by Violet Paige
Her eyes lit up. She would have made a great cheerleader.
I smiled. “I do. And I’m glad you pushed me in this direction. I am.” I didn’t want to turn this night into a counseling session about my family, or my career. I wanted Greer’s enthusiasm to be contagious. I wanted to catch it. I needed it to be part of my new start.
Our waitress reappeared. “Sorry, to bother you two but the guys at the bar sent these drinks over.” She lowered two more Cosmos in front of us.
I looked at Greer as her head whipped over her shoulder. “Wow, they’re cute.”
The guys were hunched over a couple pints of beer. Their ties were loosened at the neck and their sleeves rolled up. I couldn’t tell one from the other.
“Greer!”
She shrugged. “What? They are. They don’t need to know I’m taken, and you aren’t in the market.”
I shot her a puzzled look. Her words irked me. I never said I wasn’t in the market. Of course there wasn’t a worse time to meet someone. My family was back at home in shambles. I still had unpacked boxes in my bedroom. I didn’t know my way around the city. I had no idea where the grocery store was. I hadn’t worked one full day at the clinic yet. I wasn’t in a great position to date anyone.
But I was used to this. Whenever we went out in college, guys always bought Greer drinks. It was standard. It wasn’t that I wasn’t pretty. I knew I was attractive, but next to her I faded into the background. She was stunning. She had a way of looking up from the corner of her eyes that men found irresistible.
She brushed her dark bangs to the side. “Tell them we said thank you,” she reported to the waitress.
“And what do you tell Preston when he shows up?” I hadn’t forgotten he would be here any second.
“He will be glad he doesn’t have to pay forty dollars to buy us drinks.” She giggled.
I held up my glass and we clinked the rims. “Cheers to that.”
“Enough about my shitty day. How was yours?” I asked. I didn’t want the conversation to drift back to my family. “What big bad stuff is happening with the senate committee?”
She rolled her eyes. “It might seem like being a research analyst for the Armed Services Committee is glamorous, but it’s not. Completely not.” She rested her Cosmo on a cocktail napkin. “Today consisted of taking notes while the senators bickered about who was going make the next decision. There was no decision. Just bickering.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“A complete waste of a day. Meanwhile, all the things I am supposed to be working on are piling up in my office because they can’t decide on a to-do list.” She gulped down the last of the drink and moved on to the one sent over from the guys at the bar.
“And you still like it there? This is what you want—politics?”
She nodded. “I do bitch and complain about it, but yes. I’m an analyst now, but I could quickly move into one of the senator’s offices. I’m less than a year away from being an advisor. Can you imagine that? It would be huge.” She traced the rim of her glass. “Preston loves his job. He’s a senate aide. He wants this for me.”
I ignored her last comment. “And to think we started out wanting to be pro-bono attorneys.” I winked at her.
That was a million years ago. Greer and I had been pre-law at Carolina. We both thought we could fight social injustice and join causes that we were passionate about. I ended up joining a law firm close to home and Greer moved to D.C. to work as a senate page.
“At least at American you’re doing that. The clinic helps people,” she reminded me. “So does teaching.”
“It does.” The liquor started to warm my limbs, and if I didn’t think about my feet I couldn’t feel how badly they ached. “I just never thought I’d be a teacher. I’m going to be one of our stuffy law professors.”
Greer almost spit her drink across the table. “Please, God. If you do, you have to wear little pins on your suit jacket—you know the ones you can change out for each holiday. Oh, and maybe try to make a theme with each case you cover. And you definitely need to wear glasses.”
“I have an entire year before I get to that process, but maybe I’ll start collecting pins now so I’m fully stocked.” I laughed. I had an image of a shoebox filled with Santas, shamrocks, and Easter eggs.
She looked over my shoulder. “Oh, Pres is here.” Greer jumped from her seat and ran to greet him.
