Operation One Night Stand (4 page)

“Jeff is here?”
My stomach lurched.
Wherever there was Jeff, Steven wasn’t too far behind.
A new start.
I needed that without him.
Operation One Night Stand needed Steven not to be there.
I’d just finished my last day of work with him.
I was beginning my new life without him.
The last thing I needed was him anywhere near me.

“Yeah.
Steven’s not here.
Yet.”

The fact that Steven and I had broken up two months ago wasn’t lost on me.
I’d barely escaped becoming a hermit.
And yet, two months later, there I was with more confidence in my pinky than I’d had during any of the five years we’d dated.
I was embracing my confidence and refusing to shirk away from my fears.
It wasn’t easy.
I didn’t expect it to be.

I wondered, briefly, if Betsy the Intern would make an appearance.
Of course, she was probably crying her eyes out on Steven’s shoulder.
But I’m not angry.
Not anymore.
I’m not even that sad.
As mortified as she was when Steven publicly declared that she didn’t matter, I was even more mortified that I would ever date someone who would do something as cliché as fucking an intern.
I don’t have anything against interns—everyone has to start somewhere—but come on!

“What can I get you?”

Realizing I was still half sprawled on my back on top of the bar, I rolled my eyes upward.
Bartender Brian looked down at me and smiled.

“Hi.”
He really had nice teeth.

“Hi.”
I started to get up.

“No, no.
Don’t get up on my account.”
He gently placed his hand on my shoulder, effectively keeping me where I was.
“So, need something to drink?”
he asked Melody.
I noticed her noticing him.
I frowned a bit at the thought of her thoughts infringing upon the perverted scenes that ran through my head but I had to remind myself, yet again, that Brian wasn’t the target.

“Sure.
What do you recommend?”
Melody leaned in and purred the question like she always did.
I swear to God that girl was sex in heels.

“Body shots.”

“Say what?”
I, again, attempted to sit up and once again, Bartender Brian placed his hand on my shoulder and Melody clapped.

“Let me demonstrate.”

I felt like my eyes were going to roll into the back of my head as I watched him pour a shot of tequila.
With a shot in one hand and a saltshaker in the other, he leaned down and licked my neck.
As he did, my eyes fluttered closed and I moaned.

Yes.

Moaned.

I heard him chuckle quietly.

I wanted nothing more than the bar to swallow me.

Before I knew it he shook salt onto my neck and leaned back down.
Instead of merely licking the salt off, he added lips and teeth and
oh my God
.

I gasped so hard for air I swear I was drowning.
Then he placed a lemon wedge on my lips.

This shit doesn’t happen to me.
Ever.

I didn’t see him take the shot but I heard the shot glass hit the bar top.

I held my breath and waited as he raked his fingers through my hair, then bit around the lemon wedge, scraping his teeth on my lips.
He must’ve bit the lemon because drops of juice and tequila fell onto my mouth.
He used his lips and tongue to clean it up.

“That was fucking hot!”
Melody clapped her hands.

“Thanks.
I not only serve the drinks, I use them as entertainment.”
With one hand in front of him and one behind, he bowed.
Fucking bowed.
I was a lick away from orgasm and he’s accepting applause.

Fuck.

“A little help here.”
I was not able to sit upright.
Melody grabbed my hands and pulled me up.

I whipped my head around.
Bartender Brian was across the way chatting up a group of guys who were with my target, and a fresh drink was sitting in front of me.
A few people sitting next to me at the bar clapped as I came to my senses.
A loud chorus of cheers had me ducking my head to avoid the attention.

“What the hell was that?”
Sarah asked, laughing.

“What?”

“Look at you making out with the bartender!
Looks like someone jumped off the celibate carousel.”

“I did not!
I was not making out with the bartender.
He was just, he was just—” I looked at Melody for an answer.

“Don’t look at me.
Bartender Boy is hot!
I say you focus on him!”

I grabbed my purse and hopped off the barstool.

“No.
I made a deal and I picked my target.
You’ll see.
I’m going to win this bet!”

“Caroline!”

Turning around, Bartender Brian smiled as he slid another drink my way.
“Pink Panty Dropper.”

“What!”
How did he know what color my underwear was?

He laughed, pointed to the drink, and said, “Pink Panty Dropper from Tall Blond and Dumb.”

“Oh.
Okay.
Thanks.”
I was a little unsteady and I didn’t think it had anything to do with the drinks.
Determined not to let my focus wane, I downed the shot, slammed the glass on the table, and said, “Pop My Cherry.”

Brian reacted just as I thought he would.
The look on his face was priceless.
Grabbing a hold of my lady balls, I leaned across the bar, took a page from his book, and whispered, “Send him a drink.
Pop My Cherry.”

Just as he had, I lingered a beat longer than I needed to, making sure to graze my lips against his cheek.
Fuck it
, I thought.
If I am going to embrace my inner slut, I may as well bear hug her till she can’t breathe.

“Yes, ma’am.”
Brian white-knuckled his towel as he walked to the back of the bar and began mixing the drink.
He snuck a glance at me, smirked, and shook his head.

