Midlife Baby (Small Town Lovers)

Chapter 1

Margot

~ May

* * *

“Anything else?”

Grady was an imposing figure as he stood on the other side of the bar, tattooed arms folded over his massive chest, blue eyes glaring down at me with disdain.

I wasn’t in the mood to spar with him, not today. Not after the news I’d just gotten from my ex, Michael. I glared up at Grady with the exact disdain he’d shown me, and raised my mostly full martini glass. “Have I asked for anything else? Does it look like my glass is empty, or close to empty Grady?”

He sucked in a breath and clenched his jaw, before he exhaled slowly, as if physically reaching out in search of patience. “Fine.” That was it, all he said to me before he turned and walked away without so much as a look back.

I sighed and turned back to my drink. It was a good martini. The perfect ratio of gin to vermouth, with just a splash of olive brine. Grady, for all his flaws, made a perfect martini, which of course I would never admit to him. But I would tip him accordingly.

“Happy Birthday!”

The roar from the big booth in the corner drew my attention, and then my annoyance. Nina, the chef at Dark Horse, was there with the restaurant manager Devon and his new boyfriend, as well as a few other members of the waitstaff. They were all smiles as they celebrated someone’s birthday, but all I could see was Devon’s grin as he pressed a kiss to his lover’s lips. That small move frustrated me, because it reminded me of my own ex-husband Michael and his new husband. And the happily ever after they’d gained at my expense.

I turned away and waved in Grady’s direction, but he was too busy flirting with a group of professional women enjoying after work drinks to notice. I sighed and let my shoulders fall in disappointment. Why should a slight by a bartender bother me, when my ex-husband is getting the life we should have had together? Why? I snorted in response to my silently asked question, the answer was the one common denominator here.

It was me. I was the problem.

Nina sidled up to the bar and smacked both hands on the counter, her wide smile aimed at Grady, who actually looked up at her with a toothy grin and a sparkle in his eyes.

“Barkeep!”

Grady laughed, finished up with the women and walked to the other end of the bar. He stopped in front of Nina, still giving me the cold shoulder. “What’ll it be Chef?”

Nina’s eyes widened in surprise. “Only my employees call me Chef, does that mean you work for me now?”

Grady’s lips twitched, and I had to bite back a moan at the sight of those thick, pale pink lips fighting not to laugh. “Maybe I just forgot your name?”

She laughed. “Now I know you’re full of it. I’m unforgettable.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he conceded and folded his arms, the picture of patience while he waited for her to order.

Nina sighed. “You really are a brick wall sometimes.” She shook her head, a genuine smile still fixed on her face. “I’ll have two shots of tequila, top shelf, a dark draft, and two margaritas. Please and thank you.”

Grady was already pouring the shots and filling an icy mug with a dark liquid as he gave Nina the total. “Frozen, or rocks margaritas?”

She glanced over her shoulder at the table where Devon cuddled with his boyfriend and turned back with a sigh. “They strike me as rocks guys, so let’s go with that.”

Grady nodded and poured several different liquids into a silver cocktail shaker, and I could admit, to myself, that it was truly impressive that he could just whip up what customers wanted without consulting a recipe book or website. He rimmed two glasses with salt and set all the glasses onto a tray.

“Need some help?”

“Nah, I was a waitress all through culinary school. But first,” she smiled and lifted the shot glasses off the tray, and slid one towards Grady.

I groaned and rolled my eyes at her blatant flirting, which earned me a glare from them both.

“Anyway,” Nina said and lifted her glass in the air. “To the birthday boy. Let’s hope the next trip around the sun is as good, or better, than the last one. Happy Birthday.” She knocked her glass back drained it before slamming the glass on the wooden bar with a satisfied sigh.

“Thanks.” Grady knocked the shot back with a smile so sexy that I pinched my knees together.

Nina shrugged and sauntered off, making me wonder if the woman had actually been flirting with the handsome bartender, or if she was just that cheerful. They were friendly, but that seemed to be all it was, which meant I’d just given the temperamental chef another reason to dislike me.