surprise to find the gorgeous redhead. She glances at my empty glass and the credit card in my hand, then asks, “Can I buy you another beer before you leave?”
No longer tired, I push off the stool and offer it to her since the ones on either side of me are taken. “No, you can’t buy me a beer, but you can let me buy you a drink. What are you having?”
“Screwdriver,” she says with a smile, settling on the offered seat. I turn my body, lean an elbow on the bar top, and make eye contact with the bartender. “Another beer and a Screwdriver.”
He nods, and I return my attention to the beautiful woman who just surprised the shit out of me. “I’m not used to women offering to buy me a drink,” I admit to her. Sticking my hand out, I give her my first name only. “Cage.”
With confidence, she firmly grips my hand. “Jaime.”
“Nice meeting you.”
“Well,” she drawls, giving me a coy look from under long lashes, “I saw you sitting here when I came out of the ladies’ room, and you looked like you could use some company.”
I cock an eyebrow. I’m not sure if she’s being genuinely nice, thinking I might need a friend, or if she’s actually hitting on me. If she thinks I need a friend, she’d be wrong, but that makes her kind of adorable. If she’s actually hitting on me, I’m all for that. Up close, she’s even more beautiful than I thought when I saw her across the room.
She has a pale complexion with a light smattering of freckles across her nose. Her eyes aren’t green like mine, but rather a blue that reminds me of a glacial lake I’d once fished in Montana. She’s not heavily made up… only a bit of mascara and lip gloss, but she has one of those arresting faces that doesn’t need more than its natural beauty to get people to do a double-take.
Taller than most women, she still only comes up to my shoulder. She’s not dressed to go clubbing, but rather for a night walking around downtown Pittsburgh, in dark leggings and a long sweater that comes down past her ass. It’s thin and form-fitting—not bulky—and I can tell she’d look fabulous naked and splayed out on my bed.
“It looked like you had the weight of the world on your shoulders,” Jaime explains. “And well, I’m a natural fixer of people’s problems, so I thought I’d come and be nosy. Also, it helps you’re really hot, too.”
Wow. A combination of both—extending friendship and hitting on me at the same time. Refreshing.
The bartender returns with our drinks, and I push the Screwdriver closer to her, ignoring my beer for the moment. “Truth be told, I’m actually feeling pretty light and happy. Had a big victory at work, and so having a few beers to celebrate.”
“Oh yeah?” she inquires before taking a sip of her drink. She nods at it. “Thank you, by the way. So what’s the big victory?”
I quickly sift through the handful of fake jobs I’ve given women over the years, settling on, “I’m a car salesman. I hit my quota for the month.”
Her eyes brighten, her lips quirking upward before splitting into a smile. “Well, good for you. Congrats.”
Before she can ask me detailed questions about my fake job, I ask, “What do you do?”
“I’m a social worker,” she replies, her expression brightening even more, which says she has a tremendous passion for what she does. “I work for a coalition that coordinates all domestic violence programs in the state of Pennsylvania. In other words, I help women and their children get out of bad situations.”
For a moment, I’m humbled, realizing this woman is far too good for me to engage in a one-night stand. She’s not the usual ditzy bombshell I can have a fun romp with in bed for one night and shake free the next day.
It’s why I don’t tell my real profession. I’ve found that women tend to cling tighter when they find out I work for a cutting-edge security services firm that does exciting and dangerous work all over the world. However, giving them a boring profession doesn’t make me seem all that interesting out of the bedroom and just makes one-night stands a lot easier.
For a moment, I consider downing my drink and heading out, but she keeps me engaged by asking, “Is that a southern accent I detect?”