by Anthology
“There he is, more of my muscle has arrived. Thanks for coming in,” Ty said, hooking the basket above the steaming liquid.
“Fuggetaboutit.” I grabbed his extended hand, and we chest-bump-man-hugged.
“Where’s Wyatt?”
“He’ll be here in five.”
“Cool. You hungry? I’m getting ready to shut the kitchen down.”
“Nah, I’m good. I grabbed something before I left.”
“All right, well, my bouncers are here already. They’ll be controlling the flow of people inside the doors, I just need you to hang out and do your thing.”
“I know the drill. I’ll toss anyone who needs tossing and Wyatt will haul them away.”
Ty laughed. “I have no doubt.” He grabbed a pair of tongs off the steel counter, plated up the rings, and picked up the overflowing basket. “Follow me. I’ll introduce you to my new bartender.”
“New bartender? Did something happen to Melanie or Jordan?”
Before he pushed through the swinging door and went into the dimly lit bar, he picked up a platter of club sandwiches on the counter next to me. “Nah, I wanted more help tonight. After how insane last year’s crowd got, I don’t want anyone going thirsty in here.”
The Cask and Barrel wasn’t a big place, which was one of the main reasons all of us on the force loved it, aside from the absence of college kids. People knew your name when you walked in and friendly faces lined the curved edges of the old, mahogany bar. A small stage sat opposite the bar a short distance away, separated by a modest dance floor. Ty was big on promoting local talent, and the band playing tonight, Lucky Plus One, was going to hit it big any day. Their covers were good, but their original material was phenomenal. Their lead guitarist and singer, Tom “Lucky” Mein, was also a long-time detective. The band tuned their instruments on stage, and the amplifiers hummed.
Ty set the food on the bar and spoke to anyone listening. “If you’re hungry, eat now. In a half an hour you’re going to start your marathon. Fuel up.”
I sat at a bar stool as a tall brunette approached the platter and picked up a triangular wedge. “Thanks, Ty.” She flipped her long, straight hair over her shoulders, and wrapped her lips around the lightly toasted bread. A wave of heat engulfed my body. I removed my hat, smoothed my hair into place, and unzipped my jacket.
“Adela, this is Aiden Genovesi. He’s one of the cops working tonight to help with crowd control, but he’s also a regular and a close friend of mine. Take care of him for me.” He glanced toward the other end of the bar. “And you know Melanie.” Melanie nodded her flaming red hair in my direction as she dried a glass. Ty gave my shoulder a quick slap and returned to the kitchen. “The kitchen is officially closed!” he announced.
Adela’s pale green eyes met mine, and my heart did this stutter and skip thing it hadn’t done since Heidi Cantrell kissed me in the stairwell in junior high. Adela’s cherry lips curved into a subtle smile before she laid her sandwich on a small square napkin. “Adela Jayne,” she said, covering her mouth with one hand and offering the other to me. “It’s nice to meet you.”
I stood there like an idiot, holding her hand and staring at her while her words took their sweet ass time registering in my brain. Her smile broadened, and the corners of her eyes tipped up like a cat’s. The look shook me like my own private earthquake. “Aiden Genovesi.”
“I know.” She laughed. “Ty just said that.”
I grinned. “I guess he did, huh?”
“Uh-huh.” She released my hand and tucked her locks behind her ears as one of the amplifiers on stage shot out a high-pitched squeal. Everyone turned, and Tom held up his hand in apology. When I faced her again, her head was tilted to the side while she looked at me, studying my face. Then she let out a barely audible sigh. “Aiden?” she asked, and a brief pause had me leaning closer. “Do…Can I get you something to drink while you wait for the doors to open? A Coke or some water maybe?”
I twirled the rim of my hat in my hands and squinted. “What were you really going to ask?”
Her brows shot up, and chuckling, she shook her head. “Nothing…it was nothing.”
I laughed. “You know I’m a cop, right? It’s technically illegal for you to lie to me. I could arrest you.”
She crossed her arms and raked her teeth over her bottom lip, her eyes lit with a playful glow. “Okay. Can I confess something?”
