Page 5 of Spade
“Um, no,” he said. “I’ve been tied up at work this week.” That part was easy because it was the truth.
“What do you do?” she asked.
“I’m an undercover cop,” he said. “I have to work a few towns over to protect my identity, so the hours are pretty long with the commute, but I love what I do, so there’s that.” Judging from the way Cynthia looked around the bar, he was starting to talk too much again. She looked as though she was searching for someone, and before he could stop himself, the words were already out of his mouth. “Are you here with someone?” he asked. She had every right to tell him that it was none of his business if she was there with anyone. Hell, if the answer was yes, he didn’t want to know, but he asked.
“Yeah, my boyfriend is supposed to meet me here tonight. He must be running late,” she said, flashing her smile at him again. Spade felt sick to his stomach, and it was all his doing. He was the idiot who pried and now, he’d have to deal with the fact that the first woman he had wanted in a damn long time was already taken.
“So, the other day, when I asked you out, you told me no because you are seeing someone?” he asked.
“Yes, and no,” she admitted. “I told you that I don’t date clients, and that was the truth. But yeah, I would have turned you down either way because I’ve been seeing my guy for a few months now.”
“Your guy,” he repeated. “Is he a member of the Road Reapers?” he asked. If he knew Cynthia’s “Guy” he wondered if that would make him feel better or worse. Probably worse, if he was being honest with himself.
“Oh, no,” Cynthia said, “he was just going to meet me here for a drink. I like to come here after work sometimes to unwind and well, this place is on his way home from his job.” He started wondering if his verbal diarrhea was rubbing off on Cynthia because she was nervously going on about her boyfriend who was apparently standing her up.
“Can I buy you a beer while you wait for him to get here?” Spade asked.
“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she almost whispered.
“Why not?” he asked. “We’re just two friends having a beer together, right? I mean, I’d like for us to be friends and forget about embarrassing myself by asking you out. Consider it a peace offering,” he said. “I overstepped last week at your place of work, and now, I’m officially apologizing.”
“Honestly, you have nothing to apologize for, Spade. You did nothing wrong. You didn’t know that I have a boyfriend, right?” He shook his head. He had no idea that she was seeing anyone.When he asked Ink to introduce them, his friend didn’t mention that she was seeing someone already. And why was that? The next time he saw Ink; he was going to have to thank his friend for nothing.
“I didn’t,” he admitted. “You would think that Ink would have told me when I asked him to introduce us,” he mumbled.
“Oh, he really doesn’t get involved in my romantic life. In fact, I’d be shocked if he told anyone about my boyfriend,” Cynthia insisted.
“You guys seem so close,” Spade said, “almost like brother and sister. I just thought that he’d give me a heads up, so I didn’t make a fool out of myself,” he said.
“Don’t blame Ink,” Cynthia insisted. “I asked him to keep my private life private, and I guess not telling you was his way of doing just that.” Cynthia seemed to have an answer or excuse for every question and comment that Spade made and that only made him suspicious. He had no real reason to be. Maybe he was feeling that way because he wanted to hold out hope that he still had a shot with her, but he knew that he didn’t. He’d have to find a way to accept that and sitting at the bar, talking to Cynthia, wasn’t going to help things.
He pulled his cellphone from his pocket and pretended to look over the blank screen. It was his go-to-move when he needed to get out of something that made him uncomfortable. And talking to Cynthia about her boyfriend made him very uncomfortable. “Listen, I’m going to have to take a rain check on that apology beer,” he said. “I just got a text from my boss that I need to head into the office. Sorry,” he lied.
“Oh, that’s no problem,” Cynthia insisted. “Have a good night, and be safe Spade,” she said, putting her hand on his arm. Just that simple touch had him wanting to stutter his way through the rest of the conversation, but he didn’t. Spade simply nodded and tossed down a twenty for his beer. He didn’t botherto turn back on his way out of the bar for fear that Cynthia wouldn’t be watching him leave. He had already had enough disappointment for one evening.
Cynthia
Cynthia knew that she had left some giant holes in her story. She was never a very good liar, and tonight was no exception. She just hoped like hell that Spade bought her story because sitting and talking with him at the bar only confirmed how much she liked the guy. Not only was he her type, but she found herself giddy with excitement that he was paying any attention to her at all after the way that she treated him last week—and she didn’t do giddy.
When he apologized to her, she nearly broke down and told him that she had made up her boyfriend and that she’d love to go out with him. Spade had this sweetness that had her wanting to toss her rules and her made-up boyfriend right out the damn window, but that wouldn’t end well for her or Spade. She was broken after her breakup with Eric, and admitting that to anyone would destroy what little confidence she had built up over the past six months.
Ink and Charlie walked over to the bar and sat next to her. She had spotted them earlier but knew that talking to them before Spade would only ruin her resolve to tell him about her made-up boyfriend. She secretly hoped that Spade would be atthe bar tonight and that she’d finally be able to tell him about her “Boyfriend”. Cynthia had heard that he was asking around town about her, and she needed to put a stop to his questions before she lost her nerve. It had just proved harder than she thought it would be to lie to Spade.
“Tell me that you didn’t go through with it,” Ink loudly whispered. Cynthia looked around the bar and back to Ink.
“Keep it down or everyone will know about my lie,” she insisted.
“Everyone is going to figure it out anyway,” Ink said.
“Oh, and how will they do that? Do you plan on ratting me out?” she asked. She knew Ink well enough to know that he’d always have her back. It was a ridiculous question, but when she felt pushed, she pushed back. Ink always knew what buttons to push to get her to respond.
“Of course, he won’t rat you out,” Charlie insisted. “You know that Ink and I both love you, Cynthia. But we have eyes, and we could see the way that you looked at Spade. Don’t you think that some of the guys around here are smart enough to figure it out too?”
“That’s a loaded question,” Cynthia mumbled. “And for the record, I was not looking at him in any way. We were two friends having a conversation. Heck, he even offered to by me an apology beer before work texted him and he had to go into the office.”
Ink barked out his laugh. “He used that one on you?” he asked.
“He used what one on me?” Cynthia spat. She had a pretty good idea what Ink meant by that, but she wanted clarification.
