Page 17 of Stay With Me

The bartender gave a good-natured laugh. “You got it.”

A moment later he returned and set down a light red drink in a tall skinny glass, garnished with a lime.

“What’s this?” she inquired.

“Cape Cod, double tall.”

“All righty then,” she replied as she opened her purse. “What’s the damage?”

“Five-fifty. I gave you the good stuff.”

She started to pull out a twenty, only for a hand to slap down a credit card next to the drink. She glanced sideways to see Nick looking quite handsome in a gray dress shirt and dark denim jeans, smiling at her.

“Well, hello,” she stated cattily. “How kind of you to—”

Her words were cut off by his mouth on hers and his hand on the back of her neck.

“— join me,” she finished after he released her.

“I’m so sorry. I was helping my dad fix a pool pump,” he explained. “And then I needed a shower. It was kind of messy.”

Family man,she mused, recalling her sister’s words.

She laughed politely. “It’s okay. That was nice of you.”

“Gotta take care of family right?”

“Right.”

He tugged the corners of his mouth up and she noticed him glance at her drink. “I hope you’re not planning to drive.”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d give me a piggyback.”

He laughed. “Well, hop on. I’ll carry you to the table.”

“I think can still walk at this point. Do we have a table?”

“Yup. I called ahead.”

“Nice.” She took his arm and picked up her drink as she followed him toward the back of the room.

“So,” he began. “I don’t think I’m very good at this whole date thing. I didn’t think about the fact that this is kind of a bar food place. I hope that’s not too much of a letdown.”

“It’s fine. I’ve been here before so I knew what we were getting into.”

He’s not very good at dates,she thought.Cute, cute.

She took a large sip from her drink, swallowed, and immediately coughed. He stifled a chuckle and rubbed her back.

“You all right?”

She nodded as she took a deep breath.

“Strong right?”

“Bang zoom!”

He looked at her with an enamored expression as he rested his chin in his palm. “You’re pretty adorable, you know that?”