Hell yes, you can. “Sure.”
“Okay, so you see all this going on around us? The band, the decorations, the alcohol, the feeling in the air?”
I nodded.
She leaned over the bar and whispered, “I hate all of it.” She leaned back, took a deep breath, and let it go. ”God, it felt good to say that.”
I snickered. “Why do you hate it?”
She thought for a moment. “Everyone makes such a big deal over one day. It’s just a day, you know? It’s no different than any other. You’re more likely to wake up with a bitch of a headache though. I think I’ve had enough of those. I’d rather go to bed early and sleep late and miss the whole thing.”
I smiled so hard my cheeks started to cramp. “Then, why’re you working tonight?”
“I needed a job, bad, and this one started tonight. I’m trying to break into acting, and oddly, it’s not paying my bills. Beggars can’t be choosers.” She shrugged. “So, can I get you that drink?”
I smiled. “Yeah, Coke, please.”
She gave me a quick nod, reached below the bar, and plunked some ice into a glass. Screw watching the crowd; I could’ve watched her all night long. After she filled the glass, she slid it my way.
“Thanks,” I said, but then she took a step away from me. “Oh, Adela?”
“Yeah.” She stopped mid-stride and glanced over her shoulder.
“I hate it too.”
She spun around, and the heavy lashes shadowing her cheeks shot up. Melanie fake coughed in the background, and Adela nodded at her. “You’ll have to tell me your story another time, Officer. Looks like I have to get to work. You need anything tonight, don’t hesitate to ask.” She picked up her sandwich, walked down the bar, and continued stocking the beer and liquor from boxes resting at her feet.
She bent over, grabbing bottle after bottle, and I was mesmerized by the curves filling her dark wash jeans. My pants strained from the fantasies swarming my mind. I shifted in my seat and adjusted my bulge. Christ, I had to get a grip. I drained my glass, replaced my hat, and felt a firm smack against my back.
“Saw that, bro. She the one tonight?” Wyatt stood behind me with his shit-eating grin.
“Who? Her? Nah, not gonna happen.” But, I had warmed to the idea.
He leaned into my ear. “You could totally tap that.”
I shook my head. “We should get movin’. They’re getting ready to open the doors. Where’s the cruiser?”
“At the curb. People are already lined up out there. Tonight’s gonna be epic.”
“Any word on that chick?”
“Not yet, but she’ll be here.”
Ty’s voice boomed across the room as he clapped a few times. “All right, folks, it’s game time. Let’s make this an evening to remember. Celebrate, be safe, and have fun!”
At that, the bouncers opened the doors and people filed in. The band fired up the crowd, and everyone pulsed to the beat of the music. Wyatt went outside to wait for his girl to arrive.
The crowd swelled and gained more and more momentum the closer the clock ticked to midnight. Everyone had a good time hanging with their friends, laughing, and drinking, but I couldn’t stop watching Adela. She didn’t move from one end of the bar to the other, she danced. She laughed and joked with the patrons, popping the tops off beers and pouring liquor into shot glasses like it was second nature. Some meathead stepped up to the bar and tried to flirt with her, but she didn’t pay him much attention.
I shifted my weight and stepped closer to the bar when our eyes met. The smile she gave me lit her entire
face, but there was a hidden look deep within that was different; it was innocent, yet it wasn’t. I became consumed with thoughts of her. Her hair, her ass, the smell of her skin.
She made her way toward me, twirling a small candy cane between her lips, and leaned over the bar, shouting over the music, “How’s your night going, Officer?”
I raised my brows with a grin. “Not bad.”
“Can I help make it better?” The corners of her mouth tipped upward in a sexy-as-hell grin.
Yes, you definitely could. “What did you have in mind?”
“For now, a drink.”
“What about later?”
“Later, we can talk about later. Thirsty?”
“Sure. Water, please.”
“Comin’ right up.” She filled a glass then slid it into my open palm. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“Not a chance.”
