Wine and Spirits

"Okay, now get back over there. I think these glasses are pretty damn clean."

"Sure, Doc." He returned to the other end of the bar. "Sorry, Mrs. Whitley. Where were we?" Eddie restarted their conversation.

"Oh, we were talking about my pretty daughter."

He blushed again.

"Unfortunately, I need to go for now, but I'll be back in a couple of weeks. I assume you'll be tending bar?"

"Yes, ma'am. I almost live here anymore so I'll definitely be here."

"Okay, very good, then. Thanks for the talk. Good night, Eddie."

"Good night, Mrs. Whitley."

Sarah still didn't make an appearance the following Friday. But even though Lily hadn't really expected her to, she still felt nervous for the first few hours of the evening. Would Nick remember to ask Sarah about talking to her? Would Sarah even agree to do it? What would Sarah say if she did? And was she ready to hear it?

She would relive all of her fretting again the following week. But tonight, ten o'clock finally arrived. She made her way to Nick's table. He stood to greet her.

"You'll never stop doing that, will you?" she teased.

"Force of habit, I guess."

"It's okay. I don't mind. I think it's nice."

"I'm glad to see you again."

"You are?"

"Yeah. And I brought you something. Actually, two things."

"Hmm, okay?"

He pulled two gift-wrapped boxes from a shopping bag and set them on the table. "Pick one."

"Pick one?" she acted confused. "Do I only get to keep one? Are you just going to return the other one? Or are you going to give it someone else? Who is she, Nick?" She gave him a pretend accusatory look.

"Oh yeah, that's how I operate, Lily. I'm definitely going to take the other gift back. I just hope you don't pick the used tube socks. I'd hate to have to return the diamond bracelet, or worse, give it to Eddie over there." He said it straight-faced until he couldn't keep from smiling. "Of course, you get to keep both gifts, Lily! But we won't have enough time for both of them in one night."

"Okay, for real, I have no idea what's happening here."

"It's not a trick, Lily. Just open a present. But whichever one you open first, is what we'll do tonight. We'll do the other another time."

"Do you even hear yourself? You're not making any sense."

"Please, just trust me...pick one."

"Fine, this one."

"Okay. open it."

She tore into the wrapping paper, immediately seeing '550 Pieces' printed on the side of the box. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Probably."

She finished unwrapping it. "It's a puzzle."

"Yep. I figured we could do it together—like old people," he chuckled. "Five-hundred-fifty pieces isn't too much is it?"

"No, I'm sure it's fine." She flipped the box over to see what the picture was and covered her mouth in surprise. "Are you serious?" She almost started crying.

"You said you always wanted one...I know it's not the same as a real one. But maybe you can frame it or something. I mean, if you like it, of course."

She dropped the box on the table and threw her arms around him in a big hug. "Oh, I do, Nick. I love it! Thank you! I've always wanted a Golden Retriever!" She leaned up and kissed him on the lips.

It happened so fast that she hadn't even processed what she'd done or considered whether she should have. Once she pulled back and it dawned on her what she'd just done, her face went pale and she started stammering. "Oh, Nick...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to...I..." She was struggling to complete even half of an intelligible sentence.

"Shh!" he placed a finger on her lips. "It's okay."

She immediately quieted, gazing into his eyes, looking for some assurance that she hadn't just messed everything up. She found it when he removed his finger from her lips, leaned down, and planted a kiss of his own on her lips.

She closed her eyes. The kiss was gentle...soft...tender. She felt his fingertips touching her cheeks—first on one side, then also on the other—so light that it felt like a butterfly landing. She wanted to stay there forever, but the kiss only lasted a few seconds before he pulled back, still caressing her cheeks with his fingertips.

She opened her eyes and found his eyes already gazing back at her. "Oh, Nick."

"Ahem..." he croaked, as his senses suddenly returned. He pulled his hands back as if he was about to put them on a hot burner plate. "Oh, Lily. I'm...I got carried away...I...I didn't mean to."

A quickly rising crescendo of emotions mixed and churned within her, causing her ears to ring and sending her into a sudden panic. "I'll be right back," she yelped, already out of breath before she ran off, leaving him speechless as she scurried to the bar.

