CHAPTER THREE #2
Misreading the change in her posture, either that or simply seizing his opportunity, Damon shifted closer to rest a hand against Cadi’s knee. “Don’t worry, Newbie,” he said, “stick with us, and he’ll be the furthest thing from your mind.”
She let out a soft laugh, though she felt no hint of the lightness she was trying to convey.
Now that they were sitting, there was no place for her to escape to, no chance of quietly slipping out of his grip without making it painfully obvious.
Her fingers tightened around her glass, and she lifted her eyes to where Celine sat across from her, fuming.
All too late, Cadi realized that it had been a mistake not to set firmer boundaries with Damon from the start; her concerns about making a pleasant first impression had held her back from drawing that line, and now it seemed that any attempt to enforce them would be nearly impossible without jeopardizing her chances of getting along with the group.
She looked to Zoe in the hope of recruiting reinforcements, only to find her attention glued to her phone, thumbs flying over the screen. No doubt she was busy informing everyone in her contacts list of the scandal they were currently living through, which in no way helped Cadi’s predicament.
Tipping back his beer, Damon drained the contents and set the bottle down against the table with a loud clink.
“So, which one of you ladies wants to go grab the next round?” he asked.
Zoe’s head snapped up from her phone, and Cadi could see the color drain from her face even in the dim light. Celine scoffed, tapping her long nails against the table as she tore her caustic gaze from Cadi to face him.
“Why does it have to be one of us?” Celine demanded.
“Because,” he replied with a sly smirk, “even a heretic won’t be mean to a nice set when it leans across his bar.”
Cadi’s gut churned at the blatant objectification, and Zoe’s mouth fell open before giving Cadi a look that told her they were firmly in agreement on that particular topic. Celine merely rolled her eyes, as if Damon’s comment was nothing more than charming banter.
“Well, I won’t be doing that, thank you very much,” she said.
“I’ll go,” Cadi blurted, jumping at the opportunity to free herself from Damon’s hold.
“Newbie’s got a little spice,” Damon said with a wink.
She flashed him a tight smile as she took their orders and pushed back through the crowd, ignoring the way she could feel his eyes following her.
Pressing onto her toes, she searched for an opening, noting with a slow, sinking feeling that there didn’t appear to be a bartender anywhere near that end of the bar, and she really did not feel like battling her way back to the middle.
Just then, the door to the kitchen swung open, and above the sea of heads Cadi spotted a familiar glint of gold beading woven into dark, delicate braids.
Shifting to the side, she strained to see around the bodies crowding the bar.
Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her; judging by the reaction of her new friends, there was no way someone from the Order would be working here. Would they?
A space opened up, and Cadi rushed forward to grip the rounded ledge and pull herself through. She rested her hands against the wood, only to immediately pull them back when she realized that this end of the bar was much stickier than the rest.
From her new vantage point, she could see the employees more clearly, removing any doubt as to who the woman was.
After the way she had been practically drooling over her earlier that evening, there was no way Cadi would have forgotten her.
She watched the woman’s lithe movements as she gracefully spun bottles and navigated the cramped space with ease.
At one point she tipped her head back to laugh at something a customer shouted into her ear, the light sound almost enough to make Cadi forget about Damon’s lurking presence.
The palliative effect quickly dissolved, however, when she realized that the woman was walking in her direction, hazel eyes fixed on her.
A wave of panic erased every thought from her mind, including the memory of everyone’s drink orders.
For a moment, Cadi considered bailing, but she lost her chance the moment the woman leaned forward against the bar in front of her with a wide smile stretched across her face.
“What’s good, baby doll?” she said, the sultry timbre of her voice gliding over Cadi’s ears like velvet.
Cadi swallowed hard, her lips parting to speak only to close again when no sound came out.
The woman raised an eyebrow and cast a confused look to the patron next to her.
Cadi’s cheeks flushed when she saw the man shrug out of the corner of her eye, and she cleared her throat to regain her composure.
“Sorry … what?” she asked.
Amusement curved the woman’s full lips, a glint of something almost playful sparking in her eyes. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Oh … right.”
Cadi rattled off what she hoped was the right order, and the woman flashed her another breathtaking smile before setting to work. Cadi watched her with fascination as she shook, poured, and mixed until four drinks rested on the bar between them, and the woman studied her with a skeptical look.
