Beautiful Mistake

That wouldn’t be very long, though.

Around nine o’clock, I was shaking up a Cosmo in a silver shaker, not paying attention, when Ava’s voice surprised me. She spoke in that sing-songy way that most girls grow out of around the time they ditch their training bras.

“Hiiii,” she lilted. “I wonder what brings you here tonight?”

I looked up to find Davis at the end of the bar, shrugging out of his jacket. Guilt smacked me in the face. Damn it. Why hadn’t I responded to his texts this afternoon? He waved, and I motioned that I’d be a few minutes. There was nothing keeping me from walking down there, so I had to create some reasons. I filled a customer’s beer and chatted with him for as long as I could, then offered to close out a tab for a guy who wasn’t nearly ready to leave. That was the extent of my customers, so I was almost out of stalls when I saw Ava coming toward the bar. Hopefully she had a drink order.

“Go take a break. I’ll cover for you.” She winked. “And I don’t have any reason to come into the stock room at all, if you happen to want some privacy.”

Guilt fueled my panic. As I glanced down the bar, Davis smiled, none the wiser that my armpits were damp, and I felt slightly nauseous.

“Actually, can you help me with something in the kitchen?”

Ava’s brows furrowed. “Sure.”

“I’ll meet you back there in a minute. Let me just get Davis a drink.”

“Okay. But you’re acting strange.”

“Just go.”

“Fine.”

I took a deep breath and walked down to the end of the bar. Forcing a smile, I said, “Hey. This is a surprise. I didn’t know you were coming.”

“A good surprise, I hope.”

Ummm. “Of course. I just need to take care of something in the back. What can I get you to drink? You want the usual?”

“That sounds good. Thanks.”

Somehow I managed to mix Davis’s Tanqueray and tonic without spilling it and serve it with a smile. “Be back in a bit.”

Ava was waiting in the kitchen. “What’s going on? You looked like you were on cloud nine ten minutes ago, and now you’re miserable since Davis showed up? I take it you weren’t expecting him.”

I paced back and forth. “No, I wasn’t.”

“What’s bothering you? Did you not have a great time last night?”

“No, I did.”

“Okay…”

I rubbed my forehead. “Davis and I went to dinner. We had a nice time, but I was confused, so I called it an early night and went home.”

“That’s it? I could have sworn I was looking at post-coital haze before.”

“You were.”

“What am I missing?”

I stopped my pacing and looked at my friend. “I slept with Caine after dinner last night.”

“What? Caine…as in Professor West?”

I nodded.

“I’m confused. I thought you had dinner with Davis?”

“I did. And then I went home. Earlier in the day Caine and I had an argument at school…sort of. When I got home from my date with Davis, Caine was waiting for me. He wanted to talk. We had another argument and—”

Ava grinned. “Pissed-off sex is the best. Fuck me like you hate me.”

“What am I going to say to Davis now?”

“He doesn’t know anything happened other than you went home and went to bed after dinner, right?”

“I guess.”

“So just pretend it didn’t happen.”

Obviously she’d never had sex with Caine. Pretending it didn’t happen was like trying to eat only one Pringle out of a full can. “I’m a terrible liar.”

“So don’t lie. If he tries to talk about anything between the two of you, just say you’re at work and would rather not talk here. Postpone having the conversation until you’re ready. And even then, if you only want to be friends with Davis, you don’t need to tell him anything else.”

I took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m acting like an idiot. I feel guilty, and that’s what this is all about.”

“You have nothing to feel guilty about. You’re a grown woman who’s single. Did you make any commitment to Davis during dinner?”

“No. I told him I needed to think about things.”

“So.” She put her hands on my shoulders to calm me. “You’re fine. You didn’t do anything wrong. Take a minute or two, and then go back out there and act like a woman who didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Okay.”

“You good?”

“I think so.”

Ava went back out to the bar while I took a minute more to compose myself. She was absolutely right. I had nothing to feel guilty over, and Davis had no idea what had happened last night. I can do this. Keeping Caine out of my mind for a little while wasn’t so tough.

I took a deep breath and swung open the door, feeling much calmer.

Until…

I looked over where Davis was sitting and saw a man sitting next to him. That man was Caine.

Ava saw me standing frozen in the doorway and walked over. Her eyes were wide. “Did you know either of them was coming?”

“Nope. Guess both decided to surprise me. Fuck. What the hell am I going to do?”

“Okay. Let’s think about this. You still haven’t done anything wrong. Although clearly you’re going to act like a weirdo when you go over there.”

“Clearly.”

“Does Davis know who Caine is?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“How about Caine?”

“He knows who Davis is from the picture on the wall in my apartment. I’m assuming he’ll recognize him, if he hasn’t already.”

“Okay. I have a plan.”

“Thank God.”

“You’re going to have to go over there and act like nothing’s wrong.”

“That’s your plan? What kind of a plan is that?”

“The only one you have. Go back behind the bar and say hello, and then I’ll stick close if I need to intervene.”

My eyes flicked over to where the two men sat at the same moment Caine looked over at me. His face was unreadable. My stomach felt sick. I wanted to go behind the bar, grab a bottle of anything, chug it, and retreat out the back door.