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elementof_risk[ooc: Written with the lovely ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
my_strappyshoes, PG]
Lucky's Lounge April 15th
Rachel had enough of her family for one day three hours earlier when Nic opted to start asking questions that related to when she was going to be able to date. Of course her mom nearly choked on her milk and Rachel was pretty sure she almost saw her dad laugh, but clearly that wasn't too easy to see since it faded quickly. The conversation switched quickly after the first few questions got disputed, and Eric was no doubt highly entertained by the whole thing. Rachel made sure to nudge him in the shin with the toe of her boot just to make him aware that she saw the smirk. Dinner ended and then Rachel said she'd stay for one hand of Gin which turned into three since she kept winning and thought it was bad luck to leave on a streak. When she finally lost she shoved the seat away from the table and announced she was leaving. Nic sighed loudly and she moved to hug her mom and dad saying she'd call them to let them know her plans once she made them and got the hell out of there.
The drive to Lucky's cleared her head a bit from the entire family thing and by the time she opened the heavy door to the bar she was glad to have someone else to keep her company. If she hadn't known he was coming to visit she'd be still at the house arguing over something trivial or sorting photographs that her mom had found. Instead she was in a bar that was buzzing with a bit of life and she spotted Julian seated at the bar. Leaning lightly against him she smiled before pressing a kiss to his temple and sliding to take up a seat beside him. "Pint of Blue Moon with an orange," she said to the bartender before turning to him beaming, "Hi, I missed you today."
Sark had spent the day, well, more accurately the afternoon, running around Norwich, learning the town. He'd spent most of the afternoon at the museum, then found a nice restaurant that seemed appropriately New England-ish for dinner, ignoring the speculative looks. He'd enjoyed the people watching, unaccustomed to this part of the country, this sort of town, really. It was a fascinating study, but he was starting to get bored and antsy by the time he got her text. Relieved, he made his way to Lucky's, getting a seat and a pint of something local.
He smiled as she slipped up beside him, one arm easing around her, his palm pressing against her back. "Hi," he murmured back, the smile growing at her confession, especially considering she'd been with her family. "I missed you, too."
When her pint came she sat up a bit straighter, letting his touch slip wherever it might fall. The pale beer in front of her a reprieve for the moment, and his words still echoing a bit in her head. Her fingers fished out the wedge of orange already a mushy mess of beer soaked pulp, twisting the piece in her fingers and then trying to sink the wedge itself to the bottom of the glass with her fingertip pushing it beyond the foam a bit. After a few dunks she gave up and drew her fingers up to her mouth to pull the taste of citrus and beer from them before wiping them on the cocktail napkin left on the bar. Taking the first cold sip felt good and then the next few healthier swallows felt right.
Finally setting her glass back on the bar she shifted her stool to twist around so she could face him. Her knees brushing lightly against his thigh as the heels of her boots tucked against the railed footing, "So what'd you do all day?"
He watched her with the orange, eyes glinting in amusement at the little movements, the insistence on getting the orange to the bottom and the final giving up. He kept his comments to himself, just watching with that same smile on his face. Finally shaking his head a little, he finished off the beer he'd been nursing before she got there, and ordered another one. The fact that she drank so much before turning to him made him wonder just what family time consisted of. It was all a mystery to him, really, but the fact that it could drive one to drink didn't seem that out of sync from what he knew about families.
Once she faced him, he shifted just a bit around. One hand fell lightly to her knee, resting there, his thumb idly stroking over her jeans. "I went to the museum for a bit. It really is an impressive collection, especially for a smaller town. I spent most of the afternoon there, then wandered around the area, looking at some of the other historical sites. Had dinner back over at the Norwich Inn. Kensington's, I think it was called. How was your day?"
Rachel was entirely too amused at the thought of him wandering around the town she grew up in. Milling about the museum she'd been on countless field trips to, or just dropped in to research something for a paper. It was the notion that he was learning about her and not for a job was the point that was getting the most attention in her mind at the moment. She knew he had to catch some glances since most everyone in the town knew everyone else, or at least could pick out the tourists, and clearly he really didn't fit either of those.
