Eli’s strong hand caught her arm and didn’t let go. When she met his eyes, they weren’t angry like she expected them to be. Instead, they were full of concern, and his voice was heavy with reassurance. “Please don’t walk away, Rosie.” He used Tessa’s pet name for her, because he knew it would work. Ambrosia sank up against the bar, leaning forward so she could continue their conversation in private. He went on. “Please just consider it. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I thought he was lying. A kiss is a small price to pay if he can tell us what Tessa was up to before she disappeared.”
Eli let her go, and Ambrosia realized the only reason she was so worked up about the kiss to begin with was that she had thought she was being asked to sleep with someone. That was intimacy on a level she wasn’t willing to just give away to a stranger. A kiss, too, was intimate but in a different way and was something she’d part with a little more readily. She’d kissed her fair share of strangers here in the Rear. She thought about it a few more moments, then nodded to Eli.
“I’ll do it. Let him know I’ll be over in a chime or two.”
Eli nodded and turned back toward the table with his beer.
“And, Eli, thanks for making me be reasonable.”
He smiled and shuffled off, stopping by to say hello to familiar faces on his way. Ambrosia got caught at the bar filling drinks for drunk and thirsty patrons for more than the promised chime or two, but she had to let work come first while she was here. That was difficult to do with the prospect of finding something out about Tessa. When she finished, she stopped quickly with her three friends to take the shot she had abandoned during her conversation with Eli.
Mr. Marcel pushed her shot glass back toward her. “Finally, this shots been waiting on you.”
“What was that about?” Winnie was always curious about what her favorite barmaid was up to.
“Somebody knows something about Tessa.”
Winnie’s eyebrows shot up. She knew what that meant to Ambrosia. “What are you still doing here, then?”
Holding up the shot, Ambrosia waited for the others to do the same. “I wouldn’t miss a chance to drink with friends.”
She took the shot and hurried across the bar with two shot glasses and a bottle of degtine, taking a seat with Eli and his informant before anyone could ask her for a refill. Setting the shot glasses in front of each man, she filled them up.
The informant held up his hand. “I’m good without, miss.”
Ambrosia took his shot glass for herself. “You can’t trust a man who doesn’t drink.”
The man shrugged. “Maybe I’m not trustworthy.”
Ambrosia smiled. “You’d better be. Eli said you knew something about Tessa.”
“Indeed, I do. Dark-haired girl, right?” He continued at Ambrosia’s affirmation. “Yeah, I know she was about the Port a lot toward the end of last season.”
“Any more than that?” Ambrosia wasn’t sure that was worth paying anything for.
The man nodded. “Something real specific. And fishy. Do you want me to tell you now?”
Ambrosia shrugged. “Well, there’s the matter of your payment. I’d hate for you to not get paid if I get called away.”
While the man had seemed comfortable before, he suddenly became nervous at the mention of payment. His eyes dropped to the table. “Um. About the payment. I was hoping to…”
He trailed off, and Ambrosia half-considered letting him wallow in his discomfort but didn’t have the time for that. If he really knew something about Tessa, she wanted to know it, too. “Relax, love. Eli already told me what you want.”
The man relaxed a little but not much. “And?”
“Well, I ain’t killed you yet.” Winking, Ambrosia lightened the mood and put the man at ease. “I’d take that as a good sign, if I were you.”
Relaxing completely, the man slouched back in his chair and smiled. “I’m glad. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve gotten slapped for that request.”
Ambrosia laughed. “Oh, I believe it. What’s your name, love?”
“Is that really necessary?”
Ambrosia shrugged. “I ain’t kissing someone whose name I don’t know.”
Eli’s informant nodded. “That’s fair. It’s Whalt.”
Pulling a gold rimmed miza from her pocket, she placed it in front of Eli and held up her shot glass. “To us.”
Throwing back the shot, she barely felt the burn. That was always the first sign she’d had too much. As she set the glass down, she reminded herself to slow down as her arm felt sluggish to respond. Ambrosia stared at the empty glass for several ticks, hesitant to continue but knowing she had to. Whalt knew something about Tessa, and anything was more than what she had at the moment. In the few steps that it took to get to Whalt’s side, Ambrosia began to imagine all the people she’d rather be kissing. Cade was the first who jumped to mind, but Cordon quickly followed. A few other regulars came next. Even a few of the women she knew. Winnie. And…
Shaking her head to clean everyone from her thoughts, she looked into his eyes. If this was the only payment he demanded for solid information on Tessa, then Ambrosia would be damned if she didn’t pay him in full. Her hand found his cheek and tipped his face, covered in grease and grime, up toward hers. This wasn’t the face she had planned on kissing tonight. Then again, she hadn’t been planning on kissing anyone. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise.
