by Naomi Niles
“A toast,” Tate said ceremoniously, raising his glass in the air. “To the good fight and all the innocent people it succeeds in freeing.”
“Hear, hear,” Helen nodded as everyone toasted to that.
We started dissecting the trial we had just been through, going through all the little triumphs and congratulating ourselves on a job well done, when a voice from the bar caught my attention. It was vaguely familiar, and I craned my neck sideways to try and place it.
His eyes caught mine, almost in the same second that I saw and recognized him. It was Sam.
He was standing behind the bar as though he worked there. He was wearing a black t-shirt that displayed his toned arms to perfection, and his eyes brightened as they fell on me. He gave me a wave and headed over to our table.
I felt suddenly nervous, which unsettled me a little. It had been a long time since I’d felt nervous around a man – and that told me something that I wasn’t sure I wanted to admit just yet.
“Mia,” Sam said as he approached the table.
“Hi, Sam,” I said, giving him a smile. “Funny running into you here.”
“My friend owns the place actually,” he replied. “So I’m here often.”
“Introduce us to your friend, Mia,” Helen interrupted with sparkling eyes.
I colored a little, but I managed to hide the blush with my hair. “Everyone this is Sam,” I introduced. “And, Sam, this is…everyone.”
Helen rolled her eyes. “I’m Helen,” she said, making up for my shoddy introduction. “And this is Kelly, Tate, and Brad.”
Sam shook hands with everyone, and I noticed what a charming smile he had. “Are you guys celebrating something?” he asked.
“We are, actually,” Kelly nodded. “We just won a big trial today. We helped an innocent man walk free.”
“Wow,” he said, glancing at me. “That is something to celebrate. You know what? The next round of drinks is on me.”
I could see instantly that he had won over all my colleagues. It was that charm I’d deciphered early on. It could melt the toughest critic.
“So, Sam,” Kelly said, leaning towards him a little. “How do you and Mia know each other?”
Sam gave me a smile. “I have to be honest,” he said. “We didn’t meet under the best of circumstances.”
“Oh?”
Sam looked at me as though he didn’t feel it was his place to tell the story. “Well,” I started. “Remember that car accident I was in last week?” I reminded everyone at the table.
“Yes?” Helen asked curiously.
“Sam was the fire fighter who got Renni out of the backseat.”
“No way!” Tate said, obviously impressed. “Nice one, man.”
Sam smiled. “Just doing my job,” he said modestly. “Much like you guys. If you’ll excuse me for a second, I’ll just go and see to those drinks I promised you.”
The moment he was gone, everyone turned to me, Kelly and Helen in particular. “He is foxy!” Kelly said appreciatively. She was looking at Sam as though he were a piece of meat. “Are you sleeping with him?”
“Of course not,” I said affronted. “I barely know the man.”
“Since when has that been a reason not to sleep with someone?” Kelly rolled her eyes. “He’s hot.”
“He certainly is,” Helen nodded. “If only I was twenty years younger.”
I laughed. “Shush, the lot of you,” I said. “He’s heading back here.”
Everyone was on their best behavior when Sam came to the table again. He wore a bright smile. “Your second round of drinks will be here in a minute.”
“Thanks, man,” Tate said, patting him on the back. “I think I’ll hit the dance floor now.”
Sam turned to me. “What about you, Mia?” he asked. “Dance much?”
“I’m an awkward dancer actually,” I admitted. “I’d much rather watch other people dance and judge their dance moves internally.”
He laughed. “What about pool?” he asked. “Any good at that?”
“Actually, pool sounds great,” I nodded.
Sam led me off to a corner where a huge pool table had been set up. We settled into the game, and I found myself having a really great time. Sam was funny and easy to talk to, and I had to admit, it was refreshingly nice to have a handsome man pay so much attention to me. I could sense the chemistry between us and wondered if he could sense it, too.
I suspected he did because he made it a point to move close to me, even brushing against me from time to time. I had never played a more sensual, sexually-charged game of pool in my life. I wasn’t sure if it was the game or the slow-moving effects of the alcohol, but I didn’t want the night to end. Despite my desires, I still wanted to call in and check up on Renni.
I put all my concentration into the last shot and the ball went in smoothly. “Yes!” I said, throwing my fist up into the air. I gave Sam a sly smile. “I think I just won the game,” I said triumphantly.
He rubbed the back of his head. “Damn, that was embarrassing. I actually thought I was a pretty decent pool player until now.”
“You know how to get better, right?”
“How?”
“Compete against a superior player,” I teased. “Like me.”
Sam’s smile was disarming, and I could see the desire in his face. I felt myself get a little hot under the collar, and I took another sip of my drink. Sam took a step toward me, but I stepped back.
“I…have to call Vanessa,” I said.
“You need to check on Renni,” Sam said, without my having to explain anything to him. “Of course.”
I gave him a smile and stepped outside the bar so that I could have a peaceful conversation with Vanessa. She answered almost immediately, and her tone was expectant.
“Hi you,” she said. “How’s the night going?”
“Good,” I replied. “How’s Renni?”