"My day was pretty typical. I got the mom lecture about where my job is going to leave me in a few years, then spent most the afternoon with Dad in the garage hiding from Mom having a beer while we went through some old boxes she found. Which had nothing really important in them anyway. Then I helped Dad with dinner, which mostly involved peeling vegetables and shooing Mom out of the kitchen, then dinner, and then cards then... you. This is my favorite part too." She smirked at him and then of course returned to drinking another swallow of her beer setting it back down after a moment, "Because if you weren't here I'd still be there, and I lost that third hand of Gin because I think Nic cheats." Really it made sense in her head.
He gave her a quizzical look at the comment that he was the favorite part of the day, head tilting. "You came here to spend time with them, to get to see them, but getting away and coming here to be with me, is your favorite part?" The question was light, teasing, but it was real in his eyes. He wasn't used to that sort of thing for himself, partly, and also, partly, he didn't understand the family dynamics that surrounded her. Whether this was typical, whether this was her stressed because he was here, or her job, or juggling him against her job, and all the sort of secrecy that wore on them all sometimes. "I mean, obviously, it's my favorite part," he said with a flash of a smile. "But I'm just...surprised. Wouldn't it have been...easier, at least, if I hadn't come? What with all the packing dilemmas..."
He managed a straight face even at that. "I mean, I realize that last night and this morning were rather fantastic," he said, some of his usual dry, lightly teasing tones back. "And obviously, preferable to playing gin in the best of times, but..."
Her hand rested against his arm lightly letting her thumb stray lightly back and forth, "Oh don't get me wrong I love my family. I love spending time with them too, but the fact that for once I can come up here and visit and still leave at the end of the night, but know that I can go back the next day? It's extremely unique for my visits. Usually I stay at the house, so it's nonstop family. Even me booking the hotel room before I knew you were going to make time to come visit wasn't even going to work really. I'd still have ended up staying there too late, or staying there completely."
Rachel let her hand shift from his arm to against his jaw lightly as she leaned in to kiss him, "But you here? Oh this is good," she continued with another kiss, "Because if they keep me too long they'll have guilt. So I get to leave, I get the time away, and it's with you. So? Favorite."
He leaned into her, returning the kisses with a slight smile against her lips. "I can see how non-stop family would get...so that you need a break to recharge, be somewhere more quiet, as it were." He always felt a slight need to retreat after too much of too many people, though that probably came more from the isolation he'd learned his work usually imposed. "I am glad I get to be your time away, and that I get to share it with you."
He shifted back, a tiny, thoughtful frown on his face. "Have they asked much about me? I mean, obviously we can't waltz in there and tell them what I really do, or..." He shrugged slightly. "It's bound to come up, I'd think." His lips curved in a slight smile. "Shall I go with international trade, again?"
Rachel shifted her feet off the bar of her stool and hooked the heels of her boots into the rail of his stool as she perched on the stool carefully letting her hands rest against her knees, fingertips brushing to his thigh casually. "Well they know what I do, and they know that you know what I do. So..." Rachel thought about it for a bit pressing a quick kiss against the corner of his mouth, pulling back a bit she met his eyes, "maybe? I don't know. I sort of didn't think about it. I said you were on business. Mostly today they avoided the topic of you since you asked. It was a lot of talk of me. I'm sure they'll run out of things to lecture me on though. Then it'll switch right on over to you."
He reached a hand up to cup her jaw, stroking his fingers along the line of it as he returned the kiss. She was still so close as their eyes met, and he smiled, thinking how beautiful she looked. She was more relaxed here than he'd seen her, really, and he felt his own tension ease back as well. They could just be here, no worries about being seen, being caught on tape. It was a freeing experience in some ways, and he leaned in to kiss her again before easing back just a little. "I can improvise if need be, but it's better to have it worked out, you know that. They'll want to know who's staying with their daughter, I'd imagine. I don't want to stray too far from the truth, or really lie to them." Which was strange, but keeping up a complete lie could get difficult if they made this work.
He sort of was taking her breath away with the closeness in such an open area. Surreal in a way that this was where she had her first drink at twenty one with her dad, and now she didn't have to sneak into the corner of the place just to avoid the worry of someone seeing her. Well... people saw her. In fact she was pretty sure Malone was near the door staring at her. Which meant in the morning he'd call Dad, and it was good that she had said she'd be taking a day off from them. Give her mom a day to cool off or relax, or think about that someone saw her happy with this guy and she should lay off. "Vague works, I'm pretty sure they think that if you know what I do that you're in a similar field and that you can't really talk about it. They know not to ask. Or at least they try not to ask."
