Page 36 of The Chemistry Coach
The bartender brought more drinks, and Daisy claimed a shot, working to maintain her exact level of buzzed.Connor still seemed cranky.Tipsy enough to brave touching him, she rested her hand on his shoulder.He relaxed the tiniest amount into her touch.“Are you okay?”She sat right next to him, but this close to the speaker she still had to raise her voice to be heard.
“Better now that you’re back.You said this would be fun.”
“What?Watching me steamroll Hazy wasn’t fun?”She was petting his arm now, unwilling to stop.He didn’t seem to mind.
His lips twitched, and he took a drink.“Okay, that was a little fun.It was the flirting afterward I didn’t like.”
Daisy’s breath caught, and her fingers dug a little too hard into Connor’s arm.“I think Amber is straight.She was just on board to mess with Hazy.”
“Funny, I was hoping you would tell me you’re straight.”
She forced herself to breathe, even though the man she’d wanted for a decade expressed interest in her love life.She had to continue functioning.“Does it matter?”
“You were pretty convincing over there.”
Valentine’s eyes volleyed between them, tracking their conversation but never butting in.
Daisy didn’t know how to answer.She didn’t know if she found women pretty and wanted to admire them or if she wanted to fuck them.She wasn’t opposed to the idea, but she didn’t fantasize about it either.Either way, heterosexual wasn’t right.“I think,” she hesitated.“I’m open to love, regardless of gender, but I haven’t explored that part of myself.”
The moment was fraught with tension, and she needed it to break, so she followed up her statement.“Amber’s hot though,” she shrugged.
Valentine, always the one to bring levity, agreed.“She is hot.I thought Hazy had that one.”
They laughed together.Daisy continued petting Connor’s arm, and he let her.“We need to have some fun, and I still have a bet to win.”
She pulled her feet up onto the booth to sit on her knees.Then she leaned around him, raising her hand above her head and trying to make eye contact with the bartender, who eventually saw her and held up a finger in acknowledgment.
She put her hand down and leaned in to whisper to Connor.“Do you see the table of people right by the door?”
He nodded, and her lips brushed his ear, leaving a streak of red lipstick.She wiped it away with her thumb, making him shiver.“I know them.I come to town pretty often to spend time at the lake.I don’t have their phone numbers, though.”
Connor grinned as Teddy strolled up to their table.“What can I do for you?”the bartender asked.
Daisy couldn’t contain her amusement as she said, “A round for that table on me, please.”She pointed to the group she knew.
As Teddy went to work delivering the drinks she had ordered, Connor shifted and pressed his thigh against hers.The heat radiating off him lured her in, and Daisy allowed herself to touch him.A little.
She kept an eye on the table she had ordered drinks for, and when they turned to look at her she waved and used one finger in a ‘come hither’ motion to beckon them over.
Connor cupped a hand around her ear and whispered, “I don’t see how this is fun.”
“It’s fun because I’m winning,” she laughed, trying to chase away the goosebumps caused by his hot breath on her neck.
It didn’t take long for her acquaintance, Shane, to make it to their table.
“Hey, Daisy!”he said.“Work trip again?”
“Yep!Shane, this is two out of three of my latest project.All three are named Connor, but you can call this one,” she squeezed Connor’s arm.“Beanie, and that one,” she pointed to Valentine.“Valentine.”
Valentine butted in, “Hey!I wouldn’t say we’re a project.”
“You guys are a giant project, and you know it.Connors, this is Shane.He runs a bait shop by the lake.”She turned her attention to Shane.“Shane, could I have your phone number?It’s for a work thing.”
Shane, plenty aware of the shenanigans she sometimes got herself into, didn’t question it, writing his name and number on a napkin for her.
“Thank you, thank you!Can you send someone else over here too?”
“No problem.”
