture of Gage dressed as the crocodile hunter flashed through my head and I squeezed my eyes shut to get it out. A shoulder bumped into my back as someone took a seat next to me. Opening my eyes I was surprised to find the skinny figure of Ryan, the sales clerk from the art store, taking a seat.
"Excuse me…" he apologized, looking down. As he shifted in his seat he lifted his head and gaped at me. "Well hello again. We seem to keep bumping in to each other." He laughed an awkward laugh as he smiled at me.
"Yeah we do, don't we?"
I looked around for Gage absentmindedly while trying to decide what I should do at that point. My date wasn't showing, and Gage was obviously busy with work. I should leave.
Then again, maybe I should stay. Those last tantalizing words Gage whispered into my ear were the most amazing words I think I had ever heard. As I wavered in my decision, I watched as the bar began to build more of a crowd and the music got a little louder. Riley must have the weekend off, I thought to myself as I looked over at a substitute DJ playing tracks.
"Did the charcoals work for you?"
I heard the voice but didn't actually catch what it was saying. "Sorry?"
"Your pencils from the other day?" Ryan asked; his small eyes flicking up and down from the bar to my face and then quickly back. He was obviously very nervous talking to me.
"Oh, yes – well actually, I haven't played with them yet. I'm taking a new class on Mondays and we haven't had an assignment using charcoal yet," I informed him with a smile.
"You've been coming into the store for a while now. Are you an art major?" His voice was somewhat faint, but I could tell he was gaining confidence in talking with me. His eyes were more direct when he asked questions now. "I don't mean to pry."
I waved my hand, telling him not to worry about prying. "I'm an Art History major. The sketching is a passion of mine, but I don't really expect my stuff to ever be in a gallery or in anyone’s home."
"Well why not?"
"Ha - you've never seen my work. If you had, you'd know why not. I'm not bad, but I really just do it because I love to draw. It's a way to escape."
He was about to ask me another question when Gage made an appearance behind me. He was making a habit of coming up behind me tonight, but this time I didn't jump.
He touched my shoulder lightly, causing internal sparks of need to shoot through my nerve endings. "Hey, I almost hate to ask, but are you here waiting on someone tonight?" I rolled my eyes out of irritation that he would think he had to ask that when he added, "I'm not trying to rag on you. It's kind of been, well…"
"Stop while you're ahead Gage," I teased, turning away from Ryan and toward Gage on my right side. "I'm not here waiting for a date, no. I totally know why you asked, and although it's somewhat embarrassing, I guess I’m not mad at you for it."
He brought his hand close and ran his fingers languorously over a loose strand of my hair as it draped beside my face; causing me to freeze. "I was wondering if you'd eaten already. I'm working in the office tonight and was going to grab a bite before the bar gets too busy."
I almost danced my happy little fanny right out of the chair as I mentally chanted 'YES! YES! YES!', but instead gave him a small affirmative nod. I started to follow Gage towards the back when I remembered Ryan. Turning over my shoulder, I caught him watching me and called out to him, "It was nice chatting with you. See you at the store again soon, I'm sure."
Gage was waiting at the mouth of the hallway for me to catch up with him. Setting his hand on my shoulder, he escorted me to the same office he’d brought me to last night to calm down.
"Are you okay with something from Watson's upstairs?" he asked; pulling out a chair for me before rounding the large desk and taking one of his own.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Their Southern Chicken Salad is fine."
I waited as he picked up the phone and called for a takeout order. Looking around, I noticed the office didn't hold any sort of memorabilia or personal items you’d expect to see from the manager. It occurred to me then that I hadn't seen Drew in a while. I tried to remember if Riley had mentioned an ownership change in the bar previously, but I didn't recall that ever coming up.
"So, what do you have to do in the office? Are you filling in for Drew while he’s out or something?" I inquired smoothly, shamelessly trying to dig for information.
"No, Drew is no longer here, so I'm helping manage the place until the new owner can hire someone he trusts."
"Oh, so are you just here temporarily, then?" My voice sounded disappointed even to my own ears, but I hoped he couldn't tell.
"That all depends on how things go. Let me go grab our food and check on the bar. I'll be right back."
Returning with our dinners ten minutes later, Gage pulled a chair over from the corner of the office so he could sit next to me.
"Thank you," I said while pouring honey mustard over my fried chicken salad.
"Tell me about Riley," he asked unexpectedly as we started eating.
"Riley? What about him?"
"You said you were just friends, and yet I get the distinct impression he wants more than that when I see him looking at you."
"We are just friends. I…I guess he and I get along so well that it’s run through both our minds that we should’ve gotten together by now." Gage pulled a tense smile, but not before I noticed a dark frown flash across his face. "We've agreed it's best to stay friends, though."
"He's not going to claim rights to you then?"
"Claim rights to me? When?"
