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She waited for her change, staring at him, aware that the pale blue contacts made She caught it, tilting her head back enough to meet his gaze. "Old enough." The bartender chuckled, reaching beneath the bar to slide a wet one across the wood. "Beer," she murmured, slapping the coin on the wood Nod, his rag making a slow circle across the bar as he neared. With a plump smiling redhead and acknowledged her with a The bartender finally drew himself away from a conversation

But she didn't want to spend any more time in public than necessary and kept her head down enough to watch what was going on around her, catching most in the mirror hanging over the bar. Not that this place didn't have some decent food, if the way the miners and trail dirty cowboys lining the wood bar and steadily shoveling food in their mouths was any indication. Her stomach grumbled, but she wasn't hungry enough to eat. Victoria let her gaze slide down, wander, then come back to her hands resting on the bar. The tiny, fragile-looking blonde leaning over the rail and fanning her nearly bare breasts confirmed her suspicions. There must be a whorehouse in here, too, she thought, then slid her gaze to the door marked private, then up the long staircase behind her and to the left, leading to a balcony, with several doors lining the walk. He shrugged her off and she huffed indignantly and moved away, finding another tired soul to tease. A man wearing a derby and garters on his white sleeved arms played an upright piano with more excitement than necessary, and several extravagantly dressed women loomed in the back­ground, one smoothing her hand over a gambler's shoulder. Smoke hung in a gray haze at eye level, fighting with the dim light of chandeliers and the gleaming gilt of the framed paintings lining the walls. Most of which were occupied with gamblers, cowboys, and dirty miners with tiny sacks of silver dust. Round tables filled the room, polished to a bright shine and ringed with green padded chairs.

The noise was deafening, laughter and conversation beating a hum around her.

Pushing through the bat wing doors, Victoria saddled up to the bar in her best cowboy walk, propped her foot on the rail and tried not to gawk.