As soon as she got behind the bar, she slid down and sat on the ground, out of sight and leaning against the back of the bar. She fanned her face and reached over to a glass of water and splashed some on her cheeks, then patted them dry with a towel. Oh god. What was THAT? She wanted to start crying from an overdose of longing and desire. She felt like a powder keg and he'd just lit the fuse. It was INCREDIBLE, that's what it was! She gasped for air while taking a small swallow of water.

"Um, dare I ask?" Eddie inquired with a subdued voice, just above a whisper.

She looked up, not even remembering if Eddie had been there all along or if he'd just arrived. She reached up and grabbed his arm sleeve, yanking him down until he was at eye level with her. "Did you see what just happened?" she asked, still in a near-panic.

"Well, I'm not sure what you're referring to exactly, but I saw him give you a couple of presents, but you only opened one. Looked like a jigsaw puzzle, maybe?"

"Not that, you idiot! The kiss...did you see the kiss?"

"Oh, yeah, I saw that too. See, I told you I wasn't sure what you were referring to." He gave her a Cheshire cat grin.

"Oh my god, so it really did happen. What should I do now, Eddie?! What do I do? It was wonderful...it was...but, oh god, I hope I haven't ruined everything!"

"You haven't ruined anything, Lily."

"What...?" She looked above her head to find Nick looking down at her. He was leaning across the bar top, no doubt his feet weren't touching the ground on the other side.

"Are...are you sure?" she asked from her squatted position on the floor, her breathing finally calming down.

"I'm positive. Come on. Don't we have a puzzle to figure out?"

Boy, if that isn't the truth.

"Sorry to interrupt here, but this guy's dangerously close to breaking the 'No customers behind the bar' rule. Will you please just go with him, so I don't have to get physical with him?"

She looked over at Eddie and the serious look on her face gave way to a mischievous grin as she reached up and smacked him on his butt—not playfully, even, but with her full force behind it.

"OUCH!" he screeched.

"Like that?"

"Damn, that hurt, Lily! And no! I wasn't going to slap his ass!" Eddie started rubbing his butt as he looked over to Nick. "Okay, mister, I'm giving you ten seconds to get back here and remove this troublemaker from behind my bar."

Nick hesitated.

"I'm not kidding!! Snap, snap! Get her out of here!"

Nick hurried around the bar and pull her to her feet. Then drug her by the hands away from the bar and back to his table in the corner.

She giggled the whole way.

Lily eventually calmed down—apparently doing a jigsaw puzzle is an anti-aphrodisiac, even if it is with someone you're passionate about. It was still highly affectionate, though.

There was something deeply intimate about sharing the table space, intertwining arms to reach here and there to set the border pieces first, then searching for specific shapes and shades after that.

More than once, she would intentionally lean close to him and hover a few extra seconds, hoping to make some sort of physical contact with him. And he obliged, meeting her with a soft, grazing caress.

And he wasn't above fabricating a reason to get close to her either. He sometimes would hold out a piece and ask her if she knew where it went, simply in the hopes that she would take the piece from his hand and feel her fingers touch his in the process.

But her favorite move was when he'd lean forward to set a piece and she would quickly move over him, as if she was trying to fetch a piece from the other side of the table. She would then lower herself until her breasts swept across his back. Then she would place one hand on his shoulders, presumably for balance, as she lifted herself back up to her side of the table.

Every touch was meant to appear innocent and yet, in reality, was anything but. They both played the game and, as they neared finishing the puzzle around two in the morning, they dispensed with the pretense—freely touching and intertwining fingers with one hand while testing puzzle pieces with the other.

"I'm outta here, you two!" Eddie yelled from the bar. "I'll lock up on my way out!"

They didn't respond to him, preoccupied with finishing the puzzle and engrossed in each other.

"Yeah, Okay, Eddie." he pretended to be speaking their side of the conversation now, since they weren't. "Thanks, Eddie. Thanks for doing all the cleanup, Eddie. Thanks for closing, Eddie. You're a great guy, Eddie."

"You're a great guy, Eddie!" Lily finally called out.

"You're a great guy, Eddie!" Nick repeated.

Eddie laughed. "Okay, okay. Good nite, you two." He shut the door behind him and locked it.

They thought they'd be able to finish the puzzle by two-thirty, but didn't actually finish it until just after three and then they spent another fifteen minutes trying to find the lone single piece that somehow went missing. They crawled under the table, checked inside the box—multiple times, even—to no avail.