I needed to know my target’s name.
“Bartender Brian!”

“Yeah?”
He yelled over the noisy chatter of the bar.

“Find out his name!”

“I already know his name.”

“What is it?”

“Not sure if I should tell you or not.”
He walked away, drink in hand, down to the other end of the bar.

“How’s Operation One Night Stand going?”
Sarah placed her empty glass on the bar and sat on the suddenly vacant stool next to me.

“It’s going.”

“Get his name yet?”

“Brian won’t tell me.”

“Who the fuck is Brian?”

“The bartender.
Bartender Brian.”

“Why don’t you go ask his name yourself?
Maybe Brian doesn’t want you to know the guy’s name.”

“Why would he care whose name I know?”
I took a sip of my cinnamon drink, remembering for a moment how Brian smelled when he drank it.

“Um.
Hello?”
Sarah rapped her knuckles on my head.
“For such a pretty girl you are fucking dense.
Brian’s into you.”

“No, he’s not.
He’s a bartender.
It’s his job to flirt and whatever.
He gets more tips that way.”

“Tips, huh?
I’ll give you a tip.
Ditch Ken doll over there and get nasty with Bartender Brian.
He is quite a bit yummier.”
She licked her lips hungrily and growled, snapping her teeth together.

“Will you stop it?”
I smacked her arm.

“I’m telling you.
The bartender is the guy for you.”

“You’re just saying that so I’ll lose the bet.”

“Ugh.
Caroline.
Listen to me.
I am your friend.
Fuck the bet.
I am telling you.
Bartender Brian is the way to go.”

“You ladies talking about me?”

I nearly choked on my drink.
How much had he heard?

“Hi.
I’m Sarah.
Caroline’s roommate.”

“Nice to meet you, Sarah.”
Brian wiped his hands on the towel tucked into the back of his pants before offering it to her and shaking her hand.
“What can I get you?”
He picked up her empty glass, sniffed it, and said, “Amaretto and ginger.”

“He’s good.”
Sarah wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I kicked her.

“I’m pretty good at most everything I do.
Right, Caroline?”
His eyes sparkled dangerously.
I was beginning to think Sarah was right.

“I wouldn’t know.
I haven’t seen most everything you do.”

“We can fix that, you know.
Say the word,” he said as he overpoured Sarah’s amaretto and splashed it with ginger ale.

“Can we now?
So you’re a handyman, too?”
I chuckled.

“That is, of course, unless you’re still stuck on Tall Blond and Douchey over there.”

“Still weighing my options.”

Sarah pinched my knee before she hopped down, drink in hand.
I hadn’t even noticed I’d finished mine.
When I placed the glass on the bar for a refill, a shot glass topped high with fluffy whipped cream was sitting in front of me.

“Blow Job.”

“I guess you expect me to swallow?”
I asked suggestively.

“Well, that is the recommended ending for such a thing.”

Laughing, I was reaching for the shot when Brian’s hand covered mine.
“Nope.
No hands.”

“No hands?”
I really should have gone out drinking more in college
.

“Ooh!
Blow Job shots!”
Melody and Sarah appeared on either side of me, slapping their hands on the bar.
“Make it three and make it snappy, barkeep!”

I locked eyes with my target.
He was staring at me like this shot was going to be the one that put the nail in the proverbial coffin.
I make this work and I win the bet.
He made his way through the crowd until he stood behind me.
Sarah and Melody exchanged a look I couldn’t interpret.

“My name is Ryan.”
He stuck out his hand over my shoulder and I shook it.

“Caroline,” I said as I pointed to myself.

“Having a good time?”

“Yeah.
You?”

“Yeah, sure.
What do you say we get out of here?”

I looked at Sarah and she shook her head.
Melody dropped her forehead to the surface of the bar.
Brian stood in front of me with his arms crossed and an unreadable look on his face.
Three shots were lined up in front of us.

Fuck it
.

“What do I do?”

Melody piped up, “Put your hands behind your back like this.”
I mimicked her demonstration.
“Lean down, wrap your lips around the glass, and lift.
Drink the shot.”

“Swallow.
Don’t spit,” Brian chimed in, his eyes locked on mine.

Holding his stare I replied, “I never do.”

“Let me hold your hair,” Ryan offered as he gathered my curls into a manageable mess.

“Ready, girls?”
Sarah asked.

Closing my eyes, I leaned down, wrapped my lips around the cool shot glass, and threw my head back.
The shot glass was pulled from my mouth before I could think about it and Ryan’s mouth crashed down on mine.
By the time I came up for air, Bartender Brian had moved to the other end of the bar.

I wasn’t quite sure why I was so disappointed to see him go.
Not like we were a
thing
.
Regardless, a lump formed in my throat.
I grabbed Sarah’s drink and downed it like it was my last.

“Easy.
You okay?”
Sarah whispered.

“Yeah, fine.
I’ll be at our place.”

“You’re going to our place?”

“Yeah.
Safer there than his, considering I don’t know him, right?”