Elizabeth strolled into Luke’s and glanced around. Apparently satisfied with what she saw she headed for the bar. She definitely needed a drink. Her shift at Kelly’s had been never ending and the fact that Jason had barely left her side and kept saying all the things she had ever wanted to hear wasn’t helping. She could feel herself starting to cave and she was going to fight it with everything she had, even if that meant Lizzie had to come out to play.

“Hey, Claude,” Elizabeth said. “Can I get a vodka tonic?”

“Sure thing, Liz,” Claude said. “Been awhile since we’ve seen you in here. Heard you were cheatin’ on Luke’s by going to Jakes.”

Elizabeth threw her head back and let out a throaty laugh. It was the first real laugh she had had since the night a week ago when she had walked out on Jason. That laugh had every man in the room looking at her appreciatively. Unfortunately that was the image Jason walked into when he entered the bar and it made him want to break something.

“Now, Claude, I could never cheat on Luke’s,” Elizabeth said still chuckling. “But every girl needs a little variety in her life.”

“Uh huh,” Claude said with a chuckle. “Whatever you say, Liz. Of course, if the leather jacket that just walked in is any indication, you did okay at Jakes.”

Elizabeth didn’t even turn at the reference to Jason. “That’s just my shadow,” she told the bartender.

“Lucky girl,” said the woman sitting two stools down at the bar.

“Not anymore,” Elizabeth said.

“Well from where I’m sitting you are,” the woman said.

“Hey, if you want him, go for it,” Elizabeth said. “Just be forewarned that he isn’t going to be what you expect. And you’re not likely to get the reaction you want.”

“Oh, I don’t know. After following you around, he might be ready for a real woman,” the woman said.

“Maybe,” Elizabeth said mildly. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll even help you out. I’ll go put a song on the juke box and you can ask him to dance.”

With that Elizabeth slid off the bar stool and despite Jason’s presence, every male eye in the club followed her movement. She walked unhurriedly to the juke box and slid a quarter in. Tapping her chin gently she perused the songs before she smiled, just a little wickedly, and punched in the button. When the song started her evil smile grew and Jason’s eyes narrowed as he watched her until he heard the song start.

As Jason’s shoulders slumped, Elizabeth sauntered back to the bar and downed her drink signaling for another. The other woman watched the brunette for several seconds and then slid off her own stool and walked toward Jason. He didn’t even look up as she approached, too absorbed in the lyrics and trying to figure out the next phase of his plan to win Elizabeth back.

Hey man
I don't wanna hear about love no more
I don't wanna talk about how I feel
I don't really wanna be me no more

Dress down now I look a little too
Boy next door
Maybe I should try to find a downtown whore
That'll make me look hardcore
I need you to tell me what to stand for

I've been looking for something
Something I've never seen
We're all looking for something
Something to be

”Hey, handsome, how about a dance?” the woman said to Jason sticking her chest out a little.

“No,” Jason said without looking up.

“Come on,” the woman cooed. “I’ll give you a much better time than that waif at the bar.”

Jason’s head came up and the glare he sent the woman had her stepping back. “Don’t ever insult Elizabeth,” he said and his voice was like ice.

“Hey, I, uh, didn’t mean anything by it,” the woman said. “She told me to come over here. Seemed like she wanted to get rid of you, pawn you off on someone else.”

Jason didn’t reply simply kept his gaze on Elizabeth who had finished her second drink and was taking the third from Claude. When his gaze darkened, the woman turned to see what was going on. She watched as a man approached the brunette and sat down next to her.

“You don’t want to do that,” Elizabeth said.

“Oh, I don’t know,” the man said. “Sitting next to the best looking thing in here seems like a pretty good idea to me.”

“Well that just goes to show that you aren’t very bright,” Elizabeth said.

“Why’s that?” the man asked amused.

“Only a moron would think it was a good idea to sit where I told them not to,” she said.

“So I should be afraid of you,” the man said and she could hear the laughter in his voice.

Elizabeth didn’t respond, she just tossed back her drink and signaled Claude. The bartender walked down the bar and gave the man next to her a hard look.

“You okay, Liz?” Claude asked.

“Fine,” Elizabeth replied. “Just annoyed with men.”

“I can fix that right up, honey,” the man next to her said.

“Back off, Joey,” Claude said. “You don’t want to mess with her.”

“How the hell could I ever be afraid of her?” Joey said.

Jason had walked over behind them soundlessly. Joey had no idea he was there but Elizabeth did.

“Don’t even think about it, Morgan,” she growled.

“I didn’t do anything,” Jason said.

“You were thinking about it,” Elizabeth shot back.

“Hey, man, I didn’t realize she had a boyfriend,” Joey said.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Elizabeth ground out.

“Elizabeth,” Jason said.

“What?” she snapped turning toward him and making the mistake of looking him in the eyes.

Jason held out his hand. “Dance with me,” he said.

Staring into those blue eyes, Elizabeth was transported back to the park when he held out his hand to her. This time she was helpless to refuse. She took his hand and he pulled her away from the bar. She immediately melted against him when his arms came around her.

Hey man
Play another one of those heartbreak songs
Tell another story how things go wrong
And they never get back
My pain is a platinum stack
Take that shit back
You don't wanna be me when it all goes wrong
You don't wanna see me with the houselights on
I'm a little too headstrong
Stand tall
I don't wanna get walked on

I can't stand what I'm starting to be
I can't stand the people that I'm starting to need
There's so much now
That can go wrong
And I don't need nobody
Trying to help it along
It's the same old song
Everybody says you've been away too long
Everybody wanna tell you what went wrong
Wanna make you like an icon
Till you believe that they're right

When the song ended, Elizabeth’s head came up off Jason’s shoulder and she blinked as if just realizing where she was. Jason felt her stiffen and mentally prepared for her to run. She didn’t disappoint him. It was only a few seconds before she was out the door and into a cab. Jason followed steeling himself for another night in the hallway of her building. He smiled despite himself as he got on his bike. Elizabeth was coming around. He could feel it. He knew it was still going to take awhile but that one moment on the dance floor showed him he was making progress and that was all he needed to fortify him for the next round.