Preston towered over her. He looked like every other guy in the city. He had brown hair, cut short. He wore a button-up blue shirt with a dark blue tie. He could sit with those other two at the bar and I’d never be able to pick him out of a lineup.
He moved to the city after a senate campaign he worked on was successful. He and Greer met in the Capitol cafeteria.
They walked toward me hand-in hand.
“Hey, Emily” He leaned over to give me a side hug.
“Hey.” I faked a smile.
I noticed the guys behind us were ticked. They grumbled at each other once they realized Greer wasn’t available, and they were out at least forty dollars.
Preston sat across from me. His hands clasped on top of Greer’s dainty fingers.
She looked at him as if she could devour him on the spot. Her blue eyes sparked under the calming lights of the bar.
“What are you two drinking?” Preston glanced at our glasses.
“Cosmos.” She giggled. Her cheeks were pink.
“I think I’ll get a beer.” He raised his hand for our server, before placing it around her shoulders. She leaned in to him as he whispered something. Greer burst out laughing.
I wiggled in my seat. “I think I’m going to make a trip to the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.” I threw the straw bag over my shoulder and walked away in search of the restrooms.
I needed a second. Just one tiny moment to take a breath away from the suffocating reminder I was alone. I didn’t need what Greer had right now. I knew that. I didn’t want a guy like Preston. But something about being around them made me want more than what I had. It made me thirst for someone in my life to share all these changes with.
I didn’t have a person. There wasn’t someone at the end of the night to check in and tell them I made it to D.C. safely. There wasn’t someone to call to tell them I made it through my first day of paperwork. I didn’t have someone to tell me tomorrow would be better. That tomorrow I’d find my way.
There was a plush sofa in the sitting area before the ladies’ room. I sat down and leaned my head back on the cushions. One thing at a time. New city. New job. New apartment. That was plenty to focus on without getting involved with someone.
I hated self-pity. I wasn’t going to wallow. I had everything I wanted. I needed to march back to the table and finish the night the same way we started it—by celebrating.
I stood, inhaling fully. As I swerved through the tables I noticed Greer and Preston were standing next to their chairs. The waitress was taking Preston’s credit card. I felt a quick wave of relief that Greer didn’t pay for the first round of drinks.
“What’s going on? I wasn’t gone that long.” I looked at them.
Greer sighed. “I got a call. I have to get to work. There’s a meeting at seven in the morning and the file isn’t ready.”
“But it’s so late.” I had no idea what time it was but it had to be close to ten.
Preston squeezed Greer’s shoulder. “I’m going to make sure she gets to the capitol okay.”
“Oh, all right.” I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know what part of Georgetown we were in, but I could get my own Uber home.
“I’m so sorry, Emily.” Greer hugged me. “Can you get home okay?”
I nodded. “Of course. Don’t worry about me. Go. The country needs you,” I teased.
She scoffed. “More like a bunch of assholes who don’t know how to make a decision need me.”
“I’ll see you later?”
Preston turned. “Better not wait up. This sounds like a long ni
ght for her. I’ll probably take her home after.” His voice sounded paternal.
“Oh, okay.” Is this how things were now? Preston answered for my best friend? I bit my tongue.
They waved as they walked out of the bar together. I stood next to the table. I had half a drink left. I could sit and finish it or brave the street for a ride home. Either option was nearly as lonely as the other. I slinked into the seat, sipping the rest of the Cosmo. I hated to let twenty dollars of vodka go to waste.
The tables around me turned over with new couples, or groups of friends. I told the waitress I was taking a moment to finish and then I’d leave. She seemed impatient for me to give up the table.
Trying to salvage the night didn’t matter. It was late. Greer was gone. I needed to get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow. I had clinic in the morning. I could head home and soak my feet in the tub before crawling into bed.
I pushed the chair backward to rise when I felt it ram into something solid. I whipped around.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” I quickly assessed my victim.
“It’s all right, sweetheart.” He smiled.
