Last Call (20 page)

I bit my lip and found myself starting to laugh. Shrugging my shoulders, I realized that I didn’t even know his last name, to which he replied, "It's Taylor."

"Taylor. Hmph. Not as cool as ‘Gage Aussie Bartender’, but whatevs," I teased, pushing my salad box aside.

"Let's not talk about me, though. How about you tell me what you're doing with all of these dates?"

I nervously fingered my lip as I thought about an answer to his question. "What makes you think there’s something ‘up’ with it? Can't a girl go out on some dates?"

"From what I’ve seen sweetheart, you've only been on
one
date, and that one was dumb enough to leave you here early. The others were scum, late, overly touchy feely and/or drunk.

"Wow, taking notes are we?"

"Yes, I have been."

"Why?"

"First, you tell
me
why you've been putting yourself through the ringer."

With a wave of my hand I pushed back from the desk so I didn't feel so trapped, and I knew I could think better if I wasn't so close to him. "It's ridiculous, really. My roommates signed me up on a campus dating site as a joke."

"What the f…?" He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat. "Excuse me. What were they
thinking
, and might I add, why didn't you kill them?"

"They were thinking that I spent too much time at home with my books and studying. And I have to admit that they were probably right, too. I'm really not much of a dater," I finished lamely. I felt like such an idiot all of a sudden.

"So did you have a date tonight too?"

"I did, but it got canceled at the last minute."

"Yet you stayed here anyway?" I flushed as his gaze pinned me to my chair, while the next word took the breath from my lungs. "Why?"

I couldn't answer that. I wished I was bold enough to tell him he was
my
kryptonite and not the other way around. I sat there and stared at him mutely, sure that I looked like a fish out of water gasping for air. After what seemed like an eternity, he cocked his head slightly and narrowed his eyes.

"Go out with me." Those four words coming from
that
mouth were precisely the four words this girl wanted to hear more than anything. Well, most anything. Even so, I still fumbled the ball for a moment.

"Go out with you?" I echoed, sitting up straighter. "Why?"

"Sweetheart, you keep going out with these guys, but every night you still end up here with me. I know you feel it. Let's get away from the bar and see where it leads."

My mouth was dry as I decided to take a chance and replied softly, "Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."
Touchdown!

We were sitting there quietly, letting the moment sink in, when a jarring knock on the door interrupted us. One of the bouncers I remembered from the night before stuck his head in, and after glancing at me commented, "Sorry to interrupt you, but there’s a slight situation out here you’re needed for."

Looking mildly confused, Gage excused himself and left me sitting in the office alone. Two minutes later he walked back in apologizing. "I'm sorry, Savannah. There's something that's come up that I have to deal with. How about you give me your address and I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at ten?"

"What?" I blurted, laughing at his enthusiasm. "Why tomorrow? It's Sunday. Plus, it's Cinco de Mayo. What could we possibly do at ten in the morning?"

"Do you already have plans for the morning?" he asked, pointedly ignoring my questions.

"Well no, but…"

"No buts," he shushed me and I glared at him. "Savannah, in the two weeks I've known you, you’ve been on dates with six different guys."

"Geez, you really
were
keeping count, weren't you?" I mumbled begrudgingly.

"Yes, angel I was. Look - you're free, I'm free, and I'm taking you out while there's an opening in your jam-packed social calendar."

I would have snapped something snarky back at him, except that it was about the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me.

"If you can't read between the lines, then I'm going to make it real clear. I'm taking my shot before some other big wig comes in and tries to steal you away. Is that alright with you?"

"It's more than alright. Ten it is."

Ushering me out of the office and back to the bar, I debated on hanging out for a while until I saw how packed the place was. Knowing that Gage needed to focus on his patrons, I told him I would see him in the morning and made my way to the door.

Sunday - May 5, 2013

Cinco de Mayo

The three quick raps at the door accelerated my already wild heartbeat. It was as if a hummingbird had permanently taken up residence in my chest. I opened the door and found myself face to face with a Mexican themed bouquet, complete with colorful flowers, a little Mexican flag and a beautifully painted maraca. I promptly burst into laughter.

"Happy Cinco de Mayo," came the voice hiding behind the flowers. His deep laughter joined mine as he lowered the bouquet.

"Thank you. Come in and I'll put these in a vase," I invited; taking the flowers from him.

As I walked into the kitchen and fumbled with the flowers, Gage called from the living room. "This is a cute place you have. You girls rent it?"

"Uh, no I own it. Sara and Candace pay me rent, though," I admitted.

I carried the flowers into the living room and set them on the mantel, and then watched as Gage skimmed the framed pictures on the built-in shelves. Panic rose when he picked up one of me with my parents at a charity event for Guthry Whiskey. It was from my high school years, and we were all wearing Guthry shirts.

It wasn't like I was trying to keep who I was a secret, but I just never talked about it. He set the picture down without a word, and then put his hands in his pockets and looked at a few more.

"Ready?" I finally asked.

"Yes, let's go. You look beautiful, by the way," he said as he stopped in front of me. "I should have said that first thing."

A ridiculous smile crossed my face as I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a faded out blue jean jacket over a little flowered sundress with ballet flats. In the past two weeks he’d seen me in every curve hugging, hot date dress I owned, yet he thought I looked beautiful in a simple sundress and flats. Swoon.

"Did I leave you speechless?" he mocked; his dimple peeking out with his smile.

"You leave me speechless quite often, actually," I flirted, cautiously looking up at him. "You look very nice yourself in a color other than black."

