Last Call (16 page)

Grateful for his sweet advice, I kissed him on the cheek as he helped me sit.

"Thank you."

"Now let's play with your boy." He winked and waved him over.

I watched as Gage excused himself from the group he was chatting with. He grabbed a tab from one customer and a beer for another before making his way to us.

"Can I get you another drink?" he asked, his voice harder than usual. Jealous?

"Get this hot thing another of your signature cocktails, and can I have a Cosmo?" Leo asked; his voice much looser now. Like he was
trying
to sound gay, if that was even a thing.

"Sure thing." I couldn't help thinking that if his brain was a machine, I’d be able to clearly hear the gears cranking. Gage looked uncertain as he looked at Leo sitting there.

As if Leo could see the confusion, he watched Gage's every move. I saw a less than subtle brow raise and heard an appreciative grunt from Leo when Gage turned his back to us. I fiddled with pulling out my lipstick tube to keep from laughing.

"Tom Collins for the hottie, and a Cosmo for…you," Gage deadpanned.

"Do you work out? You look like you work out. Your jeans fit you spec-tac-ularly."

"Dude, really?" Gage glared, unsure of what to think. "Savannah, what the hell?"

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Well I was just singing your praises, and Savannah here said she wasn't sure if you’d be interested or not. I apologize if we made the wrong assumption." Leo held up his hands, giving Gage a 'My bad.'

"I don't play for that team, sorry." Gage looked at me, his face confused as he almost pleaded, "You don't think I'm gay, do you? Really? You know damn well I'm not."

"Well actually Mr. McAussie, could you blame the girl? Have you looked at yourself lately? We
all
know that all the hot guys are gay these days."

Holy hell. I couldn't stop myself from laughing now. Waves of girlish giggles sprang forth and I covered my mouth as I turned away from the bar.

"Very funny, sweetheart," Gage chuckled at me.

"Are you sure? That's a damn shame, because I could certainly get used to hearing that accent being whispered in my ear."

As if perfectly timed to our conversation, a group of ladies walked by us all; waving and saying hi to Gage. I bit my lip as I took in the sexy dresses and perfectly coiffed hair. It was his cougar fan club. Seriously - those women needed to find a new life. I might show up at the bar several times a week, but I was only 22 and they were probably all in their early to mid-forties.

Gage waved and said hi as they passed by and sat a few seats down from us. Leo eyed them and then Gage curiously. Noelle checked in with them, shook her head and then walked over to speak with Gage.

"Sorry Gage, but you know they only want you," she said, looking a bit perturbed.

Gage excused himself and walked over, smiling as he went. Noelle huffed and commented almost to herself, "Every damn week they stop by. That brunette, she is one persistent woman."

Rising to the bait, Leo zoned in on her comment. "How so?"

"The other night she came in close to closing time and hung out sipping on drinks and flirting with him the whole time. Got way tipsy and couldn't drive herself home. It was obviously a ploy."

"Really?" Leo prodded, not seeing my face as my stomach started to drop.

"I assume he took care of her, if you know what I mean, since she’s already back tonight."

"Um, excuse me," I blurted out, quickly removing myself from the scene and rushing to the restroom. I felt like I was on fire from the waves of embarrassment running through me.

What was going on? I knew I had a date with Jax tomorrow night, yet there I was letting that
cougar
get the best of me. Who was I to be jealous? Gage hadn't asked me out. Sure, we’d flirted, and he made it known he was interested, but he’d never asked. In fact, he told me that flirting was part of the job.

"Ugh," I groaned, not wanting to walk back out there. I didn't want confirmation that he was exactly what I had assumed he was from day one.

A gorgeous playboy.

No, that wasn't true. I never really thought that of him. He was too kind and too much fun for me to think of him as a playboy. Maybe his pretty face was screwing with my judgment.

Leaving the restroom, I walked back towards Leo and was relieved to see Gage was no longer talking with the ladies there. Skimming the long bar I didn't see him anywhere around, and the urge to grab Leo and run was relentless. Instead I said a quiet "Hey."

"He came back by and asked where you went," Leo declared, as he finished off his Cosmo.

"Do I want to know what he said?"

"I think you do, but I'm not telling you."

"What? Why not?" I demanded, the dread I was feeling now turning to excitement.

"Sorry sweetie, I turned to the dark side. These lips are sealed."

"You traitor."

"What can I say? I find him much more appealing."

"I'm sure you do," I grumbled. The laughter of the group of women there to see Gage sobered me up quickly.

"You know what? I have an early morning and I'm sure you do too. You ready to head out?"

"You don't want to see your boy toy again?"

"Leo, he's not mine," I drawled. "Not close. Besides, I'm seeing someone else tomorrow."

He babbled something under his breath but shook his head when I asked him to repeat himself.

Pivoting to leave, I turned and bounced right into Gage's chest. Damn it - it was a fine chest - all hard abs and bulging pecs.

"You going somewhere?"

"Well…yeah," I stammered.

"No, I was talking to Leo. I've been reconsidering his proposal."

"You what?" I croaked, my brain too jarred by his hard muscles to concentrate on what he said. He was unable to keep his face straight though, and he laughed and thrust his hand out to shake Leo's.

"Oh, whatever." I pushed him lightly; stepping back from his heat. "I'll leave you two alone, then. See you around," I jested, throwing my hand up in a wave and walking around him.

Masculine laughter followed me to the door and I turned to see them both watching me. Gage leaned down to say something to Leo, which caused him to laugh again before they shook hands; Leo heading my way.

I waved one last time to Gage and walked out of the bar with Leo fast on my heels.

"Why the rush?" he called as he caught up with me.