I forced myself to blink. I made the mistake of thinking I had run into one of the servers. No, I backed my chair into sex-on-a-stick. Holy shit.
“Really? You’re okay?” I asked, realizing I was able to speak after all.
“No harm.” He had brown eyes that were laced with hints of darkness.
I knew this was the part where I was supposed to say something trivial and walk away, but I didn’t want to move. It was there in my stomach, the unmistakable zing of excitement from laying eyes on someone so attractive it made my pulse rush faster.
It was a quick second. A tiny flash of time when my eyes raked over his sharp jawline and the shadow of stubble on his chin. I noticed the points of ink darting under the sleeve of his T-shirt. No wedding band. No date standing next to him. My eyes lifted to his.
If I were Greer, I’d ask him to sit and have a drink with me. I’d ask for his name and maybe even be bold enough to get his number. But I’d never been that forward before. And I wasn’t my roommate.
I attempted a flirty smile. “Glad you’re okay. Sorry, again.”
“It’s not the first time someone has assaulted me with a chair.” He had unbelievably long eyelashes that were as dark as his eyes.
“You’ve been hit with a chair? You must be in a dangerous line of work, or get in a lot of bar fights.”
He shrugged. “I used to, but I’m really trying to give up the bar fights.” His voice was husky and severe. It didn’t sound like a joke.
Could he see that my breath caught? That I was completely focused on every word that came from his mouth even though I’d heard less than twenty? I couldn’t fall for this dark and mysterious shit. I knew better.
Turn around, Emily. Walk away. I didn’t need to get reeled in. There was a hot bath calling my name at the apartment. My feet needed more attention than this stranger.
“Well, you can’t say something like that and not tell me about what you did,” I baited him.
I couldn’t help myself. I blamed the cosmos for my sudden brashness. That and the fact that I liked how he smelled. His cologne wasn’t overpowering, but every time he tilted his head I could smell juniper and a rich spicy scent.
“Is that so?” he challenged.
I nodded. “It is. You owe me at least one story for running into my chair.”
His eyebrows rose. “I ran into your chair?”
“Isn’t that how it happened?”
“I say we round up some witnesses and get the truth.” He looked over one shoulder and then the other. His skin was a golden bronze. He must spend time outside. “Should we try that table?” He pointed to a couple making out behind us.
Damn it. I was calculating a list of all his traits in a two-minute exchange.
“What if we order a round and call it even?” I suggested. I resisted the impulse to rest my fingers on his forearm. I could see where the muscles rippled under his skin.
He pulled out the chair for me. “I’ll agree to that if you tell me your name.”
I tucked the bottom of my dress under me as I took the seat. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Who was I? I’d never hit on a guy like him before. Much less a guy who looked like he did.
“I’m Emily.” I smiled.
“I like it. It’s different.” He sat in Greer’s old seat. “I’m Vaughn.”
Even his name was hot.
Another waitress appeared at the table. She noticed Vaughn and never looked at me. “Can I get you something?”
“What are you drinking?” he asked me.
“Oh, I’ll take another Cosmo.” I had a rule about not switching liquors during the night. Three Cosmos put me on the wrong side of alcohol consumption, but I couldn’t turn him down.
“A Cosmo for her and a bourbon and coke for me.” He stared at me while he ordered the drinks, dismissing the server.
“Got it,” she responded.
I swore the waitress winked at him.
He pushed forward on the table. “I’m not crashing a date or anything am I?”
“A date? Oh no.” I shook my head. “My roommate was called into work and had to leave.”
“I was wondering why a pretty girl was in here alone. Something didn’t add up.”
Pretty? He thought I was pretty. Had the man seen a mirror? I tried not to stare at his features, but there was something strong and confident about him. Maybe it was how the lines of his face made perfect angles. He had a solid jaw and sharp cheekbones.
I knew the line made me blush. “I could ask the same thing.”