He nodded a bit, feeling the tension ease. "I am very good at being vague," he said with a rueful smile, turning just to take a sip of his beer. "At the very least I can always say I'm not at liberty to say. They can take from that what they will. Really, it's the truth." He was a bit more concerned about questions about his past, if things came up about family, things he hadn't really told Rachel even. He wasn't trying to hide it, necessarily. It just wasn't something that came up, except now that they were here, and hers were here, it might. Well, he could spin that, too, really.
"MmmHmm... see I vaguely recall something about you being vague regarding what you 'trade' when we first met. Not that I blamed you then, but seriously I think they're going to be asking you much more difficult questions than what do you do for a living," Rachel eased back for a moment studying his features for a moment, before she reached for her beer once more. Taking a swallow she smiled at him before leaning toward him once more letting her hands rest against his leg, as she kissed him once more.
Sark leaned into the kiss, returning it with fervor from missing her all day. He could taste the beer on her lips, on her tongue as he deepened the kiss for a moment. His fingers slide up her neck into her hair, not caring in the least that they were in public, being watched. He could feel the eyes, the glances, and still he kissed her for a moment longer before easing back with a small smile that held just a touch of worry. "What sort of questions?"
Rachel nearly hummed against his mouth as he kissed her, smiling into it as it deepened and not even caring who saw them because for once she felt like she didn't have to worry about that sort of thing. Though as he pulled away from her there was a slight bit of pouting that faded quickly as she reached once more for her beer as he seemed to show the smallest bit of worry. Raised eyebrows over the edge of her glass for a moment then she set the empty glass back down and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth, "Oh how fast can you disarm a ninja while driving a race car type questions?" Rachel teased smirking at him, "Or... there is always the classic 'intentions for my daughter' thing, but I am pretty sure I outgrew that when I turned twenty."
"Fifteen seconds," he said, deadpan, reaching for his beer and taking a long drink. Setting it down he turned back to her with that careless smile back on his lips. "I rather expected the 'intentions for my daughter' one. At least in films that seems to be the standard parent question when their daughter brings someone home for dinner. Even more so when she's staying at a hotel with him. I've been working on that one since you invited me."
Rachel laughed amused at his fifteen seconds comment and was even more amused at the thought that he'd been working on his answer for the standard intentions question that he assumed would come with her family. Sitting up a bit straighter she eyed him curiously, "Oh really? Any chance I could get a preview of this? I think I'd find that sort of intel pretty useful."
He tsked reprovingly, arching an eyebrow, and shook his head. "Absolutely not. You'll have to wait and see if they ask the question. If they don't, you'll just have to keep wondering, I'm afraid."
Rachel smirked at him still eyeing him warily for the moment before she slipped her feet free from the rail at the bottom of his stool and stood up beside him. Letting her arms encircle around his shoulders a bit as she leaned against him still seated there, "There's nothing I could do to perhaps sway you into confiding some of that information to me?"
He glanced up at her, sliding one arm lightly around her waist. His fingers played lightly with the edge of her top, then hooked in her belt loops to pull her closer to him. Reaching up, he tugged lightly until he could slide his lips over hers in a slow, sensual kiss. He nuzzled there lightly, fingers sliding just under the edge of her shirt to tease against her lower back. Breaking the kiss just a bit with not more than a breath between them, he smiled. "No."
Rachel found herself lost for a moment in his kiss, and then when it wasn't there for her and instead she was met with a firm no from him she was almost upset, but not exactly mad either. "Huh... see normally I would've been upset at that form of rejection, but that kiss sort of changed my mind on the whole getting you to talk thing. I'd much rather continue the whole you not talking thing," Rachel replied as she reached for his elbow. Her hand slipped against his arm and cradled at his elbow as she attempted to get him to stand up and leave with her, "You don't need the rest of that beer, and I can follow you to the room, or you can follow me to the room. Honestly the options we have on how to get out of this bar are astounding."
