and he placed his hand on her back as she stepped on the bar rail to heft her delicious ass onto the stool at the end of the bar. Thrilled she had taken that seat, he sat in the one next to her, and with his back to the crowd was able to focus all his attention on her. “At the risk of offering another cheesy line, I don’t remember seeing you in here before.”
Her smile widened and she shook her head. “I like the Celtic Cock, but I’m not crazy about crowds. When I get with my friends, I like to be able to hear what they’re saying.”
“And your friends have left?”
“I already had a drink with them. I was getting ready to leave when someone was blocking my path.”
“The gentleman in me wants to apologize again for being in your way. But the truth is, right now, I’m thrilled you’re having a drink with me, however that came to be.”
She laughed, her eyes bright as they held his gaze, and she slowly shook her head.
Throwing his hands up, he said, “Damn, you’re calling out all of my cheesy lines. You’re never gonna believe this, but they’re not lines. Or at least I don’t mean them to be lines.” She had captured his complete attention, and he couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. Years earlier, his trips to the Celtic Cock would have ended in a tumble after a very quick drink. Back then, he looked for pretty and easy. With a few years under his belt, easy was no longer particularly interesting.
She turned her attention toward him, and he felt that she was peering deep inside. Being at the end of her scrutiny was a little unnerving, but he was curious about what she saw. Before he had a chance to ask, she set her wine glass down between them and asked, “Besides tossing out lines to ladies at bars, what do you do?”
“I’m a cop.” He threw out the short answer and waited, knowing what her reaction would be. Wide eyes. Maybe even a little squeal or an ‘ooh’. And then, of course, the inevitable quip about his handcuffs and what she’d like him to do with them.
She nodded politely and took another sip of wine, saying nothing.
While he wasn’t looking for easy, it was a little disconcerting that she seemed to not react to his job. Elaborating, he said, “In truth, I’m a detective.”
Once again, she smiled and nodded. “Do you like your job?”
Rearing back slightly in surprise, he opened his mouth then snapped it shut, lowering his brows. “Like it? Yeah. I mean, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”
“Are you called by a desire to serve or by the excitement?”
“Are you analyzing me?”
He watched as the color in her cheeks deepened, and she scrunched her nose. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to. I was just curious.”
“So, what do you do?”
Her top teeth landed on her bottom lip, drawing his attention to her perfect mouth. “I’m a writer.” Scrunching her nose again, she said, “Mostly, I work in marketing, which isn’t very interesting to me. But, part-time, I’m a writer, and that’s what I really want to be.”
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been curious about what a woman did for a living and was so jaded with the reactions to his career that she caught him off-guard. A roar from the crowd in the back drowned out the rest of her response. Shit… the Celtic Cock was not conducive to conversation with a game on the large screen TV in the back corner, and the shouts from the crowd had only become louder. He’d had several people bump into him and was glad that she was in the seat closest to the wall so that she was not being continually jostled.
He leaned closer. “Is there any chance you’d like to get out of here? We can take a walk by the harbor.” As soon as the suggestion was out of his mouth, he winced. Hell, I’m a detective. The last thing she should do is accept that kind of offer from a stranger. If my sisters did that, I’d lecture them till they’d scream for me to leave them alone!
Just as he was about to amend his suggestion, she nodded. “I’d love to get out of here. It’s so loud, I can’t hear myself think.” She slid down from the barstool, then lifted her gaze, her eyes widening slightly as she peered