“Are you calling me pretty? Because that might be a first.” There was something serious about the way he flirted. Maybe it was the low tone of his voice.
I immediately glanced at my drink to escape how he made me feel.
“I just wrapped a meeting with some co-workers,” he explained.
“What do you do?” I asked.
“I’m in lending.”
“Oh.” I tried not to sound disappointed. I don’t know where that came from. I expected him to say he had some kind of fascinating position I’d never heard of.
He smiled at the waitress when she handed us our drinks.
“Yeah. Not really that exciting,” he admitted. He must have noticed my reaction.
“So was that a line about being in a dangerous line of work? Do you secure death-defying loans?”
He chuckled as he kicked back the bourbon. “You’re a smartass.”
I wasn’t going for smartass. I was going for flirty and self-assured. I bit my bottom lip. I wanted him to see me as confident. As confident as he was.
“It wasn’t a line. I used to do dangerous. Not anymore. I gave it up you could say. Let’s call it retirement.”
I felt my pulse race again. There it was. The thrill of something reckless and different.
“What did you do?” I twirled the lemon twist on the surface of my drink.
“I don’t talk about it much.”
“And what keeps you from talking about it? What were you? Some kind of special operations trained killer?” I giggled at my own joke, but I saw the way his midnight eyes cut into mine.
“Oh,” I whispered.
His stare was intense. I had pressed too hard. We were strangers. I didn’t have a right to pry into his personal life. I took a sip of my drink, trying to ignore the excitement that ran through my spine from the way he answered me.
A few seconds passed before Vaughn spoke again. He seemed comfortable with the silence.
“Let’s talk about you. What do you do?” he asked.
“I work at American University. Well, actually I don’t work-work there. I was selected for a program.” I realized how flustered his eyes made me. He followed my lips with piercing focus. “I’m in sort of a residency program for attorneys.”
“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a lawyer.” He s
at back in his chair. “You look too sweet for something like that.”
Maybe I had disappointed him. I wondered what line of work he thought I was in before I started talking. Did he think I did something fun and sexy? Or was he like everyone else who thought the innocence in my eyes meant I wasn’t old enough to do something harrowing?
“Who said I’m sweet?” I bit my bottom lip.
He picked up his glass. “Good point. Keep talking, pretty girl.”
Shit, what was he doing to me? I felt feisty all of a sudden. I felt like there was a hellcat inside of me who wanted to come out and play. But really, how long could I pull that off? He’d see through my charade before my next sip of vodka. I decided to stick with the truth.
“I don’t practice law like I did. Not anymore—not like that. I was at a firm for two years after law school, but I realized I wasn’t cut out for that kind of law. I didn’t have the stomach for it. Maybe it’s a little like your retirement.” I had a feeling Vaughn wasn’t the kind of man who shrank from confrontation or a fight.
I hadn’t taken my eyes off the glimpses of his tattoo. I wanted to see what the full ink looked like on his arm.
“And you decided to retire to D.C.?” he questioned.
“Sort of. When the chance to help clients at a clinic and teach opened up, I applied. Plus, my college roommate is in D.C. and she really wanted me to move.” I tried to gauge if I was spilling too much information.
He made me feel off-balance, but it was fun. I enjoyed trying to stay centered around him. Every time I tipped too far, I tugged myself back up and then let the pull of his eyes or the gravel in his voice tilt me to another dizzying place.
“How long have you been in D.C.?” he asked. He pushed the ice around on the top of his drink.
“Three days.”
He laughed. “Three days?”
“My room isn’t even unpacked. I’m lucky I have clothes.” I smiled.
He tipped the glass over his perfectly shaped lips. He lowered it slowly. “Maybe I’m not so lucky then. You without clothes sounds like something I’d like.”
The tingle spread through my body. God, he was hot and a fucking amazing flirt. The words rolled off his tongue effortlessly. It was as if he wasn’t even trying.