“You good getting these out of here?” she asked with a hint of teasing.
Cadi just stared at the beverages. The bottle would be easy enough, but the three precariously full glasses made for an entirely different challenge. She sighed, smiling with a resigned shrug. “I’ll figure it out.”
The woman chuckled, nodding as she began to turn to the next customer. Cadi didn’t know what possessed her to do it, but now that her chance was slipping away, she knew she had to act.
“Hey actually …” she said, stopping the woman. “Did I see you at Somnium tonight?”
The woman tilted her head as the playful glint returned to her eyes. “I was there, but only you know if you saw me,” she said with a wink.
Cadi laughed and felt her body relax slightly at the kindness in the woman’s tone. “Fair point. I definitely saw you. I remember because I couldn’t get over how gorgeous you are.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed mischievously, and she cast a glance over her shoulder before leaning close. “Are you hitting on me?”
Cadi’s eyes shot wide as she realized all too late that her well-intended compliment definitely sounded more like a bad pickup line. Adrenaline surged white-hot through her limbs, leaving her hands shaking against the glasses.
“No!” she choked. “I mean—not that you’re not—I’m not … oh gods.”
She buried her face in her hands, wishing she could just dissolve into a puddle.
For a long moment, the woman didn’t say anything, and Cadi began to wonder if maybe she had just left her there, mortified at the end of the bar.
Risking a glance, she lifted her head and found the woman staring at her with the slightest twitch playing at her lips.
Their eyes locked, and the woman snorted, dipping her head low as her shoulders convulsed with laughter.
“I don’t know who you are, but I want to.” She extended her hand across the bar, each finger adorned with a shimmering gold ring that caught the light like magic. “Serafina Travers, but call me Sera. Spelled with an ‘e,’ mind you. If you spell it S-A-R-A, I will find out.”
Cadi let out a held breath, a relieved smile spreading across her face as she took Sera’s hand. “Cadi Kismet. Everyone tries to spell it K-A-T-I-E, so I understand the struggle.”
Sera picked up a glass from a plastic wash rack and ran a clean white towel over its gleaming surface. “Was tonight your first?”
Cadi nodded, straining to keep her excitement about the possibility of another budding friendship in check. “Yeah, my coworker, Zoe, she invited me,” she said, tossing a thumb over her shoulder to where the rest of her group was still waiting on their second round.
Sera glanced up, crooking an eyebrow. “They seem … fun.”
Cadi twisted, and let out a snort when she saw what Sera meant. All three of them sat hunched over the table, faces illuminated by the glow of their phones.
“That’s my fault; I’m over here chatting instead of taking the liquid fun back to the table.
” Cadi cringed. It would seem she had started channeling her father without even trying to, and it only took one look at Sera’s smirk to confirm that her awkward slip had not gone unnoticed.
“Can we pretend I didn’t say it like that? ”
Sera chuckled and shook her head. “Nope.”
“Perfect,” Cadi said dryly. “See you next week?”
“I’ll be there.”
Gingerly gathering the collection of glassware between her fingers, Cadi began her slow, precarious trek back to the table.
The others perked up when Cadi set the drinks down, eagerly reaching forward. Zoe placed her phone against the table and stared at Cadi with a broad grin that gave her the distinct impression she had missed something.
“What’s up?” Cadi asked, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.
“I signed you up for orientation tomorrow,” Zoe said quickly, sticking her straw in her mouth and sucking down a quarter of her vodka cran.
A line formed between Cadi’s brows as she tried to discern what type of orientation Zoe could be referring to, but came up blank. “Orientation for what, exactly?”
“Temple attendant!” Zoe replied.
“Zoe!” Cadi and Celine exclaimed in unison, both women fixing the water nymph with cutting looks.
Cadi didn’t have time to be offended by Celine’s irritation at Zoe’s actions; she was too focused on the fact that she had just been volunteered into service without her consent.
When she had said she would think about it, she had meant over the course of the next few weeks, not hours.
She opened her mouth to protest, but Zoe waved her off before she had the chance.
“I know you said you’d think about it, but I wasn’t about to give you the chance to back out. This really is the best way to get involved. Just give it a shot?”