Alice nodded, considering this point. ”It’s not a bad parting prize.”

”Well, I didn’t throw it,” Tina said, more testily than she’d meant to. ”Just a weird day. First the bromance at Big Top, and now a very public loss at something | normally rock at. I need a hot bath and a book.”

Shane looked at her dramatically and stepped back. ”Tomorrow is another day.” And instantly Tina knew where this was heading and bit back a grin.

Dana didn’t miss her cue and stepped over to Shane. ”Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

”Sir, you are no gentleman,” Shane countered, in full Scarlett O’Hara mode.

Dana stepped up onto a planter and offered her best Rhett Butler. ”And you, miss, are no lady.”

Tina smiled as The Gone With the Wind quote-a-thon continued on their short walk back to their building. Shane and Dana bonded on a daily basis over their love for old movies, and she had to admit, it lifted her spirits to watch their back-and-forth.

Tina regarded her friends as they walked. ”You guys are my favourite. You should know this.”

”Back atcha,” Dana said. ”We happen to adore our fearless leader.” The sentiment touched her.

They said good-bye to Shane and Carmen, who caught a cab that would take them back to their place in the Village, and she, Alice, and Dana headed upstairs to their respective apartments.

And good God, the bath Tina slid into exceeded her expectations. She eased farther beneath the bubbles as her body surrendered to the warmth of the water around her. She found herself relaxing from the day piece by piece in the most welcome way. Amidst the suds that smelled sweetly of lavender and vanilla, she closed her eyes in happy unravel and, for the first time that night, allowed herself to relish the still-vivid visual of a beautiful brunette in a red tank top.

She shook her head in mystification at the dichotomy.

She and Bette were ridiculously ill-suited, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but float in the memory of that sinful kiss in the Hamptons or how absolutely edible she’d looked tonight behind the bar. It was like someone had poked the tiniest hole in her universe and it was getting harder and harder to not notice it as it continued to expand. Shocked at her body’s very potent reaction to the daydreams, Tina let her mind wander further, to even hotter fantasies, as parts of her screamed out with newly realized yearning.

She opened her eyes and acknowledged what she couldn’t escape. She had the hots for the annoying bartender. And not just any hots either. This was soap-opera style, hard-core lust, and while part of her was embarrassed at her very base reaction, another part had her smiling, because a few racy thoughts never hurt anybody, right?

No one had to know…

##########################