"You think? They say black is slimming, though."

"Well you know - your butt does look a tad big in those jeans," I kidded, plunking my hands on my hips and giving him a very thorough look. He wore a casual white button up with the sleeves rolled up and the ends untucked. His jeans were a darker wash that made them look dressier, but the fit was casual and loose. "Thank God you’re not wearing skinny jeans," I added with a giggle, and his face screwed up in mock disgust.

"C'mon comedian, or we'll miss our date standing here admiring each other." He pulled me out the door by the hand.

"So where are we going?" I questioned once we were buckled into his SUV and pulling out of the driveway. He shrugged noncommittally and said cryptically, "You'll see."

A few minutes later we pulled into a parking spot at Centennial Park. Centennial was a few blocks up from my house and a few blocks down from VU's campus.

Gage jumped out of the car and I waited patiently while he came around and opened my door like a gentleman. When he pulled a picnic basket and folded blanket out of the back seat, I tried to mask my look of genuine surprise. We walked along the cool grass and found a seat under a large shade tree close to a replica of the Parthenon.

I took the basket from him and he spread the blanket on the grass.

"This has always been a favorite place of mine," I hesitantly offered as I looked around.

"After you." He waited for me to settle in on the blanket before setting the basket down and sitting next to me. "Why is it your favorite?"

"It's close to my house, for one thing. It's safe and full of people all the time. And I can people watch and draw, or sit peacefully and study when I need to."

He watched me intently as I talked. His full attention was on me and it felt so good to know he truly wanted to hear what I said. "Thank you for this, Gage," I added seriously after a moment.

"I should be thanking you for saying yes, sweetheart."

"No, really - for going through the trouble of packing a picnic and planning this. I know you have to go into work in a bit so it was…"

His hand stretched out and grasped mine from my lap, causing me to trail off. "This is the type of date you deserve, Savannah," he said smoothly as he squeezed my hand. "Besides, don't thank me yet…you haven't seen what I packed."

"Oh no," I giggled.

"Alright sweetheart, here’s the part of the date where we get to know each other. You ready?"

"Ha, I'm kinda scared," I admitted with a smile. My cheeks started to ache from all the smiling I'd been doing since Gage had walked into my house that morning.

"Don't be scared. I'll go easy on you." He let go of my hand and stretched his legs out before him to lie on his side; propping himself up on his elbow. I tried to keep my disappointment from my face at the loss of his warm touch. As if he could read my mind, he tapped the ground saying, "Get comfortable. So you're an Art History major, right?"

I pulled off my jacket and shifted to my back so I could lie down next to him. The sun peeked through the leaves over our heads, and I stared up at the tree as I answered him. "Yep."

Once I was settled, he reached out and took my hand again. His thumb and forefinger moved up and down over my fingers, gently tracing them almost like it was second nature to him. The soft touch made me close my eyes with the wonderment of how good it felt.

"Why art?"

"I guess I’ve always loved to see the way others saw the world. Like how they can take something so normal and make it look extraordinary," I answered with my eyes closed. A small purr actually escaped my throat when he flipped my arm over and his fingers began to lightly run up and down my forearm.

"Why bartending?" I asked. I mentally kicked myself for asking it in a way that sounded like it was a meaningless job.

He laughed low. "It's what I do. I'm actually here on research."

I opened my eyes rather reluctantly and tilted my head to the side so I could see his face. "You research bartending?"

"No, not exactly." He started to say more and then sat up abruptly. "Let's unpack this basket. I'm hungry."

I sat up and pulled the lid off of the basket, practically gasping out loud when I saw all of the stuff he’d packed. There was fresh fruit and cheese, crackers, slices of meat, as well as single serving sized orange juice and champagne. I had to laugh when he pulled out two plastic wine flutes.

“What, no shrimp on the barbie?” I teased, and Gage broke out into laughter.

"Gage, honestly this is amazing. How in the world did you have time for all this?"

"This is my date kit," he answered with a very straight face. "I keep it stocked every weekend in case a hottie like you needs a man."

"You seriously did
not
just say that." I picked up a grape and threw it at him.

"A man never reveals his secrets, Savannah," he chided. A grape pegged me in the nose and we both burst into laughter.

From that point forward we took turns tossing fruit at each other as we ate; sometimes as punctuation to a conversation. My bubbly giggles and his baritone laughter mingled together, creating a perfect melody. I saw several people walk by and stare at us as if they longed to switch places. I tried to imagine what we must look like from their point of view: a young couple enjoying a beautiful spring picnic, carefree and laughing like they were in love. It had really turned into a halcyon day, and I didn't want it to end.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked seriously as he began to pack up our empty dishes.

"Of course."

"Is there a reason you don't tell anyone who your parents are?"

I felt my face go red and started pulling on my jacket to cover up the feeling of awkwardness that suddenly washed over me.

"I mean, I’d already guessed it after hearing different people talk about you at the bar, but when I saw the picture of you with them at your house it was confirmed."

"It's not like it's a secret or anything, but I don't broadcast it. You know, being heir to one of the world’s largest whiskey companies comes at a price. Especially when your peers are college kids," I confided.

He sighed when he checked his watch and closed the lid to the basket. "I imagine the frat boys really love you, huh?"

"Oh my gosh," I drawled, thinking back to my first year at school. "It's honestly part of why I don't party much. I got so tired of people hitting me up for free booze all the time. It's not like I keep crates of whiskey stashed at my house, people. Does it matter to you?"