She walked off toward a girl waving a twenty in the air, and before I could take a sip, a commotion erupted on the dancefloor and stole my attention. I spun to see people going down like dominos. A few bouncers rushed in and pulled out a couple of guys who were swinging at each other. They were escorted outside by the backs of their shirts. I followed behind them out onto the sidewalk and more of the guys’ friends appeared, several encouraging the men to stop fighting. Wyatt and I could have charged them with being drunk and disorderly, but I decided to try to talk some sense into them before going that route. I had an uncanny ability to rationalize with the irrational. After a few minutes, the men worked through their issues and thankfully decided to hit the road instead of spending the night in the drunk tank. Two Ubers pulled up and carted everyone away to a new location.
When I walked back inside, I searched for Adela. But she wasn’t behind the bar—Ty and Melanie were. Bathroom break probably. I waited a few minutes, but when she didn’t reappear, I stepped up to the bar and waved Melanie over.
“Where’d your help go?” I asked. It was a half an hour till midnight, and the energy was swelling to new heights as the minutes past.
Melanie shouted over one of the band’s most popular songs. “Went to take the garbage out and to hit the ladies. She’s takin’ her sweet ass time. Go see if she’s checkin’ her lipstick, will ya? We’re slammed.”
“Sure.” I nodded. I asked some girls coming out of the ladies room if they’d seen a girl matching Adela’s description inside. After several answered no, I made my way through the kitchen to the rear exit. Once outside the doors, I withdrew my flashlight. The temperature hovered somewhere in the upper twenties, and with the wind blowing, it was enough to cause frost bite within minutes.
“Adela? You out here?” I called, scanning the lot with my light and walking toward the dumpsters.
“You son of a bitch! Let go!” I heard, but I couldn’t see Adela. Her panicked tone sent my pulse soaring.
I clenched my jaw and ran toward her voice with my hand on my weapon, ready to draw. On the side of the dumpster I found Adela sitting on the ground with the heel of her boot stuck between two large pieces of metal lying on the ground. The tightness in my chest instantly eased. I released my grip on my gun, replaced my flashlight, and squatted next to her. “You okay?”
“I’ve been stuck here and can’t get my damn boot out. I was wondering how long it was going to be before someone came to check on me. I’m fa-freezing.”
I took off my jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Here.”
“Tha-thank you.” She moaned as soon as the fabric met her frozen skin. “I can’t believe I’ve been out here so long. Is this some kind of initiation or something?”
I grunted. “Nah, they aren’t like that. If Ty had known you were stuck out here, he would’ve come in a heartbeat.” The faint glow of a streetlamp illuminated her rosy cheeks, and showed her lips turning a pale shade of blue.
“But instead of him, I got you.” She gave me that radiant smile again, and at close range it nearly stopped my heart. “Thanks for checking on me.”
“My pleasure.” I grinned. “Now let’s get you unstuck so I can warm you up.” The words flew out of my mouth before my brain had a chance to run damage control.
“Uh…yeah, that’d be great,” she said, and her voice held a natural seductive edge. “I’ve been trying, to get my heel out, but it’s wedged in pretty good.”
I ran my hand down her leg and stopped at her ankle to get a better look at what we were dealing with. Ty had laid two pieces of metal on the ground next to the dumpster so when the ground got muddy from snow or rain whoever took the garbage out didn’t have to step in a sloppy puddle. She must have stepped on it just right that it pinched the heel to her boot. When she fell backward, the sheets of metal only pinched it tighter.
“Okay, what I’m gonna do is have you lift yourself up a little and rest your weight on this piece of metal here. I’m going to see if I can lift this one up enough for you to get your foot out.”
“Okay.”
“When I say go, pull.”
“Got it.”
I pulled up, and the metal creaked, giving me only an inch or two of leverage. “Okay, go!”
One yank and her foot was free. I let go, and the metal sheet slammed back to the ground. I stood and helped her to her feet. She was a vision wrapped in my jacket as light snowflakes began to float around us.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” I asked, resting each of my hands on the sides of her arms.