"Well, I guess that's that." Nick said, as he slowly stood upright, cursing his aching back and giving up the hunt for the missing puzzle piece.

"Ow, ow, ow," Lily whined as she, too, tried to stand up after having been in various leaning positions most of the night.

"So, I was thinking..." he started, "now that Eddie's gone..." he reached out to hold one of her hands.

Where is he going with this?

"...and the bar is officially closed, right?"

"Um, yeah?" she asked nervously.

"Okay, good. So, I'm thinking there's one more thing we should do before I leave. And I don't even think it's breaking any rules."

Oh god, what is happening?

"What's that look for?" he asked, seeing the look of trepidation on her face. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not even a little. Not right now, I don't."

He smirked, then reached out to hold her other hand. He pulled her closer to him and started walking backward, pulling her with him. Then he spun her around so that she was now facing the jukebox. "Pick a song, Lily."

She snickered. "Oh my god, you're such a tease."

"Who, me? What on earth are you talking about? I just wanted one more dance with you."

"Uh-huh."

"What were you thinking, Miss Lily O'Connor?" Then he gasped—a loud fake gasp. "Oh my gosh, did you think..." he didn't finish the sentence.

Her cheeks became flush and hot and he could tell she was feeling embarrassed, so he stopped the teasing.

"Ok, seriously, I'm about to pass out, Lily, but I really do want you to pick a song."

"Okay, this will be easy...if we have it." She flipped through the pages of songs, searching single-mindedly for a specific song. "No way!"

"What?"

"Doc just never ceases to amaze me, that's all." She queued up the song, then turned to face him. She reached her hands up to his shoulders again, as he slunk his hands down to her waist. She was already leading him in a slow sway before the music even started.

Then she giggled quietly.

"Oh no. What did you..."

The music started. It was the B-52s' Love Shack.

She snorted, then started openly laughing as she looked up at him, still keeping him wrapped in her draped arms.

"You're incredible, you know that, Lily?"

"Yeah...I am pretty awesome." She leaned in against him and slow-danced to the ninety-three beats per minute song.

She lowered her hands until they were pressing against his chest. They were growing uncomfortable hanging from his shoulders—at least, that's what she said. She massaged his chest through his shirt, slowly, firmly. Then she scraped across one of his nipples with her fingertips—quite by accident, of course—and heard him gasp.

He couldn't see it, but he felt her cheeks rise against his chest as she smiled. He wrapped his arms further behind her waist, then pulled her tighter against him. He stroked her back, up and down, as they continued to sway, reaching further with each movement, until his hands reached her belt-line.

He paused there, only for a moment, before reaching further down, as far as he could reach, fondling her butt through her jeans.

She responded by pressing herself, pelvis first, as closed and tight against him as she could. She felt his manhood restrained by his pants, but rebelling angrily against the confinement. She heard him moan, a deep, guttural sound emanating from his core. And she felt it in his chest, still pressed against her cheek.

The song ended, but they continued swaying.

"Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"I probably ought to get. I'm glad it's a short drive, but still..." He didn't want to leave. He wanted to spend the night in her loft...in her bed...in her. "I'm about ready to pass out, I'm so tired..."

"Yeah...me, too."

"Are you okay? Are you upset?"

"Why would I be?"

"Well, I mean...it feels like we were about to..."

"You don't have to say it...I understand." She snaked her hands around to his back and rubbed up and down like he'd been doing to her only a couple of minutes prior. "No, I'm not upset." They were still swaying, even though they seemingly agreed he should leave. "This feels so nice."

"Yeah, it is nice...Thank you."

"Nick?" she asked while still in his embrace, her head pressed against his chest again, her cheek against his breast pocket.

"Yeah, Lily?"

"I have a small confession to make."

"Um...you do?"

"Yes...I might know where the missing puzzle piece is." She swallowed a giggle.

"Excuse me?" He paused as the realization took a couple of seconds to sink in. "Excuse me?" he said again, taking her by the shoulders and pushing her body away from him. "Where's the missing piece, Lily?!"

She smiled up at him, biting her bottom lip.

"Where, Lily?" he insisted. "I demand to know where that piece is right now!"

"Sorry," she said calmly, "but you're going to have to find it yourself...if you want it that bad."

"What?" his face displayed a tired confusion still swirling in his weary brain. "Well...but...do I get any hints, at least?"

