Nico hailed the gray-haired bartender over. “Have you got a menu? I don’t know if you’ve decided to cut her off before she even gets started, but I’d like to buy this here ballbuster a drink.” He winked at her.
“Seems to me, it’s only fair that you buy her two drinks to make up for the shortage I’m taking on Carl’s tab,” the bartender said, leaning against the bar.
His voice was raspy, likely from years working in the smoky establishment. He smiled the whole time like he rather enjoyed the banter and giving Julie a hard time. It was the kind of thing that happened back in the day, when you’d work off a dinner tab by cleaning dishes.
“Give me one of whatever you know how to make real fast,” Julie raised her voice to be heard over the music which began playing again. “I need to calm down first, so I can think.”
He poured a double shot of Patron Silver and she gulped it down just as fast. Her face screwed into a twisted scowl before she let out a throat-burning howl and shook her head. As the heat from the tequila warmed her insides, Julie slipped out of her jacket and angled herself in the chair so that her knees were positioned between Nico’s.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” She closed her eyes and let her head hang back with a deep cleansing breath. When she came up for air, the bartender and Nico were both watching her intently. Specifically, she supposed they were watching her cleavage as it threatened to break free from her low-cut blouse.
Nico made no apologies for ogling her, but the bartender who reminded her of Sam Elliott turned his eyes respectfully. He was all smiles and charisma as he chatted them up while they reviewed the menu. Nico settled on a drink called a Bearded Clam, which only had three skulls next to it. Their new master of mixology explained that the menu was organized around alcohol level. Three skulls would get you happy and buzzed. Four or five skulls, on the other hand, should probably be banned in a bar that didn’t serve any food.
Though her day improved with the minutes spent with Nico, Julie decided she could use some liquid courage. If she was going to act on the fantasies that reeled through her mind, a little boost was in order. Plus, she’d spied a bowl of peanuts next to Carl and some maraschino cherries in the drink garnish tray.
“Just give me anything with five skulls. You pick. And don’t skimp on the alcohol,” she instructed.
“You sure you don’t want to start off slow?” Sam Elliott’s twin asked tentatively.
“Nope.” She shook her head. “And put it in one of those tiki mugs, too.”
The bartender grabbed two bottles from the top shelf behind him and made easy work of throwing together some kind of complicated concoction. There was rum, and more rum, and juices. In less than a minute, he had mixed both of their drinks and poured them into tiki mugs which looked like pint-sized versions of Easter Island totem poles. No garnish and no frills.
He gently set Nico’s Bearded Clam in front of him, then he sort of slapped Julie’s cocktail on the bar with an audible clap. He wasn’t being rude; Nico and Julie just didn’t have his full attention anymore. His mind had drifted down the bar to a smoky-eyed brunette with vixen red lips. Still, he lingered, propped on his elbows with his focus teetering between the growing tab in front of him and the showstopper a few feet down the way.
“It’s a Zombie.” He winked. “Don’t ask any questions, just drink it.”
He beelined over to his lady in wait, leaving her and Nico alone. Julie picked up her drink and sniffed it.
“So, you’re feeling kind of bold, then?” Nico asked.
Bold? Bold is way better than boring.
“Uh, like I said, I’ve had a really crappy day. Correction, a crappy few weeks, if you want to know the truth about it. So, I just want to take the edge off.”
Nico gave her a once-over. “Sure you can handle that? You look like a lightweight to me.”
Julie took a cautious sip. “It’s actually pretty good,” she said, following it with a long swig. “And thanks for the lightweight comment. I think the gym is finally starting to pay off.”
“All right. Slow down there, punchy. I was hoping to have a coherent conversation tonight. You know, get to know you a little better.”
“I’m fine.” Julie kept drinking until she was just below the halfway point in the glass. “Let’s talk about you. You’ve got a big family and you like to joke at the most awkward, inopportune times, but that’s it. I hardly even know you and I’ve seen you almost every day for the past week.”
“There isn’t much to know. I have three older brothers: Anthony, Matt, and Lorenzo. One younger sister, Gabriella. All my brothers are married with kids, so I’m living back at home with my mom because she’s been sick and needs help with the bills. My dad passed away five years ago.” He swallowed hard and Julie could read the pain in the lines of his face. She knew that kind of pain that still felt fresh, no matter how long it had been.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s hard. I lost my dad, too.”
Nico shrugged. “So, anyway, I think she’s lonely. My mom.” He seemed to do his best to wrap up the topic neatly. “I can’t blame her either. I’m right there with her.”
“I’m so sorry, Nico.”
“It’s okay. I still miss him all the time, but he’s in a better place now. He smoked like a chimney and it caught up with him, you know?”
Julie reached out and brushed her hand over his arm. “I didn’t mean to bring all of this up, I’m really sorry.” A nervous laugh crept into her voice. “I thought you were going to tell me about how you lived in some bachelor pad and why you became a gym rat, or something. Maybe, some goal you’re grinding toward. Now I’ve dragged you into the raincloud.”
“It’s cool. I don’t mind talking about real stuff, real life.” He paused for a beat, like he was contemplating something. Then, his forehead and nose scrunched and he raised an eyebrow at Julie. “Wait, that’s what you thought of me? You thought I was some kind of brainless meathead?”
“Verbatim.”
Nico let out a thunderous laugh that vibrated through his body. “Damn, woman. There’s no winning with you. Had me all summed up, huh? And exactly, what are your sources? Or who is your source?”
“Let’s just say I heard it from the horse’s mouth,” Julie said.
“Oh that’s right. You’re basing this all on that one conversation you eavesdropped on at the gym—”
“Correction. Overheard. I was not eavesdropping.”
He laughed it off and continued. “What’s funny is, you still haven’t asked the right question. And since I don’t think your mind was functioning properly after you tapped out at the gym, I’ll just lay it all out there for you. I’m a third-grade teacher at Evans Elementary school. My students are my only kids.”
Nico sliced a line through the air with both hands. “I have not fathered any children that I’m aware of, or donated any sperm. The broken hearts that Dane teased me about were my mom and my sister, and a few friends when I left for college. Anything else you want to know?”
“So no girlfriend?” Julie tilted her head, searching his face for any signs of a lie.
Nico seemed to soften at the fact that after all he’d said, this is what she really wanted to know. “I’m sitting here with you, Julie. There’s no one else,” he muttered, more serious now.
Suddenly, Julie felt really stupid…and dizzy. Her eyelids lowered and she steadied herself against the edge of the bar. “Nico—” she slurred.
Before she could get another word out of her mouth, Nico closed the distance between them and brushed his soft lips against hers. Bubbles rose up in her stomach. Her heart raced and her hands pulsed with the need to touch him, cling to him.
Her mind circled in a whirlwind and Julie wasn’t sure whether it was from the mind-blowing feeling of his full lips pressed into hers, or the alcohol, but she couldn’t seem to steady herself.
Nico’s strong hands slipped around Julie’s waist as he pulled her closer between his legs, kissing her deeper. Behind her closed lids, she smelled his clean citrus scent cutting through the smoky room. He tasted of sweet rum with a hint of spice. And though the room was full of people, in that moment, it was only the two of them.
As the fluttering in her stomach began to rise upward, Julie tried to turn away, but it was too late. A burp escaped her mouth. A whiff of the meatless almond-slice salad with light vinaigrette that she’d eaten earlier for lunch, blew right in Nico’s face.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Julie blurted out, just before she hurled into her hands.