“It’s the muscle.”
“Alright…never mind.” She put one hand on her hip with her other arm resting on the table, and the flames in her eyes that had decreased to flickers rose quickly once more. “Either way, I don’t need you to fight my battles. And secondly, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“What was firstly?”
“What?” she asked blankly.
“You said secondly, but you never said firstly.”
“Not fighting my battles, obviously. I don’t need to say first. It’s implied.”
I’d successfully distracted her. “You want another drink? You know, because yours is on some guy’s shirt?”
“No. Who knows what you’ll put in it.”
I gave her a blank stare. “Yes, I released you from a cage, caught you off guard at your car, took you to dinner, watched you in the theater, just to lead to this moment to drop a pill into your drink. How did you figure it out?”
She rolled her eyes at my sarcasm. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”
“I do. But not because I came over here and fixed your problem.”
“He was not a problem,” she argued. “I was handling it.”
I shook my head. “You need to be careful. Not all guys will put up with a woman grabbing their balls. They might do something terrible to you, might hurt you. You can walk away. You don’t always have to fight.”
“In case you haven’t noticed…” She came closer to me, bringing her face up next to mine. “I’m not the kind of bitch to walk away.” She was in a purple dress, backless, and a beautiful color for her dark hair and perfect complexion. Her long hair was straight down her chest, and she wore a diamond necklace around her throat. “If you disrespect me, there will be consequences. I don’t put up with bullshit. I don’t put up with misogynistic assholes who think women are inferior to them.”
I never cared about women’s issues because I had bigger fish to fry, but hearing her talk like that aroused me. I was the kind of man who didn’t put up with shit from anybody. If they had a problem with that, they could enjoy a beating with a chair. I was in charge, I was a leader, I was fearless. It was the first time I’d met a woman exactly like that. She wasn’t the leader of an underground cult, but she was a leader of her own life. It was hot. “What did he do?”
She rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t matter. Already forgotten about that jerk.” She waved down the waitress so she could order another drink. “I’ll take a cosmo.” She turned to me. “Do you want anything?”
Guess she didn’t hate me that much if she wanted me to order. “Moscow Mule.”
The waitress walked away.
She wore gold earrings and a matching gold bracelet around her wrist. Her eye shadow was darker than usual, sultry and smoky. Instead of wearing red lipstick, she wore purple, which was unusual but so sexy on her. “You’re a vodka man?”
“Yes.” I was impressed she knew the contents of my drink. Whenever I saw her drinking, she was always enjoying something different, whether it was wine, beer, or an assortment of cocktails. She didn’t have a specific drink. “It’s probably in your best interest to tell me what he said to you.”
“We’re still on that?”
“I’ll kill him for you if you want.” She probably thought I was joking because she had no idea how honest I was, that I killed people all the time, that I took my job very seriously. She didn’t want me, but maybe if she knew what I could do for her, she would feel differently.
“He deserved to be kicked in the stomach, but death is a little harsh.” When the waitress returned with the drinks, Catalina immediately brought it to her lips and smeared her purple lipstick on the glass. “But thanks for the offer…I guess.”
I watched her take another drink. “You think I’m joking.”
“God, I hope so.” She grabbed my glass and took a drink, testing it out. “That drink’s never really been my thing. It’s just too… I don’t know.” She pushed the glass back toward me. “Anyway, I guess you should get going.”
Now that I’d absorbed her energy, I didn’t want to go anywhere. It was addictive, infectious. I wanted to keep talking, keep thinking about that purple lipstick smeared on my neck when I looked in the mirror tomorrow morning. I’d always thought black was a sexy color, but she somehow made purple irresistible. “We’re just getting started.”
She ran her fingers through her hair and gave me an exasperated expression. “You don’t quit, do you?”
I shook my head. “Never.”
“Well, I don’t change my mind either. Looks like we’re at a stalemate.”
“That’s fine with me.” I tapped my glass against hers. “Cheers.”
She rolled her eyes but took a drink anyway.