Sark smirked, just a bit and glanced at the bartender with a nod to close out his tab. "I think pursuing those options would be in both our best interests, yes." He signed the receipt, leaving a generous tip, then stood with her, slipping his card back into his wallet. "I most certainly do not need the rest of the beer. Besides, should I want another drink, there's wine in the room." At least two glasses worth still. He shifted to snag her hand. "Lead the way..."
my_strappyshoes, PG]Lucky's Lounge April 15th
Rachel had enough of her family for one day three hours earlier when Nic opted to start asking questions that related to when she was going to be able to date. Of course her mom nearly choked on her milk and Rachel was pretty sure she almost saw her dad laugh, but clearly that wasn't too easy to see since it faded quickly. The conversation switched quickly after the first few questions got disputed, and Eric was no doubt highly entertained by the whole thing. Rachel made sure to nudge him in the shin with the toe of her boot just to make him aware that she saw the smirk. Dinner ended and then Rachel said she'd stay for one hand of Gin which turned into three since she kept winning and thought it was bad luck to leave on a streak. When she finally lost she shoved the seat away from the table and announced she was leaving. Nic sighed loudly and she moved to hug her mom and dad saying she'd call them to let them know her plans once she made them and got the hell out of there.
The drive to Lucky's cleared her head a bit from the entire family thing and by the time she opened the heavy door to the bar she was glad to have someone else to keep her company. If she hadn't known he was coming to visit she'd be still at the house arguing over something trivial or sorting photographs that her mom had found. Instead she was in a bar that was buzzing with a bit of life and she spotted Julian seated at the bar. Leaning lightly against him she smiled before pressing a kiss to his temple and sliding to take up a seat beside him. "Pint of Blue Moon with an orange," she said to the bartender before turning to him beaming, "Hi, I missed you today."
Sark had spent the day, well, more accurately the afternoon, running around Norwich, learning the town. He'd spent most of the afternoon at the museum, then found a nice restaurant that seemed appropriately New England-ish for dinner, ignoring the speculative looks. He'd enjoyed the people watching, unaccustomed to this part of the country, this sort of town, really. It was a fascinating study, but he was starting to get bored and antsy by the time he got her text. Relieved, he made his way to Lucky's, getting a seat and a pint of something local.
He smiled as she slipped up beside him, one arm easing around her, his palm pressing against her back. "Hi," he murmured back, the smile growing at her confession, especially considering she'd been with her family. "I missed you, too."
When her pint came she sat up a bit straighter, letting his touch slip wherever it might fall. The pale beer in front of her a reprieve for the moment, and his words still echoing a bit in her head. Her fingers fished out the wedge of orange already a mushy mess of beer soaked pulp, twisting the piece in her fingers and then trying to sink the wedge itself to the bottom of the glass with her fingertip pushing it beyond the foam a bit. After a few dunks she gave up and drew her fingers up to her mouth to pull the taste of citrus and beer from them before wiping them on the cocktail napkin left on the bar. Taking the first cold sip felt good and then the next few healthier swallows felt right.
Finally setting her glass back on the bar she shifted her stool to twist around so she could face him. Her knees brushing lightly against his thigh as the heels of her boots tucked against the railed footing, "So what'd you do all day?"
He watched her with the orange, eyes glinting in amusement at the little movements, the insistence on getting the orange to the bottom and the final giving up. He kept his comments to himself, just watching with that same smile on his face. Finally shaking his head a little, he finished off the beer he'd been nursing before she got there, and ordered another one. The fact that she drank so much before turning to him made him wonder just what family time consisted of. It was all a mystery to him, really, but the fact that it could drive one to drink didn't seem that out of sync from what he knew about families.
Once she faced him, he shifted just a bit around. One hand fell lightly to her knee, resting there, his thumb idly stroking over her jeans. "I went to the museum for a bit. It really is an impressive collection, especially for a smaller town. I spent most of the afternoon there, then wandered around the area, looking at some of the other historical sites. Had dinner back over at the Norwich Inn. Kensington's, I think it was called. How was your day?"
Rachel was entirely too amused at the thought of him wandering around the town she grew up in. Milling about the museum she'd been on countless field trips to, or just dropped in to research something for a paper. It was the notion that he was learning about her and not for a job was the point that was getting the most attention in her mind at the moment. She knew he had to catch some glances since most everyone in the town knew everyone else, or at least could pick out the tourists, and clearly he really didn't fit either of those.
