“Do you have any sauvignon blanc?” I asked the bartender with a friendly smile. A glass of wine couldn’t cost that much.
He furrowed his brow. “Let me check.”
He walked to the other end of the bar and I turned to inspect the patrons around me. I was smack-dab between two couples. The two on my left had thick foreign accents and were using boisterous hand gestures as they chatted loudly. They didn’t even notice me watching them as they continued their conversation at lightning speed. Even if I’d understood what they were saying I couldn’t imagine keeping up.
“Here you go,” the bartender said, sliding a glass of wine across the bar.
I met his eye and smiled.
“Although between you and me, you shouldn’t come to a bar and order wine,” he said with a flirty smile.
“Oh really?” I asked, quirking a brow as I took a sip. “Tastes pretty good to me.”
He laughed and wiped down the section of the bar in front of me. Maybe he was actually cleaning, or maybe he was stalling so we could keep talking.
“It’s a waste of my talents as a mixologist. Unless I’m using the shaker, I’m basically a glorified bottle opener,” he said with a wink.
I cracked up. “Oh really? Well, what’s your favorite drink to make?”
He dropped his right brow as if I’d just issued a challenge.
“How about I make it for you?” he asked, already reaching for the shaker and a bottle of Tito’s Vodka. “On the house, of course.”
I smiled. We were flirting. This was flirting 101 and I was doing a fairly good job of it. At least I think I am.
I opened my mouth to reply just as someone spoke up behind me.
“Owen, we’ll never turn a profit if you offer every beautiful woman a drink.”
I thought I recognized the voice. Dark, deep, and confident. I spun around in my chair and grinned when I saw Dean standing there, hands tucked into his tailored suit pockets and a wicked smile lighting up his devilish glare.
“Dean! What are you doing here?” I asked, leaning forward and accepting his kiss on the cheek. His five o’clock shadow rubbed against my cheek as he pulled away and I realized that I hadn’t been 100% honest with Julian earlier. Dean was definitely a catch, and were he not Julian’s friend, I’d have a really hard time staying away from him.
“This is actually my bar,” he admitted somewhat sheepishly. “What brings you here? Out with friends?”
Dean waved to Owen, the bartender, as the hostess greeted the couple beside me. Their table was ready in the lounge, which meant Dean could nab the open seat beside me before someone else swooped in. He slid into the vacant seat and turned his full attention my way.
“No. I’m here by myself.” I held up my glass. “A girl needs a glass of wine every now and then.”
He laughed.
“This is actually the first bar I’ve been to in New York,” I admitted.
His eyes widened and he held his hand to his heart as if he were wounded. “Then you have not had the proper New York City tour guide.”
Is that true? I thought back to the day before, when Julian and I had explored Central Park and then eaten breakfast on the steps of the Natural History Museum. After we were sufficiently stuffed, I’d forced him to help me grocery shop and we’d stolen every free sample inside the Whole Foods bakery department until a customer service employee had politely asked us to purchase something or leave. All in all, it was an awesome day.
“Is Julian keeping you at work until all hours of the night? Is that why you haven’t gone out much?”
I shook my head. “No. Not at all. I’m just a homebody by nature. This city can be a little intimidating.”
He turned to the bar as Owen passed him a drink. I smiled at him, but the flirty man who’d been there a few moments ago was gone, probably too intimidated by the fact that his boss was watching now.
“To friends,” Dean said, holding his glass up toward mine.
“To friends,” I repeated, clinking my glass with his.
“Now tell me how you like working for Julian.”
Julian, Julian, Julian. Even when I wasn’t with him, he seemed to find a way to become the topic of my thoughts and my conversations.
“It’s fun,” I answered. I knew I was being vague, but I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to divulge.
“Have you two found a workplace yet?”
I shook my head.
“So do you just work from coffee shops or something?”
I glanced down at my drink. “Uh, no. We usually just work from his hotel room.”
He grunted in disbelief. “Guess that explains your relationship with him.”
“Our relationship?”
He nodded.
“It’s strictly professional between us,” I began to clarify before backpedaling. “Well, I mean we hang out and talk outside of work, but it’s strictly…”
“Professional?” Dean asked, the dark look in his eyes challenging me to be honest.
I nodded.
“Well since you two are so friendly, you should come out with us on the boat this weekend.”
My brows rose in surprise. “You have a boat?”
He nodded and rolled his glass between his hands. “It’ll be the first warm weekend of the year and a few of my friends and I are going to celebrate out on the water.”
He must have sensed my excitement.
“I’m sure Julian could swing by and pick you up on his way to the marina.”