Page 44 of Deceitful Oath
“How was the weekend?” I ask, grabbing a bottle of water out of the mini-fridge. “I’m sorry I left you alone. My apartment’s a mess, though.”
“Nah,” she brushes me off with a wave of her hand. “It was fine. Old Mr. Harshon had too many tequilas and tried to take his pants off on Saturday night.”
“No, he did not!” I cackle, imaging the scene that would have caused.
“He did,” she nods, taking a sip of her coffee. “Carlo had to take him to the back and quietly ask him to leave.”
“That man’s lucky he has more money than sense,” I chuckle, pulling out the opening checklist and quickly counting the bottles.
“What about you? You seem like you’re in a peachy mood despite your apartment getting flooded.”
I sigh dreamily, leaning against the counter.
“Ooh, it’s a man,” she says, clapping excitedly. “Tell me everything!”
“He’s amazing, Lisa, like no one I’ve ever met before,” I say, checking that no one’s around. I don’t want Carlo to catch us gossiping when it’s almost opening time. “His name is Dominic, and he’s handsome, kind, funny, smart, and …”
“A stallion in the bedroom?”
“Well, yeah, honestly.”
We crack up and Lisa nudges me, congratulating me. “Where’d you meet?”
“At a little dive bar in my neighborhood,” I tell her. “It’s funny though, because he’s pretty loaded. I still have no idea what he was doing there that night, but maybe it was fate.”
“Got any pictures of him?” she grins at me, winking like a madwoman. I giggle, pulling out my phone.
“I snuck some selfies this weekend when we were out exploring,” I say, passing her the phone.
As soon as she sees the photo, her expression changes. It’s not a look of recognition exactly, but a darkness flashes across her face. She quickly passes the phone back.
“He’s handsome,” she croaks, turning around to grab the basket of lemons.
“Do you know him or something?”
“Nope, no, never seen him before.”
“It’s just that you had a…strange reaction,” I say, glancing down at the picture. We’re sitting on a park bench, holding our iced coffees, big smiles on our faces.Looks totally normal.
Her shoulders rise like she’s drawing in a deep breath. She spins around with a smile that doesn’t meet her eyes plastered on her face.
“Maybe he looks like someone I know,” she hesitates. “But it’s not him, definitely. Just shocked me for a second, no big deal.”
I shrug and quickly finish the inventory before Carlo wanders in.That was totally weird though. I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t.
“My favorite girls!” Carlo’s voice booms behind us.
We both spin around, perma-smiles on our faces. “Hi, Mr. Mancini!”
“Today’s motivational quote comes fromThe Godfather.” He pauses at the bar, grinning at us. “You guys know that one?”
I shoot Lisa a conspiratorial glance, but she doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Michael Corleone saidnever let anyone know what you’re thinking," he continues, his eyebrows creased in concentration. “And I think that’s something we all have to keep in mind, don’t you?”
I nod slightly and Lisa smiles. That seems to mollify him, and he wanders away, reminding us to stay behind the bar, as always.
After the initial opening rush, the night drags. We’re only at half capacity tonight but that’s to be expected for a Monday. I sigh, leaning against the back counter and surveying the scene.Maybe we’ll get out earlier tonight.