Page 46 of Unexpected You
Eloise took me to a nice bar that was bright but atmospheric with leather chairs and a dark wood bar and warm golden lighting. A surprising choice, but I realized why she’d picked it when she went up to the bar and started chatting animatedly with the bartender. They clearly knew each other.
I fought back little stabs of jealousy. There was nothing to be jealous about, yet here I was wondering who the hell this other woman was.
The place was pretty quiet, and a hostess brought us to a cozy table in the back and handed us menus. I was relieved when I saw the prices weren’t too outrageous, and the food actually looked good.
“Come here a lot?” I asked Eloise when the hostess had left us to ourselves.
“Pretty often. I’m friends with the bartender, Dom. Known her for years.”
Why did that make me want to throw myself off a cliff? Get it together.
“How nice,” I said, wondering why this was the first time I was hearing of this Dom that she was so close with. Had she been hiding her from me?
From this angle, I could see Dom as she worked behind the bar. She was stunning. Truly stunning.
Fuck.
“She’s a good one. Makes my drinks just how I like them. And I like watching her work and talk to people.” Now we were both looking at Dom, who was trading banter with one of the other bartenders, both of them laughing together.
“So, uh, what’s good here?” I asked, wanting to stop talking about Dom. Wishing we’d gone anywhere else. This lunch idea had really blown up in my face. At least they had cake.
“My favorite is the bourbon barbecue burger and fries. It’s my go-to. But the spicy chicken sandwich is good, too. Honestly, you can’t go wrong. The food here is better than it has to be.”
I thought back to when I was telling Hunter about Eloise and thinking that I couldn’t picture her eating pizza. Yet here she was, eating burgers covered in barbecue sauce.
This I had to see.
* * *
Eloise did order the burger, and I watched her eat it with relish, somehow managing not to get her face covered. It was incredible. I’d gotten the same thing after she’d told me how good it was. Of course, I ended up covered in sauce. My face, my hair, my clothes. The table.
Eloise kept trying to hide a smile as I struggled to wipe myself down.
“You did this on purpose,” I said, rubbing at a spot on my chest.
She sighed and opened her purse, handing me a stain-removing wipe.
“You got any more of those in there?” I asked. One wasn’t going to do it.
“Probably not enough,” she said with a smirk, handing me two more.
The burger had been delicious. I just wish I wasn’t wearing so much of it while Eloise still looked perfect.
“It’s a good thing I always have a change of clothes in my car,” I said. There was no way I could get through the rest of the day like this.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Eloise said, still eating her fries. I’d demolished mine already and was ready to devour some cake.
“Did I not put that on my resume?” I asked.
She laughed. “No, but I figured it out the first few times I ate with you. I don’t even know how you do it.”
I went scarlet with embarrassment. “Just unlucky, I guess. I have other talents.”
Eloise tilted her head to the side and picked up her iced tea.
“I know you do,” she said and, if I didn’t know better, I would have said that was a flirty comment. But it wasn’t. Eloise was just messing with me. Making fun of me because she could do that and I’d let her.
Our server came back and asked us about dessert. Eloise ordered the chocolate cake and I did the same.