"Hmmm," she was thinking it over in her mind. "Your first clue is: It's less than three feet away from you."

His confused look only deepened.

Then she moved away from him a few paces and leaned back against the jukebox. "But now, it's more like...ten feet away from you."

"Huh?" he whispered. "Oh...oh my," he then groaned as his brain finally awakened from its dullness. He walked over to her, placing his hands on her waist.

"Back to three feet," she uttered quietly. "Your second clue is..." she continued, "it isn't exactly in plain sight."

"What's that supposed to mean...exactly?"

She bit her bottom lip again. "It means...you're probably going to have to hunt for it and maybe...remove some things...that is, if you want to find it."

"Oh, I do, Lily...I do want to find it..."

"Then why don't you start looking for it?"

Nick moved his hand to her hair. Why he started there, she didn't know, but she reveled in the feel of his fingers combing her hair, teasing the back of her ears, playing with the tresses that fell as he removed the single clip she always wore to keep her hair out of her face while working.

"Not there," he announced.

"Shocking, I thought for sure...maybe you should look further...down?"

He gave her a smirk then knelt down in front of her and started untying her sneakers.

"Oh!" she giggled in complete surprise, as he removed a shoe from one foot, then lifted the other to do the same. "I wasn't thinking quite that far down, but okay..." she teased.

He held her foot up and made a show of shaking out her tennies and tossing them aside before slowly teasing his fingers into her no-show sock, feeling her skin as he slipped the sock off. Then he turned the sock inside out and shook again, before pronouncing, "Not here either."

Lily had to lean back, holding herself up with her hands firmly grasping the jukebox, lest her legs give out completely—she feared they might.

He lowered her foot, then did the same with the other. "I guess it's somewhere between here..." he lightly tickled the bottom of her sole, "...and the top of your head?" He flung the socks away.

She wiggled but somehow remained upright. "You're really good at this, mister...Have you frisked a lot of girls?"

He chuckled, "Hardly, Lily."

She wondered if she shouldn't have asked that.

"But I've watched a lot of cop shows," he joked as he slid his fingers into one of her front pockets, teasing her leg as he thoroughly inspected it, then did the same with her other front pocket. "Not here either," he showed a quizzical expression, "where could it possibly be?"

She rolled both of her lips into her mouth, then zipped them shut with her fingers.

"Oh, I see, lady—not cooperating, eh? Well, I'll get to the bottom of this, one way or the other..." he withdrew his fingers, then grasped her by her waist and spun her around quickly until she was facing the jukebox.

Lily yelped in surprise.

"Hands against the wall, lady, and spread your feet," he commanded as he wrapped his hands around her right ankle and frisked her all the way up to her butt then did the same with her left leg except, this time he paused at her inseam and massaged her inner thigh, as if he'd found something suspicious there. "Hmm, doesn't seem to be here...unless you're hiding it really well."

He turned her back around to face him. "Um, can I get another clue, please?" He knew without a doubt that she was willingly playing along, but he wasn't entirely sure just how far he should go.

"It's hidden by at least one more layer."

"Hmm," he looked down to the pocket on the front of her shirt. Flannel never looked so sexy. He slowly slipped his fingers into the pocket, caressing her breast through the fabric and her bra. He found no puzzle piece, but he did manage to extract a moan from her lips.

He pulled his fingers out, then hesitantly reached for the top-most button of her shirt. He gazed at her with questioning eyes.

She nodded encouragingly.

He unfastened the first button...then the second...continuing until they were all unfastened. The fabric opened only slightly, gaping just enough for him to see that her bra was black contrasting her lighter colored skin. He had to forcibly yank up on the shirt to get the lower hems out of her jeans, then reached behind her to finish extracting it. He slid the shirt off of her shoulders, revealing more and more and more of her skin. He leaned in...and kissed the top of her shoulder. "Not here." He kissed lower over her collar bone. "Not here either." He kissed even lower, just above the cup of her bra. "And not here...where could it possibly be?"

"Maybe..." she barely managed to breathe, "...maybe...it's still just a little lower..."

He released the front clasp of her bra, staring into her eyes as he freed her breasts from their confines and into the open air. Goosebumps covered her skin. He slid her bra off of her shoulders and behind her back, letting it fall onto the jukebox. Then he looked down, taking in the sight of her breasts for the first time. "Oh, Lily...they're beautiful..."