Leaning in, Ambrosia closed her eyes just before her lips met his and felt his breath on her lips. Over the alcoholic spice on her own breath, she could smell nothing on his. And then, they met, lips feather light against the other. The kiss she left on his lips was one she imagined a lover might use to wake their beloved, and he responded in kind, meeting her with the sleepy kiss she’d imagined would come in turn. It was gentle and lingering, so soft it was almost nonexistent, and Ambrosia wished it would never end. After what seemed like far too short of a time, Whalt broke the kiss and began to pull away. Snaking around the back of his head, her fingers held him still as her lips found his again. She was amazed at how little pressure it took to control a man. Her fingers were as light on his head as her lips were on his, but he held still. Her lips finally parted with his, the scent of degtine still warm on her breath as she sighed.
Her eyes blossomed open, and she smiled at him as he sat back, trying to capture every detail he could. “You lock that in your memory, love. I’ll be back around to collect on my half of the bargain. Make sure you don’t leave out a single detail of mine.”
As she turned away from Whalt, she heard Eli mumble, “I should’ve asked for a kiss.”
Setting a hand on Eli’s cheek, she smiled and shook her head. “That offer was never on the table for you, Eli. Do you really think you’d get a kiss from me?”
He shrugged. “A guy can be hopeful.”
“And how long have you been trying?”
“Since as long as you’ve been working here.”
With a sly smile, Ambrosia nodded. “That long, and it hasn’t happened yet.” Leaning in close, she whispered in his ear, “And it’s not happening tonight.”
As much fun as it would be to leave him with nothing, Ambrosia adored this particular regular far too much to do that. In a moment against her better judgment, her lips found his cheek, leaving a kiss that was more sisterly than seductive, but as she pulled away, they brushed over the corner of his, for a moment giving the hint of a thought of lingering there. It was quick enough Eli had no chance to respond, and he was left confused but satisfied.
When Ambrosia turned back to the bar, she noticed the general hubbub had quieted considerably and most eyes were on her. Perhaps this was more of a boon than she had thought. With those looks, business was bound to get good. Ignoring them, Ambrosia returned to her friends. What she couldn’t ignore was Paul’s mouth agape. Winnie’s too.
“What’s that look for?”
“That made me jealous,” Paul admitted.
Glaring, Ambrosia shook her head as she refilled the shot glasses. “You’ve got Winnie. You ain’t allowed to be jealous.”
“No. He’s allowed.” Winnie pulled her shot glass toward her. “That made me jealous.”
Ambrosia wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol taking effect or that admission, but Winnie’s cheeks had a growing rosiness, a blush. At such a compliment, Ambrosia managed to produce a blush of her own.
Before she could respond though, the requests for drinks started pouring in. Every man who came up to the bar tried to figure out a way to ask for a kiss. Some were cleverer about it than others, and it almost made Ambrosia want to give in. Almost.
One man, a regular by the name of Eddie, approached the bar after a multitude of unsuccessful attempts by nearly half the men in the Rear. He pointed back to Whalt. “I’ll have what he had.”
Ambrosia smiled and laughed, leaning in closer to Eddie. “What he had? You want a kiss?”
Eddie smirked, certain he was about to succeed where others had failed.
Ambrosia leaned in, but before Eddie could ever try for his coveted kiss, she shook her head. “Ain’t gonna happen.”
“Oh, come on.”
“I ain’t coming on. I’ve seen your wife, Eddie. She’d kill me.”
Eddie laughed, thought about it for a moment, nodded, and laughed again. “Yeah, you’re probably right. You’re scrappy, but she’d drop you in no time flat.”
Ambrosia nodded emphatically. “Exactly. Which is why you ain’t getting a kiss, not from me.” She pushed a shot glass toward him playfully. “But I’ll sell you a drink, so you can get drunk, go home, and charm the Hai out of your wife to get a kiss from her.”
“You’re too good to me.” Eddie pulled out the necessary coins and placed them on the bar. |
|
by Ambrosia Alar on November 28th, 2017, 3:14 pm 
