Page 58 of Pretend You Love Me

“I’m fine. I’m fine, just swallowed weird.” I sputter and cough.

“I hate it when that happens,” she says as she grabs me a few tissues.

I pretend to take another sip. I’m terrified of this tea now, and I’m not sure how to get rid of it.

“It worked great for my sister. She had tried without luck for months to get pregnant with no luck, and then she started drinking this and...BAM.”

“BAM,” I say, my eyes big. That’s literally the last thing I need. No BAMs for me. No thank you.

“Did you need me to get you set up again today?” she asks.

“Oh, no, I was just going to look at the newspapers, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” she says.

I’m itching to go back to the courthouse, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I can’t risk Hawk seeing what I’m doing. My shift starts in an hour, so I pass the time going through some newspapers - checking in on my family. Looking for signs they are missing me. I eventually drink the tea because I can’t figure out how to get out of it without insulting Rose. Every once in a while I smile over at her, and she gives me a thumbs up.

McKenzie walks back toward the bar and throws her pad of paper down. “Hell no, I’m not serving him.”

I look over her shoulder at the table she’s just stormed away from. There’s a nice looking guy just waiting. He’s more than nice looking actually. He’s really handsome, well dressed.

“I can take it,” I say. “He’s not dangerous or anything?”

“No, not dangerous - not to anyone but me that is,” she says.

Sadie walks past. “It’s her husband.”

“Soon to be ex-husband,” McKenzie mutters.

Oh, interesting.

I serve the mystery man and handle six other tables. I feel like I’ve gotten into the swing of things. Kip finally let me take on table service, but true to his word, he inspected the bruises on my side and declared them healed enough before letting me. I still have to work around my broken wrist, but everyone is so kind and has helped me when I need it, so it hasn’t been a problem.

Tonight, however, I have a problem, and he’s sitting at the bar. An older guy who’s been making eyes at me all night. He’s completely drunk.

I avoid him as much as possible. He’s talking loudly, it’s all quite crude although he hasn’t specifically said anything about me. He just keeps checking out my legs and my ass and my breasts every time I walk by.

He’s the first customer who’s creeped me out. Normally, if there’s a hint of that sort of thing Hawk or Kip kicks their ass out the door so quickly it’s never been an issue. Neither Kip or Hawk are anywhere to be seen, so I’m just trying to keep my distance.

“Hey doll,” creepy guy says. “How about another whiskey?”

Not my job, but okay. He could just ask Kyle who is bartending tonight. Kyle’s literally standing right in front of him. I walk over to the bar and pour him a whiskey.

“Wanna do a shot with me?” he asks. He’s staring right at my cleavage, not even attempting to look at my face.

“Sorry. On the clock,” I say, turning to walk away.

“How about when you’re off the clock?” he asks.

“She’s got a boyfriend,” Kyle says without looking up.

“A really big one,” McKenzie says as she walks by.

I scoot away as quickly as I can. “Hey Kinsey, I’m going to take my break. I’ll be back in ten.”

“Got it.”

I grab my water bottle and take a big drink and then head to the bathroom. When I’m leaving the bathroom, I hear voices coming from Kip’s office next door. I close the door, keeping it just slightly cracked.