“She’s doing fine,” Vanessa said. “We finished her homework, had dinner, and now we’re going to watch a movie before bed.”
“Can I speak to her for a second?”
I heard the phone change hands, and then Renni’s little voice came through from the other end. “Hi, Mommy,” she said. “Did you save the man?”
“I did, sweetheart,” I nodded.
“Yeah,” Renni crowed. “I knew you would. I’m proud of you!”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thank you, angel. That means so much to me. Now how are you? Did you have a nice day at school?”
“Uh huh,” Renni said. “Aunt Vanessa and I are going to watch a movie now.”
“I heard,” I said. “What’s the movie?”
“The Secret Life of Pets,” she said excitedly.
“Sounds great,” I said. “Have fun, my angel, and go to bed when Aunt Vanessa tells you to, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy,” Renni agreed easily.
I smiled. “That’s my girl,” I said. “Can you put Aunt Vanessa on the phone, please?”
“What’s up?” Vanessa asked, as she took the phone back.
“Guess who’s here?” I asked, without any context whatsoever.
I could hear the amusement in Vanessa’s voice. “Umm…who and where?”
“We decided to try out this new bar in town,” I explained. “And, I ran into Sam.”
“No way!” she said excitedly.
“Yup,” I nodded. “He bought the whole group a round of drinks and then challenged me to a game of pool. I kicked his butt.”
“Sounds like you’re having a blast,” she observed.
“I am, actually,” I admitted.
“Good,” she said. “You deserve it. Don’t worry about anything over on this side. I’ve got it all under control. Stay as long as you want and enjoy yourself.”
“You’re sure?” I asked anxiously.
“A hundred percent,” she said insistently. “Now go back inside and put your best flirting face on.”
I laughed. “Sure, whatever that me
ans.”
“I’m serious, Mia,” Vanessa said. “You’ve got a hot fireman standing right in front of you. What are you going to do about it?”
I smiled. I was wondering the same thing myself.
Chapter Thirteen
Sam
I was staring at the door when Jackson approached me. “I thought she turned you down?” he said. “How’d you convince her to give you a shot?”
“I didn’t,” I replied. “She just happened to be here tonight. All I did was convince her to play a game of pool with me.”
“I don’t know, man,” Jackson said with raised eyebrows. “She looks like she could be into you.”
“You think so?” I asked hopefully.
“Hell, yeah. She’s over here with you instead of over there with her friends, right?”
Jackson’s observation gave me a spark of hope. I turned to him and noticed the woman at the bar staring over at us. She was blonde, dark eyed, and was close to being very drunk. “I think your friend is waiting for you,” I pointed out.
Jackson turned his face to her and favored her with a wink. “What do you think?” he asked, turning back to me.
“She’s certainly your type,” I nodded.
“Her name is Matilda,” Jackson replied. “Or maybe it was Marianne. I’m not quite sure.”
“Maybe you should get that straight before you go over there.”
“Please,” he said. “I doubt she’s the kind of girl who cares if you get her name wrong. She wants the same thing I want. And it’s not conversation.”
“Then why are you over here talking to me?”
Jackson smiled. “I was wondering if you could do me a solid.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve done you so many already…but okay. What is it?”
“Would you mind closing up the bar for me tonight?” Jackson asked. “I was supposed to do it, but...”
“Your lady awaits,” I finished for him.
“Precisely,” he nodded. “And I hate to keep a hard on waiting.”
I laughed. “Fine. Go ahead. I’ll handle things on this end.”
“You’re the best, man!” Jackson said emphatically.
“And, don’t you forget it,” I said.
The moment Jackson disappeared, I saw Mia come back into the bar. She put her phone away and walked towards me. She looked a little more relaxed as she gave me a warm smile.
“Everything alright at home?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yup,” she replied.
“Good.” I smiled.
“How about another game of pool?”
I wrinkled my brows and looked out towards the dance floor. “Actually, how about a little dancing?”
“Urgh,” she groaned.
“Come on,” I said, moving a little closer. “It’ll be fun.”
“I get so self conscious every time I dance.”
“I have the perfect remedy for that,” I said.
“Which is what?”
I smiled and pushed another drink into her hand. “Alcohol.”
Mia stared at the fresh drink and then laughed. “I’ve already drunk too much.”
“If you’re worried about being self-conscious on the dance floor, then you obviously haven’t had enough.”
“Good point,” she conceded as she took a big gulp from the glass. She shook her head as she set down it down, and I slipped my arm around her waist, steering her towards the dance floor.
“I don’t know about this,” Mia mumbled.
“Forget everything else,” I said. “Forget that we’re surrounded by people. Forget that we’re in a public place. Forget that you have a job and a mortgage and a car to repair. For right now…it’s just you and me.”
I saw her eyes widen a little as I spoke. It was almost as though she were internalizing my words and finding they were a comfort to her. I put my hands on her hips and pulled her closer to me. The warmth of her body made me a shiver a little, and I almost laughed at the contradiction.
Suddenly, I felt her loosen up against me. Her body moved more freely, her hips swung from side to side, and her face cleared of worry and thought.
