Me Plus You

Another week, another bar...

Kelly Severide was laughing at something one of his friends had just said, his handsome face drawing admiring glances from several women in the bar. It hadn't gone unnoticed that he was a man who had been blessed with more than his fair share of good looks, and the confidently easy way that he sat at the bar suggested he knew it.

At the other end of the long bar a young woman in an off the shoulder sweater and the snuggest black jeans was receiving similar attention from her male companion who seemed transfixed by her gorgeous smile, and the way her expressive eyes lit up when she laughed.

"Hold that thought while I go to the restroom." The woman slid off the bar stool, handing the clearly besotted man a drinks menu before heading to the orhet end of the bar.

" Surprise me with a cocktail!" She called over her shoulder as she made her way through the crowded bar.

She had to walk around a group of men sitting at the bar and couldn't help but notice the guy in a black T shirt leaning back against the bar, staring at her. Sky blue eyes collided with her dark chocolate ones, and for a split second, neither of them could look away.

Kelly thought that his heart had actually stopped momentarily as he stared at her. A mass of big dark curls framed her perfect, smooth skinned face and tumbled around her bare shoulders, her body all sexy curves.
Black brows arched back at him, as if mocking the blatant and unashamed way he was checking her out . Kelly grinned at her, raising his bottle of beer in acknowledgement. She rolled her eyes to let him know that she knew his type. Drop dead gorgeous, another week, another bar, and another woman.

Matt Casey chuckled, observing his friend's eyes following the girls ass.

"Bro, you are shameless!"

"What?!" Kelly pulled a face of protest. "I was only admiring," he defended himself, putting his bottle of Bud on the bar and getting up.
"I have a sudden need to take a leak."

There were chuckles of disbelieving laughter and shaking of heads from the other men as they watched him head towards the rest rooms.

"One of these days, Severide is going to get his ass kicked by a pissed off boyfriend or husband! This is why it's dangerous going to any other bar than Molly's with him!" One of the group observed wryly.

"Capp, I guarantee you Severide would somehow manage to talk himself out of it!" Joe Cuz scratched his bald head in awe as his friend disappeared around the far corner of the bar.

"I'm with you on that one, Cruz. " a smaller guy with greying hair wryly agreed, clinking his bottle with Cruz. " But I agree, we should stick to drinking at Molly's! It's the best bar in Chicago!"

"Cheers to that, Hermann." Cruz responded, clinking bottles again, this time in reverence to Molly's bar.

"Twenty bucks says he comes back with her cell number." An older man with a thick moustache and swept back hair challenged, pulling out a wad of scrunched up dollars from his pocket and slamming them on the bar.

"You're on Mouch," they all said in unison.

Matt groaned in exaggerated disapproval but took out his wallet anyway and put a 20 dollar bill on the bar. Severides love life was the subject of regular wagers however, It was all done with light-hearted locker room banter with no harm intended to anyone.

In the rest room, Stella Kidd gave her pink blossom glossed lips a quick check in the mirror before heading back out.
She saw him immediately, leaning back against a wall to the right of the mens room door, checking his cell. He looked up as she exited, straightening up when he saw her, and slowly smiled. He had the bluest eyes even in the diffused light of the bar. They stood out in his tanned face. And it was apparent he had been waiting for her.

"Hey." He said, his voice low and warm.
Ordinarily, she would have nodded in response and walked on, but an inner voice argued with her to hang back. Where was the harm?

"Hey." She responded, smiling back at him, trying not to let him see how much he had unsettled her with the way he seemed to be looking right into her. There was also that she happened to be on a date with lawyer Sam, and she should not be getting all breathless over another man, no matter how hot he was, she told herself guiltily. But right now, lawyer Sam was not taking priority with her somersaulting heart.

"I wouldn't normally do this, " he began, blue eyes twinkling, and Stella laughed despite herself, folding her arms.

" This should be good. " She challenged, waiting, eyebrows raised.

"I think I've got about 30 seconds of your time before the guy you're with starts getting restless." He started off, still smiling that ridiculously gorgeous smile. "So, given you made my heart skip a lot of beats, I gotta try at least try and get your number."

His grin was lopsided, his dancing eyes telling her that he totally knew he was being hugely presumptious. But he had a face that made it impossible to be anything but charmed.

Stella's eyes widened into big pools of feigned astonishment, but she, too, was smiling. He had some balls to follow her out here, knowing she was with another man.

"You do know waiting outside the ladies' bathroom to get a phone number from a girl you dont know is kind of creepy? "

Kelly laughed out loud, revealing even white teeth that had the narrowest of gaps between the top front two. She didn't actually know why she noticed that nor why she found it cute!

"Not sure ' Creepy' was quite the impact I was hoping to make. " He confessed with an injured look. "But I couldn't risk you walking away and my heart being left forever broken." He held both palms up in defence.

Stella laughed, pushing the fingers of one hand through her riot of curls, not missing the way his eyes slid over the small expanse of bare skin that revealed itself between the bottom of her sweater and the waistband of her jeans. It should have unnerved her, but instead, she felt her pulse quicken.
The look on his face told her that he knew the effect he was having on her, which made her blush involuntarily. Giving herself a mental shake of the head, she had to remind herself that this guy probably did this on a regular basis.

" I hate to crush you, but I have a date, which you seem to know already, so it would be kinda rude to be giving out my number to any random guy who happens to ask." Stella apologised insincerely, seeing his face crumple into his best injured boy look. He really was good at this.

But Stella wasn't a girl who gave out her number casually, and despite a little devil inside her prodding her, the sensible part of her won.

"Creepy AND random guy?" Kelly complained, disappointed. "That's really harsh!"

She gave him a helpless shrug with one bare shoulder.

"What can I say? I'm a little old-fashioned." She paused for a split second before continuing,
"But feedback. With lines like that........" I dont think you will need that protection you keep in your wallet ."
And then as if she couldn't help herself, she gave him a pat on his cheek as if she was consoling a disappointed child and walked away with a chuckle, leaving him staring at her retreating back feeling very like he had met his match.

"How about I give you my number then?" He called out before she disappeared, only receiving a loud smirk and a dismissive wave of the back of her hand in response.

Her cocktail was waiting for her as she slid back onto her stool and focused her attention on lawyer Sam. Dirty Martini. Kind of cheesy, she thought but smiled, picking up the glass. Stella took a long sip, and Sam looked pleased with himself about the cocktail choice, leant over, and gave her a lingering kiss, his tongue tasting her cold lips. This was their third date, and she had thought earlier this evening that she would invite him back to her apartment at the end of tonight. Sam was good-looking in a college preppy kind of way, successful and attentive. But strangely, now his kiss left her a bit underwhelmed. Trying not to pull away from him too hastily, she took another sip of her drink, not being able to help looking over Sam's shoulder. The guy from outside the rest rooms was chatting to a couple of girls in short, tight dresses who had made their way to the group one of them cosying up really close to him, red manicured nails running up and down his bare arm. He didn't seem to object too much, but she noticed with irritation. Stella decided she had been correct in her assessment of him. Another week, another bar, and another woman. But a little voice asked her why her heart had slipped to her stomach in disappointment.