Whisky on My Mind Read Free

room.
    For a moment she frowned at the red-headed woman in the tight, pink fitted suit and heels who was rushing toward her, until recognition dawned. “Oh my God. Bella? ”

Chapter 2
     
     
    “Sky!”
    The two women hugged, and Whisky found laughter mixing with unexpected tears. A rush of sentiment overpowered her as she held her oldest friend tight. The two women had known each other since they were kids, and until last year, had been roommates. Bella had been with her through some of the darkest times in her life.
    It had been a huge adjustment, to be sent to her grandparents when she was eleven. Her life had been turned upside down—her father had been arrested and sent to prison, and she’ d been removed from the only life she’d known since birth to live with her grandparents in a place where she didn’t know a soul and with people she hadn’t even remembered meeting before. Thank God for Bella. Their friendship had been the only thing that had made that part of her life bearable.
    She’d missed her best friend so much over the last twelve months since Bella had taken an internship with an elite fashion design agency in Paris.
    “What are you doing here?” Whisky asked, pulling away and wiping the tears from her face.
    “I wanted to surprise you,” Bella giggled, holding her friend’s arms out to inspect her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve just been well and truly…”
    “Do not even go there,” Whisky cut her off warningly.
    “And I’m guessing this is the man responsible?” she said looking over Whisky’s shoulder.
    Whisky turned and saw Sawyer leaning against the doorway , watching the reunion with a bemused expression.  “Sawyer, this is Bella. My roommate.”
    “Ah. The invisible roommate finally makes an appearance,” he grinned, pushing away from where he’d been leaning to put out his hand.  “I was beginning to think you didn’t exist.”
    “Well, if I’d known Sky was hiding a specimen like you in our puny little hole-in-the-wall apartment, I’d have flown back a lot sooner,” she smiled, eying him up and down appreciatively. “You were right…he is hot,” she said turning back to face Whisky once she reluctantly let go of Sawyer’s hand.
    “Put your eyes back in your head, Bell. He’s not on the menu,” Whisky said dryly.
    Sawyer seemed to be enjoying the exchange if his grin was anything to go by and Whisky shook her head slowly. “She’s harmless… really .”
    “I’m disappointed,” Sawyer said , trying to look crushed.
    “I taught her everything she knows,” Bella added.
    “Well in that case, I have a lot to thank you for.”
    “If you two are finished with the mutual admiration society thing,” Whisky cut in , trying to hide her own smile. Bella was in fine form and she loved that the two most important people in her life seemed to approve of each other.
    “Oh no, honey, we just got started. I have a lot to catch up on,” Bella said, with a bright smile, but turned away from Sawyer to eye Whisky once more. “Look at you, all grown up and businesslike.”
    Whisky gave a silent snort at that. She’d been dressed in a fitted skirt and blouse today for a meeting; usually she wore jeans and a Black Mustang’s Bar and Grill t-shirt. Next to Bella, looking as though she’d just stepped from the pages of some elegant fashion magazine, she felt distinctly disheveled…it didn’t help that the reason she looked so creased and crinkled was because only minutes before her outfit had been on the floor of Sawyer’s office…but that was beside the point.
    “And look at this place,” she said, turning her gaze to look around the bar. “This is even better than I imagined.”
    “It’s pretty great,” Whisky agreed, sending Sawyer a proud look. “My man knows how to run a bar.”
    “Are you kidding, this is all you. She’s the mastermind behind the band and bigger crowds,” Sawyer told Bella with a shake of his head.
    “Well I’m