Page 18 of Bastard Bartender

Chapter Six

Marie had quite the laugh when I told her about how my date with Paul went. Thankfully, she’s offered to join me tonight to make up for it.

“Before I forget, here are the tickets for the concert on Tuesday. I won’t be able to meet you at the gate so just tell George, the security guard, that you’re with me, and he’ll bring you backstage. I’ll sneak over and say hi to you when I can.”

“You’re the best. I love me some Justin Bieber. Is it wrong that I’d take him to bed in a heartbeat?”

“There’s a lot wrong with you, but that is not one of the reasons.” I slide on my heels, and Marie sticks her tongue out at me.

“So, where do you feel like searching for this Q guy?” Marie asks as we head out the door.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you. Nic suggested we come back to his bar, and he’ll be my wingman on the sly again. Any card that he gets with the name Q on it, he’ll give me a heads-up, so I don’t have to waste my time.”

“Yay! He was fun! Sounds like a good time to me. Since we’re going to Lounge 702 again and know we’re having more than one drink, let’s Uber it, so Sammy doesn’t have to pick my car up in the morning.”

“That man is a saint.”

“Girl, don’t I know it?”

We hop in the Uber we ordered and make our way to his bar.

“There’re my girls,” Nic says with his arms out wide. “I saved you the best seats in the house.” He removes a sign that says Reserved that was exactly where we sat last time, at the two stools in front of the service well.

“Such service,” Marie says with a grin as we take our seats.

He slides our drinks to us. “Now, I’ve already had one Q-named guy, but thankfully, he left because I would have had to veto him. His name was Quest. Very young, very hippie, and he ordered a Dirty Shirley.”

“I would have thought you’d approve of a man who was confident enough to order such a feminine drink,” I ask.

“The caveat to that rule is that a man who orders a drink with grenadine probably lives with his grandmother and brushes her hair.”

“You’re out of your mind.” I laugh out loud.

“I am.”

“Well, this is not how this is supposed to go. I have to give the first man I meet with that letter a chance. No matter what. Grenadine be damned.”

“You sure about that?” Nic asks like it’s a dare.

“Positive.”

He winks at me as he moves on to help other customers.

I’m only halfway through my drink when I notice Nic trying to get my attention by pointing his finger toward the end of the bar to the left of me. I can’t tell what he wants me to see though.

He walks past me, and I follow his actions as he strides up to a guy and hands him a credit card. The guy has red hair and pale skin, and he’s dressed smartly in a suit.

As Nic passes it back, he mouths to me—as if this is a covert operation—His name is Quinten.

Marie hits my leg and then stands up, peeking over my head to the guy who is three seats down. “He found one.”

“Yeah, and could he be more obvious? You too. Sit down. You’re like a giraffe in the woods.” I try to pull her back to her seat.

“Oh, stop. This makes it so much easier. I like having Nic on our team.”

“There’s no team to be had.”

Marie laughs as she takes a sip of her drink and gawks obviously. From her vantage point, she has a direct view of Quinten. “He’s nice and tall. And you’ve never had a ginger before.”