Cocktail - Lauren Smith Page 0,3

the floor.

So much for tonight. So much for love. Maybe she should just give up.

Matthew Lawson turned away from the customer he had made a martini for and glanced down to the far end of the bar. She was gone.

Aubree Cole…

He felt like a stalker for memorizing the name from her credit card, but he’d been fascinated with her. He’d seen her come in two hours ago and sit nervously in the cozy little two-person booth close to the bar. He watched as she’d tried to focus on her phone, then look at the drink menu long enough that she had time to memorize it. She had that intense and thoughtful look about her that he didn’t see too much these days.

Matthew had also seen that cocky bastard in the five-hundred-dollar suit walk up and give her the most awkward hug ever witnessed. It was clear the man was put off by Aubree. She was sweet, sexy, and obviously successful. She had that polished elegant look of a woman who needed to look presentable every day for a complicated high-powered job, but she didn’t overdo anything. Yes, whoever Aubree was, she was a very talented and intelligent woman—just his type.

Matthew knew he shouldn’t get involved. He had moved from Australia six months ago to open the Love Potion #9 bar with his friend Will. They’d both felt Chicago was the perfect city to open their bar. As a city, it had the right mix of business and pleasure. He wanted customers from both worlds to enjoy the unique cocktails they made here.

He knew he should be focused on business, not chasing women. But damn, he couldn’t ignore Aubree. She was just that, irresistible. There was a delightful innocence to her. She wasn’t jaded by life or love, not yet, not like him. She made him want to give love a second chance.

Hopefully she would come back.

2

The Old Fashioned

One week later…

She was back.

Matthew straightened, squaring his shoulders as he watched Aubree and a man walk into the bar and take a seat at a two-person booth. She moved with purpose and excitement, her face beaming in a way that made a man envision that same smile when she was beneath him on a bed. Bloody hell, she looked good, so fucking good. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been hoping to see her again until she’d stepped through the door.

His gaze traveled to the man she was with. He was different than her last date. He wore a tweed three-piece suit with brown elbow patches and a pair of glasses that were stylish, yet retro. He looked like a bloody professor.

Huh…

Matthew saw a waiter headed their way and caught the waiter’s attention with a shake of his head. The waiter backed off. Matthew picked up an order pad and walked over to the booth. He stopped inches from them with his pad and pen ready. Aubree had her head buried in the menu and didn’t notice him. Her date noticed though.

“We’ll take two gin and tonics,” the man announced and pried the menu from Aubree’s hands.

“Is that what the lady wants?” Matthew asked quietly.

Aubree’s face jerked up at the sound of his voice and her eyes widened. A slight blush bloomed in her cheeks. The way her gaze swept over him, pausing a little too long on his mouth, had him stifling a groan. The woman was sexy even when she wasn’t trying to be. It made Matthew wish she’d come back alone.

“Is that what you want?” Matthew repeated to Aubree quietly.

“I……”

“Of course. I always know what my dates want.” The man dismissed Matthew, but Matthew didn’t move.

“Sure, gin and tonic. I’ll give it a try,” she murmured.

Matthew held in a sigh as he turned and walked away. He met up with his waiter, Rodrigo, when he returned to the bar.

“What’s up boss?” The young man nodded discreetly toward the table.

“I’ve got that table tonight, but I’ll bring any tips I get and put them in your jar, okay?” He slapped Rodrigo’s shoulder.

“No problem.” Roderigo grinned and headed off to another table recently claimed by a group of lively University of Chicago grad students.

Matthew stalked down the length of the bar and kept a watchful eye on Aubree’s table once he’d delivered their two gin and tonics. She and her date seemed to be in an animated discussion now. Maybe he had misjudged the man. Maybe he and Audrey were hitting it off.

An hour passed before the man stormed out of