The Guy didn’t shove, but his words—or maybe just his presence—pushed the stranger away so smoothly that it was like the stool had iced over.
“Hi, gorgeous,” The Guy whispered near Alex’s ear, so close it probably looked like a kiss. “Sorry I’m late.”
Then he took the empty stool and angled his body toward hers, and Alex tried her hardest not to gape.
“Ladies! Can I join you?” Bromeo picked up his bottle and headed toward the Bride Squad, but The Guy acted like he hadn’t heard a word.
Alex glowered at him. “Was that necessary?”
“No.” The Guy finally took a gulp of the beer he’d been sipping. His lips quirked around the rim of the glass. “But it was fun.”
He looked up at the TV like he was superinvested in the game and hadn’t spent the last half hour on the other end of the bar, looking down his nose at Alex. Something about the cool, casual way he watched the screen made Alex’s skin prickle and her blood boil.
“That could have been the love of my life.”
“He wasn’t.”
“You can’t possibly know—”
The Guy turned toward her—just slightly. “He took his wedding ring off when he came in, did you see that?”
Alex hadn’t seen, but she wasn’t surprised. “He was just talking to me—”
“He was hitting on you.”
She didn’t even try not to grin. “No shit.”
“You’ve got a mouth on you.”
“Is this the part where you say I should put it on you?”
“No.” The Guy looked slightly offended. “I would come up with something significantly more original than that.”
“Screw it.” No one needed chicken fingers that badly.
She pushed away and was starting to leave when he said, “You’re welcome.”
Alex spun back. “I didn’t need your help. I didn’t evenwantyour help.”
“You didn’t wanthim.”
“Oh yeah?” That time, Alex had to laugh. “What makes you so sure?”
When he turned on his stool, they were the same height for just a moment, inches away, and Alex felt herself breathing hard even though she’d barely moved in twenty minutes.
“Because you want me.”
He didn’t...He didn’t just...say that? No one justsaysthat. Alex had never heard such audacity. Such certainty. Such... confidence. But the worst thing was that, deep down, a tiny part of her knew that it was true. So Alex laughed louder.
“Nice try, Cowboy. But you don’t know anything about me.”
“Sure, I do.” His grin was dark and slow. “I know you’re drinkingsomething caffeine-free because you have to be up early and something boozeless because you have to be sharp. You asked for extra ice because you’ve been out of the country for a while—my guess is Europe—so now you’re jet-lagged, but you’re also hungry. You don’t eat fried food often, but this is a special occasion. And you’re nervous, which is why you’re not already asleep, but you know you should be. How am I doing?”
He was doing way too well, but Alex didn’t dare to say so.
“You’re indulging tonight...” The Guy went on, gaze dipping for one millisecond. “And there’s a reason you’ve been watching me for twenty minutes.”
Now, Alex was angry. “You’ve been watchingme.”
