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nothing for him in California – that was a lie; at least the part about not having anyone to go back to.  Daniel had always had any number of women who were as close as a smile or a wink away.  From the two women looking at me, his charms weren’t left in California.  Katherine playfully punched Daniel, “A card shark?  You can’t hold me responsible for yer lack of skills.”
    “ Katherine, no woman has ever accused me of being short on skills.”
    She cocked her head to the side as a sly smile emerged, “There’s a first for everything.  Let me know if ya want ta sign up for some tutoring.”
    The Amazon-sized Centauride behind the bar watched their exchange.  She’d wiped the same spot on the bar at least a dozen times.  Her eyes caught mine, and it looked like she tried to cover up her interest, “Nice reunion.  What’re you drinking?”  She gave a condescending look, “I know, Sweetheart, you’ll have a pop.”  She looked at Brent, “Escorts drink these days?”
    Brent’s mouth opened, his pupils dilated and quickly dwarfed the whites of his eyes, while his Adam’s apple slid down his throat as he swallowed.  “Eagle-eyes” Brent realized in that moment that our bartender was a Centauride.  He was speechless.
    The bartender looked at me, “What?  You don’t let him talk?  Okay, fine, you tell me what he’s drinking.”
    I snickered when I looked over at Brent who still hadn’t recovered.  Centaurides were revered.  Few if any had jobs, and none would stoop to serving humans.  At least that was the world Brent was from.  Amused at Brent’s inability to regain his speech, I ordered.  “We’ll both have whatever light beer you’ve got on draft.”
    She reached into a freezer and pulled out two frozen mugs.  As she was pouring, Brent leaned into my ear and whispered, “She’s a Centauride.”
    I smiled, but before I could respond , she’d put both glasses on the bar a little harder than was necessary.  Beer spilled up over the lip of the mugs and slid down the side.  She looked straight at Brent and with a menacing tone said, “And she expects her tip to be representative of the fabulous service you just received.  That’ll be six dollars.”  Either she had dog-hearing, or she was psychic.  What did I know – maybe she belonged to a herd that had both.
    Brent ‘s hand dove deep into his jeans pocket, pulled out a twenty, and wordlessly handed it over to the bartender.  She smiled a dazzling smile, winked at him, and said, “I’m keeping the change, stud.”
    Brent nodded .  It was almost too funny to watch.  I wondered if he’d ever recover.
    Katherine had quietly watched the exchange between Brent and the bartender.  She shook her head, addressing the bartender in a no-nonsense way, “Jessica, give Brent his change.”
    Brent’s voice actually cracked when he looked from Katherine back to Jessica, “No.  Keep it.”  Jessica blew Brent a kiss, and I thought he was going to melt into a puddle of goo where he stood.  Katherine’s face flushed a bright red.  It wasn’t the cute kind of blush where she’d heard something that embarrassed her; it was the aggravated blush of a woman swallowing her words.
    Daniel leaned up on the bar with his arm still loosely hooked around me.  “Jessica.  Now that’s a beautiful name.  Seems my good friend Brent forgot to order my drink.  I’ll have a Seven and Seven.”
    Katherine walked away from the bar, motioning for me to follow her.  She walked in the direction of the billiard table but then pointed to a door along the back wall of the bar.  A sign hung on the door in clear block letters that read: Authorized Personnel Only.  Katherine looked at me as she opened the door, “Well, it’ll be a few days before either of ‘em figure out they don’ have a shot in hell with her.  Until then, I bet neither is worth a crap at cards.”
    The little room hidden behind the door was small.   There was only the