He tried to figure out how to answer that.
“Neither,” he said. “I grew up here, and I just moved back, but only for a little while. Three months, max. Probably less.” That was probably way more information than she’d wanted. “But how could you tell? That I’m not a local, I mean.”
“Oh.” She swirled the wine in her glass and grinned at him. “Your clothes.”
He frowned at her and looked down at himself.
“What’s wrong with my clothes?”
She laughed that throaty laugh again.
“Nothing is wrong with your clothes. They’re just tourist clothes.” She looked him up and down. “Your jeans are too clean—and expensive, your shoes are way too expensive, your T-shirt is perfectly fine but probably too new. And if I was a betting woman, I’d bet that hoodie over the back of your seat has the name of a tech company on it.”
Damn. She’d pegged him well. He silently picked up his hoodie and turned it around so she could see the logo of his former company.
This time, they both laughed.
“I’m so used to wearing this that I forgot what was on it,” he said. “I quit this job, a few weeks ago.”
Why had he even told her that? He knew what she’d say. Why would you do something like that? It was so prestigious! You were making so much money! And you didn’t have a new job waiting for you? Never quit a job without another job! He’d said it all to himself, and it all made him feel like shit. He didn’t want to hear it from this attractive woman drinking wine next to him. He didn’t want to talk about that job, and whether he should have quit, and whether it meant he’d failed, and what the hell he was going to do now.
“You obviously need a new favorite hoodie,” she said, instead of asking him any of the questions he was dreading. He looked up at her and smiled.
“I think you’re right,” he said. “But wait, does all of that mean you thought I was a tourist? As someone who grew up here, I’m appalled.”
She grinned at that.
“Actually, no, I didn’t quite think you were a tourist, because tourists are usually gone by this time Sunday night, at least at this time of year. And second, even if they are still here, tourists are rarely up in the valley by themselves. A single man? Sitting at the bar at the Barrel on a Sunday night? I was sure there was a story there.”
She was definitely right about that.
“Are you the Napa Valley answer to Sherlock Holmes?” he asked her. “I’m scared of what else you’ve managed to figure out about me.”
She grinned over her wineglass at him.
“No need to be afraid. I’m just observant, that’s all.”
He glanced down at the menu again.
“Okay, so I’m presuming that you are a local, which hopefully means you can tell me what on this menu I should order. I’ve had a long day and I’m starving.”
He’d finished moving into his new apartment, after two days of helping his best friend Avery move into her new, post-breakup apartment. He’d planned to just get pizza for dinner, but instead he’d obeyed his sudden impulse to go to the place right down the street. He was glad he had.
“I am a local,” she said. “And I’ve had almost everything on this menu. Any food restrictions?”
Margot leaned a little closer to him and looked at his menu. God, she smelled good. And did she realize that the way she was sitting gave him a fantastic view of her cleavage in that snug dress she had on? He had no idea if she was doing that on purpose or not, but no matter what, he appreciated it. He forced himself not to stare.
“Shellfish allergy, that’s all. Not like, one that would kill me, but it’s generally unpleasant.”
She looked up at him. She was still leaning in toward him, so he did the same.
“So not the shrimp cocktail, but the rest of the appetizers should work, and I love them all. The deviled eggs with bacon on them are amazing. If you’re hungry, the burger here is excellent, as are the fries. The roast chicken is great, but it takes a while.”
He looked around for the bartender, who came right over to him.
“Hi,” he said. “Can I get the cheeseburger, medium rare, with the fries? And the deviled eggs and charcuterie plate to start?”
The bartender nodded at him, a smile in her eyes.
“Anything else to drink?”
He looked down at his whiskey, which was halfway gone.
“Not yet, but I’ll definitely want another.”
She looked over at Margot.
“Anything for you?” the bartender asked.
Margot grinned at her.
“I will also have the burger and fries, please. Thank you.”
When the bartender walked away, Margot looked at Luke and shrugged.
“I hadn’t intended on having the burger tonight, but I knew once you’d ordered it there was no way I could sit here next to you without wanting one of my own.”
Why was he suddenly so pleased that she intended to sit here and have dinner with him? That’s not what he’d come out for tonight; he’d just wanted to sit somewhere and drink a little too much and eat something halfway decent. But now he was suddenly having dinner with Margot, and he was very glad about it. Flirting with a strange woman at a bar who didn’t ask anything of him—and who looked just as good for the soul as the whiskey in front of him—was exactly what he needed right now.
“So, Margot,” he said as he picked up his drink, “what do you do?”
She lifted her hand in the air and swatted his question away.
“Oh no, please, let’s not talk about work. It’s Sunday night, no one should talk about work on a Sunday night, don’t you agree?”
A strange woman at a bar who not only didn’t quiz him about why he’d quit his job, but didn’t want to have the normal bar conversations. Even better.
“I agree, absolutely,” he said. “Okay, then, tell me something more interesting.” He stopped and thought. “When’s the best time you ever had to get a tow truck?”
She laughed loudly this time. Her laugh was less throaty, more explosive. He was glad that he’d made her laugh like that.
“That’s a much better question,” she said. “And I have a good story about that, actually.”
His appetizers landed in front of him, and he smiled at the server.
“Thanks,” he said. He pushed the plates over so they were in between the two of them. “Please. Feel free.”
She reached down and picked up a piece of prosciutto.
“If you insist,” she said.
“I also insist that you tell me your story,” he said.
She took a sip of wine and grinned at him.
“Well,” she said. “I was in graduate school, and two friends of mine and I were in a rented pickup truck, driving through Death Valley.”
He looked up from the charcuterie plate to her.
“Oh, this is going to be good,” he said.
Her grin got wider.
“It absolutely is.”
He listened to her story and tried to figure out more about her. If she hadn’t said she was a local, he wouldn’t have pegged her as being from here. Partly, yes, because she was Black—when he’d gone to high school here, he’d been one of the only Black people in his class. But also, just in the same way she’d been able to tell he wasn’t local from his clothes, he wouldn’t have guessed that she was local because of hers. She looked too . . . stylish to live and work in the valley. Not that people around here dressed badly—it was just that they dressed for work, and work was at wineries or on farms or at hotels or spas, and each of those jobs had their own kind of uniform, official or unofficial.
None of those uniforms were the snug, sleeveless black dress Margot wore—a dress that showed all of her curves—or the armful of bracelets that jangled every time she gestured, which was frequently, nor the leather jacket slung over the back of her barstool.
But more than the clothes, it was the attitude. Margot walked, talked, even sat, like she was in charge. Like she commanded all of those around her to do her bidding, and they did it, no questions asked.
He was already very glad she’d introduced herself to him.
“And that’s when we decided to stand by the side of the road and see if we could hitchhike back to town,” she said.
He laughed out loud.
“What? Hitchhike? Forgive me if I’m wrong on this one—we only met ten minutes ago, but you don’t strike me as much of a hitchhiker,” he said.
She laughed, too.
“You’re correct about that—it’s the only time I’ve done it.”
He turned his whole body to face her, to make it easier to watch her.
“So you were successful, then?”
She opened her eyes wide and gave him a sly smile.
“We were indeed. You see . . .” She leaned in closer to him and lowered her voice. That, of course, made him lean in closer to her. “We made my friend Julian be the one to flag down a car. He was the only white guy of the three of us, you see.”