Adv of Miss Lilly's Tavern...16

Slade entered Miss Lily's that night, limping stiffly.  His horse had thrown
him on his way back to the ranch this afternoon and he was still stiff. 

Seeing no sign of his red-headed wench, he leaned against the corner of the
bar and ordered a whisky neat.  He tipped that one back and ordered another.

As he sipped his second drink, he wondered what kept drawing him back to Irish
again and again.  What made her so different, so special?  Was it because she
reminded him of Valerie?

No, he decided.  She wasn't anything like Valerie.  She was honest about what
she wanted, trading her sexual favors for money, not couching them in lies. 
And she certainly satisfied him better than Valerie ever had, although at the
time, he'd thought Valerie was the world's best lover.

It went deeper than that.  Something about Irish soothed his soul.  He frowned
at the remaining whisky in his glass, then gulped it down.  Give him a little
whisky and he was already sounding like a damned fool.

"Good evening, Mr. McCall."  Miss Lily's dulcet tones cut into his thoughts.

He tipped his hat.  "Ma'am."

"Waiting for Irish this evening?" she asked, then laughed.  "Silly question. 
Of course, you're waiting for Irish.  You know, any one of my other girls
would take you in a second."

"I know."  The statement was confident, but not conceited.

"And still you wait for Irish," she mused.  "What is it between you two?"

As he wondered what Miss Lily was driving at with her seemingly idle chat, he
saw Irish come into view through the back doorway.  She said something to the
man she was with, then laughed aloud. 

A churning pain burned in his gut, fanning the flame of all his jealous
feelings.  "She doesn't know it yet," he said quietly.  "But I'm going to
marry that woman."

As the words tumbled out of his mouth, Slade wondered where they'd come from. 
But just as he wondered, he knew that he spoke the truth.  He was going to
marry Irish.  And tonight he'd start his campaign to win her love.

He scarcely noticed Miss Lily give him an appraising glance as he kept his
gaze trained on Irish as she walked further into the parlour.

"You tell Irish to give you the All Nite Special tonight, Mr. McCall," she
said.  "Tell her I said it was okay."

Not even bothering to wonder what the All Nite Special was, he thanked her and
began to limp his way over to Irish.  Their eyes met and locked, their gazes
shouting to each other across the room.

When he finally reached her, he caught her up in his arms and kissed her,
sliding his tongue deep into her mouth.  Immediately, she kissed him back. 

"Where you been, cowboy?"  

"Oh, around," he answered.  "Let's go upstairs.  Miss Lily said for you to
give me the All Nite Special."

Her eyes widened.  "She said that?  The All Nite Special?"

They headed for the door to the backstairs, his arm wrapped around her slim
waist.  "Yeah, why?  What's the All Nite Special?"

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