More Than a Mission - Caridad Pineiro [16]
The Sparrow was about to find out just how persuasive he could be.
The Women’s Artists’ Cooperative was one of those places that became whatever you needed it to be. During the week the site hosted various literary events, displays of local art and the Wednesday Wing Woman social for women over sixty-five. On Friday and Saturday nights, it transformed into a club featuring local female bands of differing persuasions.
For the women of Leonia, there was no better place to be on a Friday night than the WAC as it was affectionately known by the female population. For the men, the term WAC had a whole different meaning. Not necessarily a positive one.
Most men in town knew to stay away on the weekends since the women at the WAC went there to be free of the pressures of man/woman mating rituals. It was a way that women could bond and enjoy themselves without any inhibitions.
Elizabeth loved that about the WAC. Within its walls, she could spend time with the few women she counted as friends.
Tonight they were meeting at the WAC to celebrate Natalie successfully passing her final exam. With her help, Natalie had learned the secrets to a scrumptious chocolate souffle. She smiled, thinking of the young woman’s excitement as she had told her.
As she stepped through the door, she spotted her friends seated at a table near the dance floor and rushed over. On stage, a band of women barely past their teens energetically played a No Doubt tune. The singer was doing a passable imitation of Gwen Stefani and had even styled her dress and hairstyle to mimic the celebrity.
At the table, she hugged all her friends and once she sat, they ordered another round of drinks and toasted Natalie’s success. Talk came quickly and easily with the other women as did the desire to dance as the band launched into their own version of “Cruel to be Kind.”
Inclining her head in the direction of the dance floor, she said, “Anyone care to join me?”
Natalie and Samantha, a designer with her own clothing shop in town, jumped at her suggestion. The last woman at the table—Kate, the owner of an upscale bath and body store—shook her head. “I’ll hold our spot.”
Together, the three women eased onto a free spot at the edge of the dance floor and Elizabeth gave herself over to the beat, moving in time to the bass line of the song. Smiling and feeling relaxed for the first time in days, she danced through the song and then stayed on the floor when the band began another tune with a similar beat.
She was enjoying the music and her friends until Natalie leaned over and said, “Check out what just walked in.”
Elizabeth followed the direction of Natalie’s gaze. Aidan. He was sauntering past a score of women near the long runway from the club’s entrance to the main section of the WAC. As he passed and made his way to the bar, heads turned to watch him go by.
She felt only a tiny bit of vindication that she wasn’t alone in her attraction to his physical attributes. That feeling was chased by an emotion she normally didn’t experience—jealousy.
And then that unsettling feeling that had been plaguing her for the last few days resurfaced. She finally realized the cause of it—Aidan.
Looking away from him, she moved until her back was to the bar and tried to rededicate herself to the music and the fun she had been having just moments earlier. A difficult thing to do with Aidan sitting at the bar. She told herself just to relax, but it was impossible.
Returning to the table, she grabbed her glass to quench the thirst she had worked up while dancing, only to find it empty. Looking around, she realized there wasn’t a waitress in sight. She had only one choice—head to the bar or suffer being parched.
As she glanced toward where Aidan was sitting barely twenty feet away, she noted his broad shoulders filling out the black leather of his jacket. Remembering the strength of them