"My day was pretty typical. I got the mom lecture about where my job is going to leave me in a few years, then spent most the afternoon with Dad in the garage hiding from Mom having a beer while we went through some old boxes she found. Which had nothing really important in them anyway. Then I helped Dad with dinner, which mostly involved peeling vegetables and shooing Mom out of the kitchen, then dinner, and then cards then... you. This is my favorite part too." She smirked at him and then of course returned to drinking another swallow of her beer setting it back down after a moment, "Because if you weren't here I'd still be there, and I lost that third hand of Gin because I think Nic cheats." Really it made sense in her head.
He gave her a quizzical look at the comment that he was the favorite part of the day, head tilting. "You came here to spend time with them, to get to see them, but getting away and coming here to be with me, is your favorite part?" The question was light, teasing, but it was real in his eyes. He wasn't used to that sort of thing for himself, partly, and also, partly, he didn't understand the family dynamics that surrounded her. Whether this was typical, whether this was her stressed because he was here, or her job, or juggling him against her job, and all the sort of secrecy that wore on them all sometimes. "I mean, obviously, it's my favorite part," he said with a flash of a smile. "But I'm just...surprised. Wouldn't it have been...easier, at least, if I hadn't come? What with all the packing dilemmas..."
He managed a straight face even at that. "I mean, I realize that last night and this morning were rather fantastic," he said, some of his usual dry, lightly teasing tones back. "And obviously, preferable to playing gin in the best of times, but..."
Her hand rested against his arm lightly letting her thumb stray lightly back and forth, "Oh don't get me wrong I love my family. I love spending time with them too, but the fact that for once I can come up here and visit and still leave at the end of the night, but know that I can go back the next day? It's extremely unique for my visits. Usually I stay at the house, so it's nonstop family. Even me booking the hotel room before I knew you were going to make time to come visit wasn't even going to work really. I'd still have ended up staying there too late, or staying there completely."
Rachel let her hand shift from his arm to against his jaw lightly as she leaned in to kiss him, "But you here? Oh this is good," she continued with another kiss, "Because if they keep me too long they'll have guilt. So I get to leave, I get the time away, and it's with you. So? Favorite."
He leaned into her, returning the kisses with a slight smile against her lips. "I can see how non-stop family would get...so that you need a break to recharge, be somewhere more quiet, as it were." He always felt a slight need to retreat after too much of too many people, though that probably came more from the isolation he'd learned his work usually imposed. "I am glad I get to be your time away, and that I get to share it with you."
He shifted back, a tiny, thoughtful frown on his face. "Have they asked much about me? I mean, obviously we can't waltz in there and tell them what I really do, or..." He shrugged slightly. "It's bound to come up, I'd think." His lips curved in a slight smile. "Shall I go with international trade, again?"
Rachel shifted her feet off the bar of her stool and hooked the heels of her boots into the rail of his stool as she perched on the stool carefully letting her hands rest against her knees, fingertips brushing to his thigh casually. "Well they know what I do, and they know that you know what I do. So..." Rachel thought about it for a bit pressing a quick kiss against the corner of his mouth, pulling back a bit she met his eyes, "maybe? I don't know. I sort of didn't think about it. I said you were on business. Mostly today they avoided the topic of you since you asked. It was a lot of talk of me. I'm sure they'll run out of things to lecture me on though. Then it'll switch right on over to you."
He reached a hand up to cup her jaw, stroking his fingers along the line of it as he returned the kiss. She was still so close as their eyes met, and he smiled, thinking how beautiful she looked. She was more relaxed here than he'd seen her, really, and he felt his own tension ease back as well. They could just be here, no worries about being seen, being caught on tape. It was a freeing experience in some ways, and he leaned in to kiss her again before easing back just a little. "I can improvise if need be, but it's better to have it worked out, you know that. They'll want to know who's staying with their daughter, I'd imagine. I don't want to stray too far from the truth, or really lie to them." Which was strange, but keeping up a complete lie could get difficult if they made this work.
He sort of was taking her breath away with the closeness in such an open area. Surreal in a way that this was where she had her first drink at twenty one with her dad, and now she didn't have to sneak into the corner of the place just to avoid the worry of someone seeing her. Well... people saw her. In fact she was pretty sure Malone was near the door staring at her. Which meant in the morning he'd call Dad, and it was good that she had said she'd be taking a day off from them. Give her mom a day to cool off or relax, or think about that someone saw her happy with this guy and she should lay off. "Vague works, I'm pretty sure they think that if you know what I do that you're in a similar field and that you can't really talk about it. They know not to ask. Or at least they try not to ask."
