Mia rummaged in her drawer for a marker pen, then picked up a sheet of paper from the printer. For a few moments her hand hovered over it. Then she exhaled heavily and pushed the paper away.
Lonely was fine. It didn’t bring angst, didn’t screw with your mind or play havoc with your emotions.
An image of Elle and Dave on their wedding day came to mind. Their joy as they’d exchanged vows. Then later, the joy on her parents’ faces as they’d danced together as if they were the newlyweds.
Sadly, lonely didn’t bring happiness, either.
Saturday night and during a welcome lull – he supposed now the bar was his, he should leave out the welcome part as busy meant profit – Luke stepped into the back office and pulled out his phone. Still nothing back from Grace.
Fingers flying across the keys, he messaged again.
Having too much fun, avoiding me, can’t be arsed? Any other excuse for lack of reply to my text from yesterday? X
He supposed he should give her a break, but he wasn’t used to not seeing her. He especially didn’t like not hearing from her.
A tap on the door, and Mateo stuck his head round.
‘Thought you might like to know, she’s back.’
Instinctively Luke knew, but because he didn’t want to look that keen, he raised an eyebrow. ‘Who’s back?’
Mateo grinned. ‘You’re not kidding me, boss. I’ve watched you look out for her every night this week.’
He could carry on the charade, but then he’d look like more of a loser than the guy who looked up every time someone came into the bar, hoping they had green hair. ‘I check out everyone who walks through the door. It’s important to know who the punters are.’
‘Yeah, especially those with green hair, freckles and a spark in their big blue eyes.’
Luke gave Mateo a double take. ‘Sounds like you’re the one who’s been looking out for her.’ Yeah and that idea didn’t sit well with him.
‘I’m a single guy.’ Mateo winked. ‘And some women prefer their men on the younger side. More stamina.’
Thankfully Luke’s phone beeped at that moment, preventing him having to reply.
TOO MUCH FUN! Will phone soon. Promise. G x
His mouth curved, imagining Grace’s face. Fine, he could live with the lack of communication, as long as she was happy.
Maybe now he could find himself a little taste of happy.
It wasn’t hard to spot Mia. She was the only woman standing at the bar with green stripes in her hair, no make-up and wearing a T-shirt that declared: [2b || !2b]. What on earth?
‘Hi.’ Not his finest opening line, but like the messages he’d left in his window, the ones she’d ignored, his wit seemed to have deserted him around her.
Her gaze shot over to him and she gave him a careful smile. ‘Hi yourself.’
‘Can I get you a drink?’ Duh. He gave himself a mental slap. Why else would she be at the bar?
‘Thanks, but Mateo’s serving me.’
Fucking Mateo. Ignoring the flare of irrational jealousy, he nodded to her chest, trying not to look at the curve of her breasts – holy shit, beneath the loose clothes she’d worn last time, she’d been hiding the body of a porn star. Stop staring, stop staring.
Drumming up all his willpower, Luke forced himself to read the wording on her shirt, rather than imagine what was under the shirt. Beneath the line of utter gobbledegook, [2b || !2b], was written: that is the expression. ‘Interesting T-shirt.’
She glanced down, as if she’d forgotten what she was wearing, which was highly likely to be the case. ‘Oh, right. Computer nerd humour. To be or not to be?’
‘Ah, right.’ He laughed softly. ‘I barely know how to use one, never mind how to make them work. Is that what you do then?’
‘Yep.’ She smiled at Mateo as he settled her bottle of lager on the bar top. ‘Thanks, and three of the house cocktails.’
Luke glanced over to the back of the bar, where Tanya, Chloe and Donna were sitting. Chloe gave him a wave, Donna a smile. And Tanya winked and blew him a kiss.
‘Seems I’m sitting with your fan club,’ Mia remarked dryly.
‘Hardly.’ He wanted to add that they were just regulars, but he suspected she knew Tanya was a bit more than that. They weren’t dating though, so it didn’t make him a douche to have asked Mia out. Did it?
Mateo returned with a cocktail shaker which he proceeded to shake with a flourish before pouring the vivid green contents into three waiting glasses. ‘One day we’ll persuade her to try the cocktail, hey boss.’ He smirked at Luke before grinning back at Mia. ‘But be sure to ask me to make it for you. I’ve got a, let’s call it a more delicate touch.’
While Luke gritted his teeth at the clear innuendo, Mia laughed. ‘I’ll remember that.’
‘I think the lady at the end of the bar is in need of your more delicate touch.’ Luke glowered at Mateo, who gave him a jaunty smile before strutting off to serve the waiting customer.
There was a beat of silence while Luke struggled to regain his balance. This was totally unlike him. He was the master of bar banter, so why was he struggling with Mia? Because she turned you down. ‘It’s good to see you back here.’ He held her gaze. ‘I’m glad we didn’t scare you away.’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t scare easily.’
‘No?’ Luke felt the elephant in the room start to shuffle its feet. ‘Seems I might have scared you with my message in the window.’
Her eyes widened in surprise. ‘Scared me, no. But I wasn’t sure how to reply.’
‘A Hi back would have been nice.’ He smiled. ‘The drawing takes an artistic touch, and with you being into computers, you’ll probably struggle to compete with me.’
Her laughter eased some of the tension he’d felt. At least he hadn’t totally screwed things up with her.
Still, she didn’t reply to his comment. Instead she glanced down at the tray of drinks on the bar. ‘I think I’d better get these to their owners.’
As he started to walk round the bar, she put a hand on his arm, stopping him. A light touch, yet his skin tingled. ‘You’ve got people to serve. I can manage.’
It felt like another brush-off, though her smile was warm as she picked up the tray.
‘Okay, enjoy your evening. I hope to see you here again soon. Oh and Mia,’ he added, just before she set off. ‘Keep a look out at my window. I might message you again.’ He smiled. ‘Three times a charm?’
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything further. As he watched her walk away he wondered what she thought of his messages, of him. He’d caught her watching him lift, so there was something, maybe. Equally though, she’d turned down his offer to meet up, ignored his notes, and kept her blinds closed nearly all week, so yeah, it was likely she’d only been staring out of the window. Normally he’d take the hint – no point chasing after someone who didn’t want to be chased, when plenty did – yet nothing about his reaction to Mia so far felt normal.
Chapter Six