"When you decide to stop all the random loser dating and pick a real man."
I laughed somewhat nervously. I didn't really want to discuss my dating habits with Gage, but if he asked I would be honest with him. Or at least somewhat honest. His almost jealous questions about Riley and query about ‘claims’ on me suddenly brought something else to mind.
"Well since we’re talking about claims, what about your fan club?" Gage threw his head back as a shout of laughter escaped him. "Hey, I'm serious," I frowned, playfully slapping at his arm. "I know you said that it's just part of the job, but is there ever a point where you would turn them down?"
He immediately put his fork down and angled his body towards me; his face a lot more somber than it was previously. "Let me set one thing straight. I don't sleep with any of those women, Savannah. Now I'm not going to pretend to be a saint and say I've never taken what's been offered to me, but not here - not in Nashville I haven't."
Relief washed over me at his explanation, although that wasn't what I really meant. "I wasn't talking about sex, though I'm relieved to know you're not playing boy toy to the cougars
, Gage." I winked, popping another bite of salad in my mouth.
He regarded me with lifted brows, so I wiped my mouth and answered his unasked question. "I meant - will the flirting always be part of the job? If there was a Mrs. Aussie Bartender, would you continue to allow those women to hang all over you?"
"Mrs. Aussie Bartender, huh? Is that what we’ll be calling her?"
I bit my lip and found myself starting to laugh. Shrugging my shoulders, I realized that I didn’t even know his last name, to which he replied, "It's Taylor."
"Taylor. Hmph. Not as cool as ‘Gage Aussie Bartender’, but whatevs," I teased, pushing my salad box aside.
"Let's not talk about me, though. How about you tell me what you're doing with all of these dates?"
I nervously fingered my lip as I thought about an answer to his question. "What makes you think there’s something ‘up’ with it? Can't a girl go out on some dates?"
"From what I’ve seen sweetheart, you've only been on one date, and that one was dumb enough to leave you here early. The others were scum, late, overly touchy feely and/or drunk.
"Wow, taking notes are we?"
"Yes, I have been."
"Why?"
"First, you tell me why you've been putting yourself through the ringer."
With a wave of my hand I pushed back from the desk so I didn't feel so trapped, and I knew I could think better if I wasn't so close to him. "It's ridiculous, really. My roommates signed me up on a campus dating site as a joke."
"What the f…?" He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat. "Excuse me. What were they thinking, and might I add, why didn't you kill them?"
"They were thinking that I spent too much time at home with my books and studying. And I have to admit that they were probably right, too. I'm really not much of a dater," I finished lamely. I felt like such an idiot all of a sudden.
"So did you have a date tonight too?"
"I did, but it got canceled at the last minute."
"Yet you stayed here anyway?" I flushed as his gaze pinned me to my chair, while the next word took the breath from my lungs. "Why?"
I couldn't answer that. I wished I was bold enough to tell him he was my kryptonite and not the other way around. I sat there and stared at him mutely, sure that I looked like a fish out of water gasping for air. After what seemed like an eternity, he cocked his head slightly and narrowed his eyes.
"Go out with me." Those four words coming from that mouth were precisely the four words this girl wanted to hear more than anything. Well, most anything. Even so, I still fumbled the ball for a moment.
"Go out with you?" I echoed, sitting up straighter. "Why?"
"Sweetheart, you keep going out with these guys, but every night you still end up here with me. I know you feel it. Let's get away from the bar and see where it leads."
My mouth was dry as I decided to take a chance and replied softly, "Okay."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Touchdown!
We were sitting there quietly, letting the moment sink in, when a jarring knock on the door interrupted us. One of the bouncers I remembered from the night before stuck his head in, and after glancing at me commented, "Sorry to interrupt you, but there’s a slight situation out here you’re needed for."
Looking mildly confused, Gage excused himself and left me sitting in the office alone. Two minutes later he walked back in apologizing. "I'm sorry, Savannah. There's something that's come up that I have to deal with. How about you give me your address and I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at ten?"
"What?" I blurted, laughing at his enthusiasm. "Why tomorrow? It's Sunday. Plus, it's Cinco de Mayo. What could we possibly do at ten in the morning?"
"Do you already have plans for the morning?" he asked, pointedly ignoring my questions.
"Well no, but…"
"No buts," he shushed me and I glared at him. "Savannah, in the two weeks I've known you, you’ve been on dates with six different guys."
"Geez, you really were keeping count, weren't you?" I mumbled begrudgingly.
"Yes, angel I was. Look - you're free, I'm free, and I'm taking you out while there's an opening in your jam-packed social calendar."
I would have snapped something snarky back at him, except that it was about the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me.
"If you can't read between the lines, then I'm going to make it real clear. I'm taking my shot before some other big wig comes in and tries to steal you away. Is that alright with you?"
"It's more than alright. Ten it is."
