“Mind if we have a drink? I’m drenched in stale alcohol and sober as a judge, not a situation I’m that familiar with.”
Daisy looked taken aback and shook her head, “No… no of course. I’m sorry, what’s your pleasure?”
Hard as I tried I couldn’t keep the smile from my face when a flirty reply to her comment entered my head. She looked awkward as she smiled and cringed at the same time when she anticipated her comment having some kickback.
“Whiskey, neat,” I told her, ignoring her difficulty with being herself.
Daisy turned and reached up for the bottle of Jameson and I saw the dip of her slender bare waist. Instantly I wanted my hands there. She dropped her heels and without using a measure of any kind poured the honey-colored liquid until it was two fingers depth. Her eyes caught mine in the mirror behind the bar as she put the bottle back and she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before she turned around to face me.
“You’ve earned this,” she offered.
“I’ve earned a lot more than a measure of whiskey.” As soon as the words were out I regretted them because I knew what Daisy would think, so I quickly added, “How much does a pot man earn in a bar like this for a night?”
Daisy’s body visibly relaxed when she understood my comment wasn’t a prelude to her getting her kit off and she smiled. “Not as much as they should, it’s a minimum wage job.”
I nodded and considered life as someone who earned minimum wage for a moment, and them having to deal with drunk people who could often become stupid or abusive and it humbled me.
“You make your job look effortless,” I said sitting on the opposite side of the bar to her. Lifting my glass, I swallowed the whiskey down. The smooth burn as it passed down my throat was part of the pleasure I got from it. “Again, please.” I demanded, dropping my glass back to the counter. Selecting another bottle, she said, “This is a local whiskey; it’s a little woodier to the taste,” she advised as she poured it into my glass.
“What about you? I hate drinking alone.” Turning she bent over and pulled a bottle of Pinot Noir from the side and lifted a large red wine glass onto the counter. I chuckled as she filled it to the top. “Am I driving you to drink?” I asked amused.
“Something like that,” she muttered, nervously.
“Why do I suddenly make you nervous, Daisy?” As soon as I asked she began cleaning everything in sight. I watched her for a minute, waiting to see if she collected her composure and when she didn’t recover I threw the other whiskey down in one go, dropped the glass to the counter and wandered around to her side of the bar.
“Stop,” I commanded taking the cleaning cloth from her hands and taking both her wrists in mine. “I don’t bite, honey. If this is about what happened when you met me, forget it. It happens; it doesn’t make me think you’re easy, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“No, its fine. I wouldn’t expect you to think any differently… I mean I fecking jumped you as soon as you came in my door,” she said in a tone like she couldn’t believe it herself.
I chuckled at the memory and released one hand to smooth her hair. “Daisy, you are one of the most adorable women I’ve ever met. Your kindness is overwhelming, having me here like this.”
“Yeah and rock stars will say anything to get into a woman’s pants. Try another bottle of this stuff. I hear it works far better as a leg opener than smooth talking,” she suggested as she held her wine glass up.
I cracked up laughing at her sarcastic remark and removed the glass from her hand. Placing it on the bar I pulled her into my chest. She didn’t resist when I wrapped my arms tightly around her and for a second or two she held her breath. When I heard her swallow and exhale, her body sagged heavily against mine.
“Oh God, there’s that smell again,” she said and inhaled deeply. “It’s not fair that you should smell this good. It’s not helping my good girl side,” she mumbled with her cheek placed over my heart.
“I could say the same,” I replied truthfully and inhaled her sweet scent deeply.
“And to think I’ve read so many facts about you and I’m only now discovering you have a good girl side.” she replied as she pushed herself back to smile up at me.
Her teasing way was highly infectious, and she had the funniest sense of humor of any girl I’d ever known. “You know, Daisy O’Donnell, I could easily fall for a girl like you.”
“And I could as easily blow smoke up my own arse, if I studied yoga long enough,” she replied telling me she didn’t believe a word of what I’d said.
“It’s true. My day started out restless—a long flight to a different destination than the one I had planned—and what I had initially thought was a nightmare in my schedule turned out to be the best thing that’s happened to me in years.”
“Are you trying to say a night in a pub is preferable to the lifestyle you normally lead? Because if you are you’re a liar. I’ve seen those pictures of you lying on plush leather sofas in expensive hotel suites with an entourage as long as the Queen of England's,” she replied.
“It isn’t the pub; its spending time with real people in a normal place, with an extraordinary girl,” I replied.
“Really? And what’s so extraordinary about me then?”
“You’re cute, funny, sassy, clever, beautiful, and sweet, and you have an extra bouncy mattress for me to lay my body down on for the night.”
I stared into her eyes when they met mine and I could see she was waiting for me to do something—which was exactly why I never overstepped the line. She had kissed me several times, but the woman before me was the real Daisy… the good girl, the one with the answers to her own questions if she wanted to find them.
“You’re really not blowing smoke up my arse, are you?”
I shook my head and smiled what I hoped was my most genuine smile. “No, I’m not. What can I say? In one day you have me smitten. Honestly? I was dreading coming here. It felt like I had no other option. With no money and a few credit cards, there was little I could do until I had a roof over my head… which you know was proving difficult because of the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.”
“Lucky break for me,” she added and smirked.
“I figured if I could just get settled somewhere I’d jump on the internet and find someone to come pick me up, but since I met you all that appears to have become irrelevant. I never even thought about asking to use your internet again this evening because I’m in no hurry to leave.”
“You aren’t?” she asked, her widely surprised, glittery eyes stared at me for the truth.
“Obviously, I’m going to have to remedy the part where I’m missing before someone comes looking or there’s a story in the press, and I am going to have to leave tomorrow because if I missed Paddy’s wedding there’d be hell to pay, but I’d like to come back… if that’s okay with you?”
“If that’s okay? You mean here?”
“If you’ll have me.”
“Jesus. I almost had you in the hallway out the back when you first arrived. Of course, I’ll have you.”