“Don’t think so. I twisted my ankle a little when I fell, but I can walk it off.”
“Then let’s get inside.”
Once we were in the kitchen, she shook my jacket off and handed it back to me. “Thanks for rescuing me.”
“Don’t mention it.” A calmness settled between us, yet the atmosphere nearly crackled from the current charging the air.
Out in the bar, the crowd started to chant. “TEN…NINE…EIGHT…”
Adela groaned. “Oh shoot, I better get out there. Ty’s probably going to fire me for being gone so long.” She placed her hand on the door, but I stopped her.
“Wait.” Her hair had been blown into disarray by the wind, but it only made her more beautiful. I pulled her toward me. “Has anyone ever kissed you at midnight?”
She hesitated and slowly met my gaze. “Never the way I wanted them to.”
I took her face in my hands and our lips met; my hot against her cold, created the perfect warmth. Her peppermint breath was like sucking a candy cane plucked straight from the Christmas tree, sticky and sweet. Kissing her was only the beginning of what I wanted to do.
“Happy New Year!” the crowd beyond the doors shouted, then I pulled my lips from hers.
“Happy New Year, Adela.”
“Happy New Year, Aiden,” she whispered and scanned my face as if searching for the right words to say. “I should, um, probably get back to work.”
“Wait. It’s later. What’re you doing after the party’s over?”
She shrugged. “The bar closes at four. I should be out by five. By that time, bed will probably be the only thing on my mind.”
Having her in my bed was the only thing on my mind. “You think I could talk you into breakfast first?”
Her grin widened. “Maybe.”
Ty burst through the kitchen door. “Adela, where the hell have you been?”
I held up my hands. “Easy, Ty. Her boot got stuck between the metal sheets by the dumpster. She’s been stuck outside.”
His shoulders sagged. “Shit, I’ve been meaning to reposition those. You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Aiden got me out.”
“Right, well, I need some help out on the floor. Melanie’s slammed behind the bar, people are lined up waiting for drinks, and I need to piss like a racehorse.”
“I’ll get out there then,” Adela said. “Talk to you later.”
She and Ty retreated into the bar area, and I found Wyatt next to my post with a petite, long-haired brunette standing at his side. Lyssie had arrived.
The party continued on well into the morning and eventually the band played a cover of “Closing Time” for the last song. The drunken patrons filed onto the streets, and when the crowd was nearly gone, except for a few stragglers at the bar, the great cleaning began.
Wyatt came up to me as I hung by the bar waiting for Adela. “So, you gonna hit that, bro?”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on. Have some class.”
“So, you are.” He cocked a crooked smile, but I said nothing. He shook his head. “You’re hopeless. I hope it works out anyway. Happy New Year.”
We grabbed each other’s hand. “Happy New Year.” I glanced behind him. “Where’s your girl?”
“Don’t you worry about that. I got it covered.” Wyatt left and headed out into the morning.
A girl who’d been asleep at the bar since about two was still out cold, but Ty said he’d cover it, so I left to warm up my car and to wait for Adela. A few minutes later, she emerged from the kitchen door with a thick wool scarf wrapping her neck.
I leaned against my trunk. “Hey, you come here often?”
She laughed, walking toward me. “Not really. It’s my first time.”
“First time’s should be celebrated.” I grinned. “Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Let’s grab some breakfast.”
“That sounds great. But, and I know this is going to sound kind of weird, would you mind if we got some pizza instead? It just sounds good. There’s this place on Avenue J that’s amazing.”
My eyes widened. “Scalini’s?”
“Yeah, you know it?”
I nodded. “It’s one of my favorite places.”
“Great. I hoped you’d say that. I already called in an order. It should be ready when we get there.”
My apartment was closer than hers, and we agreed that the sooner we ate the pizza, the better. With a fresh meat topper resting on her lap, I pulled into a parking spot outside of my apartment building. We took the elevator up, and inside, I took the pizza and laid it on the kitchen counter. “Make yourself at home. I’m just going to change out of my uniform. Be right back.”
Adela unbuttoned her coat and nodded with a smile.
