Page 6 of Loving Callie
With that Callie spun around on her stool and put her back to Rod. Instead of feeling hurt by his actions, she was oddly relieved. Rod was clearly one of those guys who had lied on his profile. She could tell he was only a little bit taller than her and had a beer belly. Besides, any man who could be tempted away from his date by another woman wearing a tight dress, clearly wasn’t the man who could give Callie the love and attention she hoped to someday have.
As she stood to put her jacket on and leave, her mind had already moved on from Rod and the failed date. Forget dating real men, Callie decided she would just have to be content with a few episodes of Scandal on Netflix. Nothing like ice cream and fake drama to help her forget the disaster that was her love life.
Sensing the heat of someone’s gaze on her, she looked up and her eyes collided with Jake’s, who had clearly seen and heard the whole exchange. He stood there, leaning back against the wall behind the bar, a satisfied smile on his face. Callie’s face flushed with embarrassment at the realization that he had witnessed her being stood up. So much for sneaking out with her pride intact.
“So that was the guy you’ve been waiting for? Damn, woman, you can do better.”
He pushed off the wall and came closer. “Now, will you let me hook you up with a drink to get a smile back on your beautiful face?”
The rumble of Jake’s voice sent shivers down Callie’s spine. Setting her pride aside, she decided to sit back down.
“Sure, why not.”
Jake pushed a frosty glass in front of her and she drank deeply, surprised by the bright taste of the peach ale he’d poured.
“Oh, wow that’s good, thank you.”
She took another sip before meeting Jake’s gaze. Emboldened by his earlier compliment, Callie decided to give in to her attraction. After all, she came here for a date. She put on her most flirtatious voice and said, “I guess you’re not my patient anymore so it’s okay for me to say this. I’m glad I ran into you tonight, even if you did have to see that failure of a date.”
Jake smiled and leaned forward onto the bar. “Hey, I saw how you handled that moron and I’m impressed. But I have to tell you, if those are the guys you’re going after, you are absolutely not aiming high enough. Any man that stands you up, clearly needs his eyes checked.”
His intense gaze roved up and down her body, as he didn’t even attempt to hide his attraction.
Callie felt the searing heat of his look rush through her body, straight to her core. Flustered, she stammered, “Yeah, well do you have any idea how hard it is to meet a guy, mister hot bartender? I may be striking out, but trust me, it’s not a well stacked playing field right now.”
Jake grinned, probably at her bizarre sports metaphor, before he replied, “Hey, it’s just as scary for us dudes! We go on a date not knowing if we’re about to be ambushed with questions about kids and white picket fences, or if the woman is going to be a piranha like the one who snagged your date.”
Callie let out a laugh at his grimace of discomfort. “Now, why does that make me think you’ve had a personal encounter with the piranha?”
Jake smirked at Callie, with a cocky alpha male look on his face and a confident tone to his voice, “No, I’m too much man for her. She goes for the assholes like the one you were meeting, easy targets.”
With her hands on her hips in mock anger, Callie teased right back, “Hey, I was meant to go on a date with that easy target. What does that say about me?”
Jake leaned in close, towering over her. His voice was intoxicatingly low as he rumbled softly so that only she could hear. “It says you need to look in the mirror and see the truth. You are one hell of a stunning woman and should be with a man who is too much for the piranha.”
With that, Jake winked and walked away to fill the drink order a waitress brought over.
* * *
Time passed quickly. Jake kept Callie’s glass full of the peach ale, as they chatted together any time Jake wasn’t busy with other customers.
“Good grief, for a ridiculously sexy man, you are very easy to talk to,” Callie blurted out a while later, before covering her mouth with her hand in embarrassment.
Jake just laughed kindly. “First of all, thank you. For a ridiculously sexy woman, you’re also easy to talk to,” he winked as he carried on, “And you know what they say, bartenders make the best listeners.”
“Yeah I guess you make the cliché true, don’t you. So, tell me, why are you so good at listening to me ramble?”
“It’s easy to listen when you’re interested in hearing what someone has to say.”
Callie blushed, his attention flooding her body with warmth – or maybe it was the peach ale. Either way, she felt the heat everywhere. Jake smiled, his eyes searing into her as he leaned on the counter in front of her. Briefly she wondered if he was going to kiss her. Instead, he carried on their twenty-questions style conversation as if the heated looks between them had not even happened.
“Favorite football team?”
“Patriots”
“What? Oh, come on, no way. San Fran is the closest damn thing to a local team! You have to support them.” He narrowed his eyes and said, “Let me guess, you said Patriots because of Brady. Damnit, why do women always go for the eye candy. Where’s your loyalty.”
Callie threw her head back and laughed at the adorable pout on Jake’s face. “You got me. I only watch football to see men running around in tights.”
