Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 82060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
She deposited me on my stool, sat on hers, and after a nanosecond of glaring at the bartender, she wrapped her knuckles impatiently on the bar.
He turned his attention to her, did a double take, then wandered down to us.
“Well, you were there. Was it a lone gunman?” he asked Toni.
It was part my nerves, part the guy was funny, which was why I burst out laughing.
Toni ignored his comment and ordered, “Two vodka martinis.”
The guy’s eyes narrowed on her, and he asked, “Got ID?”
“Sure,” she said, opened her purse and fished out her fake ID.
“Both of you,” he said to me even as he held his hand out for Toni’s.
The nerves came back.
In preparation for this operation, Toni had procured the same for me. She’d had hers for years. Considering I was nurturing, then birthing, then again nurturing a baby, partying wasn’t my top priority (or any priority), and as such, I had no need to score a fake ID.
We were both only a year away from legal, but that year was still a year.
I pulled mine out and gave it to him.
He studied them, then handed them back, saying, “Those are good. So good, we get busted, it’ll be on your asses, not mine.”
He then grabbed two low-alcohol-content wine coolers from a refrigerator, snapped off the caps, put them in front of us and moved away.
“Huh,” Toni said as she picked up the bottle and stared at the label with so much distaste, I could see it from around her disguise.
“We didn’t come here to imbibe,” I reminded her.
She turned her dark shades to me. “Oh, so you intend to blend in at a bar by wandering around, not drinking, and being obvious about looking for somebody? Being obvious about doing that in a bar where not one of these people wants to be found? That sounds like a good plan. Wish I’d thought of that. Let’s go do that.”
Totally should have brought Ally or Indy. They wouldn’t point out I was an idiot.
They might think it, but they wouldn’t point it out.
She threw back a sip, made a face, then put the bottle to the bar, and very clearly pretending not to be obvious, which made it totally obvious, she scanned the bar.
“Can you see anything through those glasses?” I asked under my breath.
“I can see the pull of the bad boy,” she replied. “Look at that man. He is fine.”
I peered over my shoulder in the direction her shades were aimed.
A man with close-cropped hair, handsome face and beautiful dark skin wearing a loose-fitting button down up top, and criminally well-fitting faded jeans on the bottom was staring our way.
He tipped his beer at us when I caught his eyes.
I turned back.
“We’re not on the make,” I told Toni and took a sip of my cooler.
I also made a face.
Yikes. Who drank this stuff? It was awful.
“You might not be, but I just changed my objective for the night,” she replied.
“You might want to lose the glasses and scarf, then,” I suggested.
“Ladies.”
I looked over my shoulder again.
Not wasting time, the man had made his approach, now he was eyeing me, but when Toni made a move, he turned his attention to her.
“Incognito?” he asked like he saw women in Toni’s getup in that bar every night.
And who knew? Maybe he did.
“Damn straight,” she replied, throwing back more wine cooler.
“Cheating boyfriend?” he asked.
She tipped her bottle my way. “Baby daddy.”
I closed my eyes and sighed as his attention shifted again to me, but he’d shut down.
Men had no interest in women with children. They could go around making them and moving on and not many women would blink in taking them on.
But a guy found out you had a kid, he was out.
It shouldn’t be surprising. If they didn’t take care of their own children, they wouldn’t be in to take care of yours.
Not that I’d gone out and looked, just that I was a young mother, but I still had a life, and I wasn’t hard to look at, so I’d learned. I’d decided it was good. It kept them at bay so I could focus on Liam…
And pining for my high school boyfriend.
“Maybe I can help,” he offered. “Got a name?”
“Not one I’ll share with just anyone,” I said quickly so Toni wouldn’t pipe up.
“Just trying to help,” he murmured, visibly looking for his out.
Toni really should have taken off the scarf and sunglasses. She was way prettier than me with her round cheeks and button nose and almond eyes.
“You can help by buying a girl a martini. The bartender got our order wrong,” Toni put in.
He and I both looked at her, and incognito was a memory. Gone was the disguise and she was blasting out her Hollywood good looks, because she had the base elements in spades, but even in high school, Toni didn’t leave the house without a full face of makeup and perfect hair, and she hadn’t changed.