Ushering me out of the office and back to the bar, I debated on hanging out for a while until I saw how packed the place was. Knowing that Gage needed to focus on his patrons, I told him I would see him in the morning and made my way to the door.
Sunday - May 5, 2013
Cinco de Mayo
The three quick raps at the door accelerated my already wild heartbeat. It was as if a hummingbird had permanently taken up residence in my chest. I opened the door and found myself face to face with a Mexican themed bouquet, complete with colorful flowers, a little Mexican flag and a beautifully painted maraca. I promptly burst into laughter.
"Happy Cinco de Mayo," came the voice hiding behind the flowers. His deep laughter joined mine as he lowered the bouquet.
"Thank you. Come in and I'll put these in a vase," I invited; taking the flowers from him.
As I walked into the kitchen and fumbled with the flowers, Gage called from the living room. "This is a cute place you have. You girls rent it?"
"Uh, no I own it. Sara and Candace pay me rent, though," I admitted.
I carried the flowers into the living room and set them on the mantel, and then watched as Gage skimmed the framed pictures on the built-in shelves. Panic rose when he picked up one of me with my parents at a charity event for Guthry Whiskey. It was from my high school years, and we were all wearing Guthry shirts.
It wasn't like I was trying to keep who I was a secret, but I just never talked about it. He set the picture down without a word, and then put his hands in his pockets and looked at a few more.
"Ready?" I finally asked.
"Yes, let's go. You look beautiful, by the way," he said as he stopped in front of me. "I should have said that first thing."
A ridiculous smile crossed my face as I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a faded out blue jean jacket over a little flowered sundress with ballet flats. In the past two weeks he’d seen me in every curve hugging, hot date dress I owned, yet he thought I looked beautiful in a simple sundress and flats. Swoon.
"Did I leave you speechless?" he mocked; his dimple peeking out with his smile.
"You leave me speechless quite often, actually," I flirted, cautiously looking up at him. "You look very nice yourself in a color other than black."
"You think? They say black is slimming, though."
"Well you know - your butt does look a tad big in those jeans," I kidded, plunking my hands on my hips and giving him a very thorough look. He wore a casual white button up with the sleeves rolled up and the ends untucked. His jeans were a darker wash that made them look dressier, but the fit was casual and loose. "Thank God you’re not wearing skinny jeans," I added with a giggle, and his face screwed up in mock disgust.
"C'mon comedian, or we'll miss our date standing here admiring each other." He pulled me out the door by the hand.
"So where are we going?" I questioned once we were buckled into his SUV and pulling out of the driveway. He shrugged noncommittally and said cryptically, "You'll see."
A few minutes later we pulled into a parking spot at Centennial Park. Centennial was a few blocks up from my house and a few blocks down from VU's campus.
Gage jumped out of the car and I waited patiently while he came around and opened my door like a gentleman. When he pulled a picnic basket and folded blanket out of the back seat, I tried to mask my look of genuine surprise. We walked along the cool grass and found a seat under a large shade tree close to a replica
of the Parthenon.
I took the basket from him and he spread the blanket on the grass.
"This has always been a favorite place of mine," I hesitantly offered as I looked around.
"After you." He waited for me to settle in on the blanket before setting the basket down and sitting next to me. "Why is it your favorite?"
"It's close to my house, for one thing. It's safe and full of people all the time. And I can people watch and draw, or sit peacefully and study when I need to."
He watched me intently as I talked. His full attention was on me and it felt so good to know he truly wanted to hear what I said. "Thank you for this, Gage," I added seriously after a moment.
"I should be thanking you for saying yes, sweetheart."
"No, really - for going through the trouble of packing a picnic and planning this. I know you have to go into work in a bit so it was…"
His hand stretched out and grasped mine from my lap, causing me to trail off. "This is the type of date you deserve, Savannah," he said smoothly as he squeezed my hand. "Besides, don't thank me yet…you haven't seen what I packed."
"Oh no," I giggled.
"Alright sweetheart, here’s the part of the date where we get to know each other. You ready?"
"Ha, I'm kinda scared," I admitted with a smile. My cheeks started to ache from all the smiling I'd been doing since Gage had walked into my house that morning.
"Don't be scared. I'll go easy on you." He let go of my hand and stretched his legs out before him to lie on his side; propping himself up on his elbow. I tried to keep my disappointment from my face at the loss of his warm touch. As if he could read my mind, he tapped the ground saying, "Get comfortable. So you're an Art History major, right?"
I pulled off my jacket and shifted to my back so I could lie down next to him. The sun peeked through the leaves over our heads, and I stared up at the tree as I answered him. "Yep."
Once I was settled, he reached out and took my hand again. His thumb and forefinger moved up and down over my fingers, gently tracing them almost like it was second nature to him. The soft touch made me close my eyes with the wonderment of how good it felt.
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