Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology) (5 page)

“It looks like we weren’t the only ones out
this late.” Brody nodded toward a boat docking two down from
ours.

“Not surprising.” I opted to wear the towel
home around my waist and scooped up my clothes.

“Oh look, it’s Maddy’s little friend.” Macon
unloaded the empty tanks and quickly soaked the gear in fresh
water.

I hopped off the boat and regretted it
instantly. I stopped short in front of Lyle. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He looked at me, then behind me. I
didn’t need to turn around to know both Macon and Brody had come
off the boat already.

“Beautiful night.” Lyle ran a hand through
his hair, his eyes still on my face.

“It is.”

“Did you guys go for a swim?” He gestured to
my windblown, wet hair. I’m sure I looked fantastic.

“A dive.”

“Oh, cool.”

“We thought it was time Maddy lost her night
dive virginity.” Macon put an arm around my shoulder. I shrugged it
off. I didn’t need him playing games.

“Cool. I’ve never done it either.”

“Cool.” We’d officially gone way beyond our
three-word conversations. Things were looking up.

“See ya at the Grille next week.” He half
waved before walking off.

“Get an ounce of drool in my car, and you’re
getting it cleaned.” Macon went around to the trunk and dumped some
empty tanks in.

“Very funny.” I got in, noticing that Brody
was giving me the front seat again.

Macon started the engine. “Come on, Maddy.
Why do you get so tongue-tied around the guy? There’s nothing
special about him.”

“Do I question you on the girls you
like?”

“Yes, but that’s beside the point. I don’t
like him. Did you see how he acted tonight?”

“How he acted? He finally acknowledged me for
more than a minute.”

“Yeah, I wonder why.”

Brody laughed.

“What?”

Macon put a hand behind my seat. “You think
it’s a coincidence he talked to you tonight? Look at what you’re
wearing, or rather not wearing?”

“You really think he only talked to me
because I’m in a bikini? It’s not like I have a lot on
display.”

“Shut up with your ‘I’m too flat’ sob story.
You’ve been bitching about that since you were thirteen. You still
look good in a bikini.”

I crossed my arms. “I haven’t brought that up
in years.”

Brody laughed again. “Man, you guys are too
funny sometimes.”

“No, we aren’t.”

“Yes, you are. You have such a history, but
it’s not sexual. You’d make a good comedy team.”

“Shut up, Brody,” we said at once. That only
made Brody laugh harder.

“Hello?” I struggled to wake up, only picking
up my phone so it would stop ringing. When I chose a Ke$ha song as
my ringtone, I hadn’t imagined it blaring over and over right next
to my head.

“Maddy? Are you okay?” a vaguely familiar
voice asked.

“Who is this?” I hadn’t bothered to check. At
least it wasn’t either of my parents.

“It’s Colin. Did I call too early?” His voice
rose slightly.

“What time is it?” I squinted as I tried to
read my alarm clock, but I was pretty much blind without my
contacts. My dad kept telling me to get LASIK, but pieces of
plastic sounded better than surgery.

“It’s ten o’clock.”

“Oh, wow. I slept in.”

He chuckled. “Late night?”

“Yeah, very.”

“Do you think you’ll be feeling better by
tonight?”

“Tonight?”

“I know it’s last minute, but I really want
to see you again.” His voice was warm, and I wanted to get lost in
it. I’d dreamed about him the night before—a surprising turn of
events considering I’d run into Lyle.

“What time?”

“How about six-fifteen? I’ll make seven
o’clock reservations.”

“I should be up by then.”

He laughed. “I’d hope so. I was thinking
Owen’s Restaurant. Does that sound good?”

“Sounds great. Believe it or not, I haven’t
been there.” There was nothing surprising about it. Fine dining
wasn’t something I did much.

“That makes it even better.”

“I’ll see you at six-fifteen.”

“Great. I’ll be on time. I promise.”

I pulled my sheet up tighter around me. The
guys always kept the AC on high. “I’ll hold you to it.”

I hung up with a smile. A night dive with my
roommates one night followed by a date with Colin the next. Life
could be worse.

