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Chapter18

Avalon

The black andgold sign above the dark wooden doors makes me snort.The Lady and the Ghost.I side-eye Lynn. “Leave it up to you to find a pub with this name.”

She brushes her nails on her blouse and blows on them. “I’m that good. What can I say?”

“Modest, too.”

She laughs and pushes the door open, and I walk in ahead of her. The place is all dark wood paneling, like an old English tavern. Colorful stained-glass frames hang from the ceiling and divide the space into two uneven areas. To the left, a few people mingle around pool tables set on a platform a couple of steps higher than the rest of the space.

Lights hang above each table, two of which are empty. A floating shelf with scattered drinks atop lines the wall behind the tables. High stools are nested under the shelf.

Classic rock music blends with the murmur of conversations and clinking glasses. The smell of different foods entices me to go in farther.

The hostess approaches us. “Welcome to The Lady and the Ghost. Do you want a table, or will you two be at the bar?”

Lynn looks at me and decides for us both. “The bar, please.”

“You can go right in. There are a few spots open still.”

We thank her and walk across the pub. The main area has several tables and booths. Rich, dark leather and wood make the large space feel cozy and intimate. The massive bar takes nearly the entire back wall. Deep, dark mahogany and two pillars with intricate carvings flank each side. A collection of alcoholic beverage bottles fills the back wall, interspersed with landscape paintings evenly spaced. Copper sconces shed a soft light over each framed picture.

Lynn points to the side, closer to the pool tables. “Let’s take those last two chairs at the end. I want to watch them play.”

I give her a look she knows all too well. Lynn is a pool shark. She’ll come in all petite and sweet, ask for tips on how to play, and then clean the table in two strikes. “Maybe don’t call attention to us with your pool skills tonight?”

“What? I didn’t do anything.” She sounds so innocent. I can almost see a halo over her head.

“Yet. You didn’t do anything yet.”

She takes the chair closest to the wall, which leaves me to sit next to a chair occupied by a man in a baseball cap. Luckily there are several inches between us, so I don’t feel crowded.

I take a seat and turn to Lynn, who’s already sizing up the very cute bartender. Bet she’s eyeing the tattoos peeking from under the rolled-up sleeves of his black shirt.

He gives her a dazzling smile and sets two paper napkins in front of us. “Good night. I’m Marcus.”

Lynn taps her lips with her index finger while looking him up and down. She leans into the bar top. “Oh, let me see your tattoo.”

He shows her his arm. The tattoo is an intricate bird cage, the door open, but the bird inside is dead at the bottom of the cage. Lynn frowns at it.

The bartender smiles. “It’s a reminder to escape our traps and not die with our dreams still caged. What can I get you ladies tonight?”

“I would love a Screaming Orgasm. Can you give me that, Marcus?” Lynn unleashes her inner vixen on the poor bartender.

The guy sitting next to me chokes on his beer. I laugh-cough-choke right along with him. He nearly drops his bottle. Then catches it, but not before spilling some on the bar. I grab the napkins the bartender gave us and try to sop up the mess. Our hands brush, and a zing of awareness climbs up my arm and settles on the back of my neck. Our eyes meet. And even in the dimmed light and partially obscured by a baseball cap, the two different colors call to me. Green and blue.

The detective is sitting next to me. How did I not notice him until now? One of grandma’s favorite movie quotes comes to mind. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world . . .”

“She walks into mine,” Jake finishes the quote.

We just stare at each other. None of the animosity from our initial encounter in his voice. His eyes are soft, and his shoulders are loose. He seems more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. Not that I have a lot to go by. But something of that boy who saved my life comes through in the soft smile playing on his lips. It’s the same smile he gave when I opened my eyes and locked gazes with him all those years ago. It makes him look younger and carefree. I can’t help but respond in kind.

Still grinning and giving Lynn hot, smoky glances, the bartender finishes cleaning up the spilled beer. “And for you?”

I drag my gaze back to him. “A Mojito. And some water, please.”

Lynn looks around me. “Well, well, well. Look at what we have here.”