"No rush," I lied, walking to my car. "I'm just tired, that's all. I…"

Anger rose up like water in a boiling pot and caught me off guard. "Damn it," I growled. "I just have to go, Leo. I'm sorry."

Worry crossed his face as he stood there watching me fumble with my keys. He held the door open and I slid into my car. Leaning his head in, he spoke. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. No," I waffled. "I will be. I need to think things over. You're right - I need to figure out this hesitation. He's in my head, Leo." I confessed my confused feelings, my shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Well it was great to meet you, honey. You'll be okay, just follow your heart," he suggested; stepping back.

"Thanks. We'll get together again soon. But with Sara, so we can screw with
her
love life, okay?" I laughed.

"For sure, that girl is a mess."

"Agreed. Drive safe." I pulled the door shut, cranked the car and allowed the flirting glances and laughter from Gage and his groupies to fill my senses all the way home.

Throwing myself into bed without speaking to my roommates, I desperately willed myself to sleep; praying for harmless thoughts of the zombie apocalypse, or even showing up to school naked. Instead I got Gage.

An entire night of the sexy superman, a bar and a lot of dirty positions.

Friday - May 3, 2013

Six Weeks until "The Wedding"

Date #6 - Jax (again)

I awoke dreading the day and feeling guilty. Knowing that I had a date with Jax made the day fly by, but thinking of Gage was killing me. My work at the art gallery was tiring but fulfilling this week as we cataloged a shipment set for exhibition later in the summer. Today I was glad for the distraction.

The deeper I got into planning the exhibition, the more I found myself liking the work. It was a welcome surprise to think that maybe I
would
want a job in a museum or gallery after all.

I spent the early afternoon at a local park sketching the scenery for my first art assignment. I always found solace and comfort in the quiet that overtook me when I put myself into my art. My boy troubles began to melt away.

By the time I headed home to get ready for my date, the only thing that continued to plague me was Spencer. I was trying to throw him out of my head for now, and since he hadn't called back it was relatively easy. But I still felt somewhat childish and guilty for ignoring him. I simply didn't think I would be able to handle an adult conversation with him right now.

If I sat and really thought about the past two weeks, I was amazed to find myself juggling dates. When Jax called me Wednesday night I found our conversation to be a little more focused on him and his internship than I would have liked. He was feeling intense pressure to come up with economic planning strategies for businesses that were mindboggling to me, so I forgave him for his lack of interest in my life. I was looking forward to having some one-on-one time with him again. I was also looking forward to getting that kiss he’d wanted to give me two weeks ago. Warmth tingled through me at the thought of a long, hot kiss. It'd been a long time, and evidently I was a little hard up for some affection. Perhaps that was the cause of all my confusion - hard up for some lovin’.

Brian called that afternoon on his way to a banquet with some other student diplomats. Our conversation was short but sweet. He told me he was thinking of me and wanted to make sure I kept my calendar open for one day next week so we could get together. I was excited that he was going to be staying in Nashville for the summer instead of going home like so many fellow students were.

Gage also sat at the forefront of my mind; a constant, distracting presence as I went about my day. His warm eyes, his dimpled smile. That thick, compelling accent. I was in deep with that one, all right.

The more I thought about all of my dates, the more I began to struggle with the thought of dating multiple guys. Especially when I admitted to myself that the thoughts I was having about Gage were becoming obsessive. Feeling stressed about dating more than one guy at a time, I asked Candace her thoughts while we were both dressing Friday night.

"Cand? Do you ever feel guilty for dating more than one guy at a time?" I called into the bathroom while she worked on her hair. As usual on a Friday night, she was using my bathroom because Sara was showering in theirs.

"Nah, that's what dating is," she yelled back. "I mean, it's not like you’re going to
sleep
with them. You're just checking out the options, you know?"

"I'm not shopping for a car, Candace," I quipped, walking up behind her. She stared at me in the mirror while she worked a flat iron through her blond bob.

"Yes you are, and you need to check out all the bells and whistles. See what perks they each come with." She grinned. "Take ‘em for a test drive. Wink, wink."

I couldn't stop the wisecrack that popped into my mind. "See who has the smoothest ride?"

"Yes! Or who can get the most mileage on one tank of gas."

"Oh, oh…who goes from zero to sixty in three seconds flat, and who likes to ease onto the gas."

We slumped against the wall, laughing so hard tears ran down our faces. Candace set the flat iron down on the counter; shaking in a fit of hilarity as we kept pulling out dirty car jokes.

"You just have to check the dip stick."

"Oh my lord, Candace," I gasped, sinking to the floor and crossing my legs. "Stop or I'm going to pee myself."

"Have you two gone insane?" asked Sara, walking into my room and peeking in the bathroom. Candace and I looked at each other and spontaneously broke out into another round of giggles.

Sara eyed my comfy clothes disdainfully. "Keep laughing it up Miss I’m-So-Sexy, but Jax will be here in thirty minutes," she nagged, walking away.

"Oh crap, really?"

I jumped up and hurried to get dressed and ready for my date, while Candace's roaring chuckles echoed through the bathroom as I went.

Twenty minutes later I applied a coat of plum lip gloss and ran my hands over my hair for the umpteenth time. Candace sat on my bed and watched me while I slipped on two shoes for her to help me pick which looked better.

"That dress is killer, girlfriend," she admired as I twisted around, poking out my shoes. The black flimsy skirt floated around my knees. I was torn between a strappy black heel and a gold strappy sandal. "I say sandal with your chunky gold bracelets."

"Gold it is then," I agreed, slipping on the sandal and pulling on my bracelets.