***

“Wow.” Colin’s eyes glided over my body in a
way that made me feel exposed—but not in a bad way. The appraisal
made me feel sexy, desirable in a way I hadn’t felt in quite a
while.

“Hi.”

He laughed. “Sorry, you took me by
surprise.”

“Isn’t this appropriate for Owen’s?” I
gestured to my black halter dress.

“Yes, but you look stunning.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you ready? Or should I come in?” He
hesitated right outside the doorway. At least he wasn’t late this
time.

“I’m ready.” I slipped outside, closing the
door behind me. There was no way I wanted him talking to Macon
before my date. Brody was out, but Macon would have jumped on the
chance to embarrass me.

“All right.” He took my hand as we walked
down the stairs. I slowed us down, still trying to get used to
wearing heels again. I’d been wearing flip-flops almost exclusively
since moving in. One of the perks of bartending at the Grille was
that Max couldn’t care less about my shoe attire.

He opened the passenger door of his car, and
I settled into my seat comfortably. Even on our second date, I was
already getting kind of used to being in his car.

“I’m glad you agreed to see me again. I knew
planning a date the day of was probably pushing my luck.” He
started the car.

“Yeah, but lucky for you I have no life.”

He turned toward me. “I plan to change that.
No reason to leave you with enough time that you can accept
last-minute dates from other guys.”

“Worried about other guys, are you?”

He pulled out onto the street. Ocean Drive,
otherwise known as Highway 12. The one road that wound its way
through all of the Outer Banks. There was only a small strip of
land separating the sound from the ocean this far out. “Do I have a
reason to be?”

“I am out on a date with you right now,
aren’t I?” My thoughts went to Lyle, but I easily pushed them away.
I needed to live in the moment.

“That you are. The second date in two days I
might add.”

“Reminding me?”

“Just reveling in my success.”

“Success?”

“I was successful at getting a beautiful
woman to go out with my twice. That’s something to feel good
about.”

That was the first time anyone had ever
called me a beautiful woman. All the guys I dated before called me
a girl, and I could count on one hand all the times anyone other
than my family had called me beautiful. “Hot” or “pretty” were the
more frequently used terms boys used when they were trying to get
you into bed.

“Well, I was successful at getting a handsome
man to take me out twice.”

“Am I handsome?” His arm brushed against mine
as he reached to turn on the radio.

“Very.”

“Glad to know you think so.”

“At the risk of sounding incredibly shallow,
I’m going to admit I don’t usually date men who are not
handsome.”

“Oh yeah? It’s all about the looks?”

“No. I want personality and a sense of humor
too.”

“In other words, you have high
standards.”

I turned up the volume on the radio so I
could hear the music over the wind, it was a catchy electronic-pop
song I couldn’t resist singing along to when I was alone. “Don’t
you?”

“Yeah, I have high standards.”

“Glad I passed the test for a second
date.”

“You passed the test for a lot more than a
second. I’m the one hoping for a third.” He pulled into the lot of
Owen’s.

He helped me out of the car and held my hand
as we walked inside.

He smiled at the hostess without letting go
of my hand. “Morris.”

She looked down at her book. “Yes, right this
way.”

Colin pulled out my chair, pushing me in once
I was settled. Either he was a real gentleman, or he was really
good at faking it.

“Would you like wine?” Colin asked.

“Uh, sure. But I’m fine with an iced tea or
something too.”

“Which would you prefer?”

“An iced tea.” I’d found I drank less since I
started bartending.

“Sweetened or unsweetened?” He didn’t ask me
again to double-check, and I liked that.

“Sweetened.”

“Okay then.”

Colin asked for two iced teas when the waiter
arrived and ordered us some steamed mussels. I leaned back in my
chair, enjoying the casual feel we had going. I ordered fish,
something I rarely had when it wasn’t fried anymore. When you’re
nearly broke, seafood, even in a beach community, is pricy. Colin
ordered some sort of shrimp.

“What do you do for fun?” He set aside his
half-empty iced tea glass.

“Wow, I haven’t heard that one in a
while.”

“What? It’s kind of a required early dating
question.”