She danced as if in slow motion at first, and then her body responded to the loud, rhythmic music we were surrounded by. We danced and drank, then we danced and drank some more.
The whole time, I felt as though Mia were shedding her skin and allowing the woman beneath the surface to make her entrance. It was the woman she had been before she’d been forced to grow up, before she’d become a lawyer and a mother.
As the night wore on, the bar emptied of people. Mia’s friends came over to say goodbye, and she bade them farewell as though she had never expected to go home with them. She stayed behind, and we danced until we were the only two people left in the bar.
“Oh God,” Mia said, looking around as though she’d only just realized that we were alone. “The bar’s empty.”
I smiled. “It’s just the two of us,” I nodded.
“We should go,” Mia said. “Before we’re kicked out.”
She swayed a little and I grabbed her and pulled her towards me. “We don’t need to,” I told her.
“Why?”
“Because my friend owns the bar, remember?” I reminded her. “Also, I’m part owner, which means we can stay for as long as we like.”
“You’re part owner?” she asked again.
“Yes.”
She raised her eyebrows. “A fireman and a bar owner,” she said. “Strange combination.”
“I’m more of a silent partner, really,” I smiled. “An investor, so to speak.”
“Ah.”
She pulled away from me a little and started dancing alone in the middle of bar, as though nobody was watching. She had really released her inhibitions, and I found it mesmerizing to watch her. I sat down on one of the bar stools and leant back so that I could enjoy the sight of her twirling around on her bare feet, her shoes kicked off long ago. She looked like some exotic mirage dancer, like a siren from a dream.
I sipped my beer and stared at her. She did a small pirouette and then turned to me with a smile on her face. It was obvious that she knew I was watching her, and it was even more obvious that she didn’t care. In fact, she appeared to like the fact that she had my undivided attention.
“I used to want to be a dancer when I was a little girl,” she told me.
“What kind?”
“A ballerina, of course,” Mia replied. “I took lessons for about a year.”
“What happened?”
“I didn’t have the discipline,” she replied with a shrug. “I was too tall, too clumsy, and far too easily distracted. I never stopped dreaming about being a dancer though. Even after I stopped my lessons.”
“I thought you said you felt self conscious dancing?”
“I do,” Mia smiled. “This kind of dancing is different. Ballet is…structured. There’s a specific way to move, to turn, to bend. There’s order in the movement, there are rules.”
“You like the rules?”
Mia smiled as she danced a little closer to me. “I think that’s the reason I turned to law in the end. I liked knowing that there was a set of rules in place and if you broke them, then there were consequences. It’s a simplistic way of looking at things, I know. But that’s what first drew me to law.”
She was moving slower now. The movements of her slow paced dance were becoming more sensual, more pronounced, and more inviting. It was like she was drawing me in, putting me under a spell.
I felt my body heat up. I wanted to approach her; I wanted to touch her. I wanted to put my mouth against her neck. I wanted to lick the sweetness between her legs. I wanted to feel her shudder underneath me.
And yet at the same time, I didn’t want to approach her for fear she might disappear before my eyes. She seemed like some otherworldly creature. She seemed like some fantasy my imagination had conjured up to test me somehow, to challenge me.
I had vowed to always be
single and carefree, and it was like the universe was testing me by placing the perfect woman within arm’s reach.
I wanted to walk away because I knew that meant preserving my lifestyle. And in the same breath, I wanted to devour her whole. I wanted to lose myself in her and construct a new man instead, someone that deserved her.
“It’s the alcohol talking,” I whispered to myself.
“What?” Mia asked as her green eyes fell onto mine.
“Nothing,” I mumbled, setting down my beer.
“What does it feel like?” Mia asked, raising her arms and moving them from side to side. “To save people’s lives every day?”
My eyes followed the movement of her arms. I wanted to grab them both and pin them to the wall so that I could fuck her against it.
“It feels…like flying,” I replied.
She laughed. “I always wanted to fly. I always wished I would magically sprout wings one day and just…take off.”
I smiled at the look of far off wonderment on her face. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” I said. I had meant to think it, but I heard the words come out of my mouth, and it felt as though I had never said anything truer.
She stopped moving. She stopped her dancing and stared at me for a long moment. This was what it felt like to be hypnotized. I could feel myself falling into her. No woman had ever approached me like that, with single-minded purpose, with unapologetic, raw desire.
When she approached me, I froze where I stood. And when she threw her arms around me and started kissing me, I could only grip the sides of the bar and pray this wasn’t a dream.
Chapter Fourteen
Mia
I was drunk, but it was the kind of drunk that held awareness. I knew what was happening, everything before me was crystal clear.
Sam sat in front of me with his beer in one hand. His eyes were on me, roving over my body like a starving man. I wanted him more desperately in that moment than I had ever wanted anything in my whole life. But I wanted to prolong the moment. I wanted to watch him, watching me.
“What does it feel like?” I asked. “To save people’s lives every day?”
I was only vaguely conscious of my body. I knew I was dancing, but I wasn’t connected to the movements. My body was moving of its own accord.