He laughed. “You are an excellent commentator so far.”
“Why thank you. I can keep it up all night,” she said.
“All night? Is that so?” He raised an eyebrow, and his lips curved up in a wickedly sexy grin.
“It just might be. So, you were victorious. That mean you won your case?”
“Just won the right terms in the negotiations. My client is happy. That’s what matters.”
“What kind of law?” she asked, praying he wasn’t going to say something seedy or sleazy – like personal injury law.
“Entertainment law,” he said in that deep, rumbly voice that she was already digging.
“I’m a big fan of entertainment. Movies and me, we’re like that,” she said, twisting her middle and index finger together.
“Likewise. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy the work. But I know what it is, and I know what’s not. I’m not saving the world. I’m not putting the bad guys behind bars. I’m just trying to help actors, directors, and TV show hosts get the best deals they can get. Put on a show, make some people happy. That’s all I do.”
Julia tapped the side of his beer glass. “And I believe I’m in the same field then. I’m not curing cancer. I’m not saving the whales. I’m just mixing a drink, or pouring a beer, and trying to make someone’s night a little better. That’s all I do.”
A grin spread across Clay’s face and Julia admired the view. He was a fine specimen of man, with a chiseled face, and hair that could be held onto hard when you needed to. But more than that, their simple conversation was just that – nice and easy. She’d often thought being able to really connect with a guy meant having a deep discussion on the meaning of life. But hell, she had little interest in that these days, given all the crap that was chasing her down, all the things she wanted to shuck off. The past, and the debts she carried from it, were a hard heavy weight on her shoulders. Maybe tonight she could forget about them for a bit. Have a conversation that wasn’t about all that she owed. Besides, nice and easy suited her mood. If someone asked her to define the meaning of life lately, then as far as she could see was to try to be happy as best you could. Right now, she was enjoying the way it was easy to talk to Clay Nichols.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
He wasn’t pretentious. He wasn’t pushy. He had a directness about himself and what he did for a living that was refreshing.
“To entertainment,” she said, raising an empty glass in a toast.
“And to being entertained.”
“Let’s see if you can keep that up,” she said, issuing a challenge, because she craved a distraction like this. The last few months of her life had been far too tightly wound. Too much pressure. Too much trouble. Too many things she shouldn’t have to deal with, but was stuck with. Tonight, she wasn’t going to think about all the things chasing her. Tonight was for fun and for admiring the fantastic view. Sometimes, a woman just needed to to flirt off her stress.
“I’m up for it, Julia. I’m definitely up for it.”
* * *
That McKenna was right. Hell, she was more than right. Her sister was hot as sin with those curves, those br**sts, and the perfect kind of hips that he’d like to get his hands on. Her hair was lush and reddish brown. Her lips were full and ripe for kissing. As well as other things. But more than that, she was feisty, with that smart mouth firing off innuendo with every word. She could dish it out, and she could take it. After the day he’d had, after the way his days went in general, he wanted a night like this.
So they chatted on and off as she served more customers. She asked him about the deal he’d worked on today, and he told her what he could tell. He asked her about the night she’d had, and she nodded to a skinny guy slouched over the corner of the bar, and there was something so easy – so completely lacking in the bullshit and abrasiveness of office hours — about talking to her.
As she mixed up a purple concoction with sugar on the rim, she crooked a finger toward him, signaling for him to lean closer across the bar. He obliged; he wasn’t going to complain about being near to her.
“Do you want a Purple Snow Globe, Clay?”
He met her gaze straight on, her green eyes so inviting. “If it’s that a drink, no. If purple snow globe is a secret code word for something naughty, I’m game.”
“Well played,” she said, raising an eyebrow. She eyed the drink she’d just made with a proud sort of look. “It’s my signature cocktail. Some day, I’m going to win an award for this bad boy.”
He leaned back in the stool and took a slow measured drink from his beer glass, then set it down. “Will I regret not ordering then? For the chance to say I drank a Purple Snow Globe once at a bar in San Francisco?”
She flashed a sexy smile, then whispered. “It’s absolutely delish, so you might regret not tasting it. But I’m glad you didn’t order it because it’s nothing a man should ever ask for at a bar and expect a woman to want him,” she whispered near his ear, her hair brushing his cheek, making him instantly hard. But that wasn’t entirely true. He’d been borderline hard for most of the conversation. The feel of her silky strands along the with the words want him just ratcheted things up a notch or two.
She stepped away to deliver the drink to a customer and tend to more orders. As she returned to his end of the bar, he picked up where they’d left off. “What do you think a man should drink at a bar?”
“Scotch,” she said, punctuating the word with a perfect O shape to her lips. “Or whiskey,” she said, her voice a purr now. “Bourbon works too.”
“I believe you just named all my favorite drinks.”
“I had a feeling you might like those.”
“Did you?”
“I always know how to match a drink to a man.”
He tapped the side of his beer glass. “Then I’d like to know why I have a beer here in front of me. Tell me that, Julia.”
She paused, tilted her head to side with a mischievous flare to her moves, then licked those luscious lips. Damn her; she was hotter than words, and she knew how to play. “When it comes right down to it, a man should drink what the bartender gives him,” she said in a sultry voice that made him want to hear her say other things. Lots of other things. Like Hold me down hard. Or Tease me with your tongue. Yeah, those sorts of things. “That’s the best match I can make.”