“Then can we skip the required ones and ask
interesting ones instead.”

He smiled. “Okay. Toilet paper. Over or
under?”

I laughed. “That’s your question?”

“You didn’t like the hobby one.”

“Over. Who would choose under?”

“I don’t know. Someone.” He shifted in his
chair and his leg grazed mine. He didn’t move it.

“My turn. Brush your teeth before breakfast
or after?”

“Before. Floss after.”

“Two-part?”

“Yeah. It works.”

The waiter brought our food over, momentarily
breaking the conversation.

I took a few bites of my fish, glancing
around the restaurant.

“Where’s the strangest place you’ve had
sex?”

I swallowed hard. “Excuse me?”

“You wanted interesting questions.” His smirk
told me he enjoyed my reaction.

“Since when did past sexual experiences
qualify as interesting?”

“Since forever.”

“You first.”

“I asked first.”

“Can I pass on this one?”

“Why? It can’t be that bad. Can it?” The
gleam in his eye bordered on naughty, a far cry from the guy who
didn’t kiss me after our first date.

“A tractor.” I didn’t look down when I said
it. I met his eye.

“As in farm equipment?”

“Do you know of another tractor?”

“Wow. I bet there’s a story behind that
one.”

“Not a good one.”

“I beg to differ.”

“There was a big party. It was a closed
space. End of story.” I was ready to look down. It sounded worse
and worse.

“A big party where there happened to be a
tractor?”

“There’s some farm country around
Charlottesville.”

“I guess so.” He took a bite of his
shrimp.

“Your turn.”

“The couch.”

“Very funny.”

“It’s true. I’ve never been lucky enough to
have sex in something as exciting as a tractor before.”

I set aside my fork. “If I find out you’re
holding back…”

“How would you do that? Interview my
ex-girlfriends?”

“You’d be surprised how resourceful I can
be.” I broke apart a roll. The inside was still warm, perfect.

“Maybe if the bartending thing doesn’t work
out, you can try your luck as a private eye.”

“Something to keep in my back pocket I
guess.”

“You’re the only person our age I’ve ever
heard use that expression.”

“Are you trying to say I sound old?”

“No. You just use the same sayings as my
grandfather.”

“Why is it that every single guy I spend time
with insists on making fun of me?”

“So there is competition.”

“I’m talking about Macon and Brody.”

“And they’re not competition?”

“Uh, no. Macon is more like a brother—or I
guess not exactly that. But not competition. Brody is nice and all,
but once again, not competition.” I left out the name of his only
competition—he was only competition in my head.

“How’d you end up living with them?”

“Macon and I have been friends our whole
lives. I didn’t know what to do this summer, so he invited me down.
He had an extra room, and it sounded much better than moving back
in with my parents.”

“I take it you’re not close to them.” He
finished his shrimp. “Your parents.”

“It’s more like we’re having a disagreement
right now.”

“Over you reapplying to med school?”

“Yes.”

“That’s tough. It’s got to be hard enough on
you without that.”

“Yeah, I think they’re embarrassed, and
that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean it’s my fault.”

“Of course not.” He reached across the round
table and took my hand. “You have to do what’s best for you.”

“I know. It’s like the UVA rejection letter
was a wake-up call. It was almost a slap in the face. I’d been
spending my life trying to achieve someone else’s dream. If I
reached it, great. But I couldn’t. Why torture myself for something
I’m not sure I ever really wanted?”

“You’re only twenty-two. You’ll find
something else you want to do.”

“Right now I’m happy enough working at the
Grille.”

“It’s not the worst temporary position.” He
didn’t let go of my hand, and I didn’t pull it away until the
waiter came over to ask us about dessert.

“Do you want something?”

“No thanks. I’m pretty stuffed.”

“All right. We can always grab something on
the way home.”

“Sounds great.”

We didn’t end up stopping for dessert, but we
did take a walk on the beach. The moon was still pretty full, and
it lit up the ocean as we walked along the sand.

I dipped my toes in the water. “I’m glad you
called this morning.”

“Me too. I made the decision not to play by
the rules with you.”