He nodded a bit, feeling the tension ease. "I am very good at being vague," he said with a rueful smile, turning just to take a sip of his beer. "At the very least I can always say I'm not at liberty to say. They can take from that what they will. Really, it's the truth." He was a bit more concerned about questions about his past, if things came up about family, things he hadn't really told Rachel even. He wasn't trying to hide it, necessarily. It just wasn't something that came up, except now that they were here, and hers were here, it might. Well, he could spin that, too, really.
"MmmHmm... see I vaguely recall something about you being vague regarding what you 'trade' when we first met. Not that I blamed you then, but seriously I think they're going to be asking you much more difficult questions than what do you do for a living," Rachel eased back for a moment studying his features for a moment, before she reached for her beer once more. Taking a swallow she smiled at him before leaning toward him once more letting her hands rest against his leg, as she kissed him once more.
Sark leaned into the kiss, returning it with fervor from missing her all day. He could taste the beer on her lips, on her tongue as he deepened the kiss for a moment. His fingers slide up her neck into her hair, not caring in the least that they were in public, being watched. He could feel the eyes, the glances, and still he kissed her for a moment longer before easing back with a small smile that held just a touch of worry. "What sort of questions?"
Rachel nearly hummed against his mouth as he kissed her, smiling into it as it deepened and not even caring who saw them because for once she felt like she didn't have to worry about that sort of thing. Though as he pulled away from her there was a slight bit of pouting that faded quickly as she reached once more for her beer as he seemed to show the smallest bit of worry. Raised eyebrows over the edge of her glass for a moment then she set the empty glass back down and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth, "Oh how fast can you disarm a ninja while driving a race car type questions?" Rachel teased smirking at him, "Or... there is always the classic 'intentions for my daughter' thing, but I am pretty sure I outgrew that when I turned twenty."
"Fifteen seconds," he said, deadpan, reaching for his beer and taking a long drink. Setting it down he turned back to her with that careless smile back on his lips. "I rather expected the 'intentions for my daughter' one. At least in films that seems to be the standard parent question when their daughter brings someone home for dinner. Even more so when she's staying at a hotel with him. I've been working on that one since you invited me."
Rachel laughed amused at his fifteen seconds comment and was even more amused at the thought that he'd been working on his answer for the standard intentions question that he assumed would come with her family. Sitting up a bit straighter she eyed him curiously, "Oh really? Any chance I could get a preview of this? I think I'd find that sort of intel pretty useful."
He tsked reprovingly, arching an eyebrow, and shook his head. "Absolutely not. You'll have to wait and see if they ask the question. If they don't, you'll just have to keep wondering, I'm afraid."
Rachel smirked at him still eyeing him warily for the moment before she slipped her feet free from the rail at the bottom of his stool and stood up beside him. Letting her arms encircle around his shoulders a bit as she leaned against him still seated there, "There's nothing I could do to perhaps sway you into confiding some of that information to me?"
He glanced up at her, sliding one arm lightly around her waist. His fingers played lightly with the edge of her top, then hooked in her belt loops to pull her closer to him. Reaching up, he tugged lightly until he could slide his lips over hers in a slow, sensual kiss. He nuzzled there lightly, fingers sliding just under the edge of her shirt to tease against her lower back. Breaking the kiss just a bit with not more than a breath between them, he smiled. "No."
Rachel found herself lost for a moment in his kiss, and then when it wasn't there for her and instead she was met with a firm no from him she was almost upset, but not exactly mad either. "Huh... see normally I would've been upset at that form of rejection, but that kiss sort of changed my mind on the whole getting you to talk thing. I'd much rather continue the whole you not talking thing," Rachel replied as she reached for his elbow. Her hand slipped against his arm and cradled at his elbow as she attempted to get him to stand up and leave with her, "You don't need the rest of that beer, and I can follow you to the room, or you can follow me to the room. Honestly the options we have on how to get out of this bar are astounding."
Sark smirked, just a bit and glanced at the bartender with a nod to close out his tab. "I think pursuing those options would be in both our best interests, yes." He signed the receipt, leaving a generous tip, then stood with her, slipping his card back into his wallet. "I most certainly do not need the rest of the beer. Besides, should I want another drink, there's wine in the room." At least two glasses worth still. He shifted to snag her hand. "Lead the way..."
