Jude studies her for a beat before turning and heading back toward the bar.
“What was that for?” she hisses at me, her cheeks heating as she says the words. I can feel my eyebrows creeping up my forehead, and I glance at Bea whose are already well acquainted with her hairline.
“You just stared at him,” I reply.
“Openmouthed,” Bea adds.
“I was…surprised.” Arden sniffs and I chuckle.
“Because he’s all sexy, rugged man vibes?” Bea stage-whispers, her eyes dancing with amusement.
“Yes,” Arden hisses, making me snicker only to cover it with a cough as Jude approaches.
He sets our glasses on the table, the movement surprisingly graceful for his size.
“Ready to order?”
While we rattle off what we want, he writes nothing down, his posture never changing as we talk, just seeming to absorb it all.
When he leaves this time, I sit forward and rest my forearms on the table. “Is he single?”
“As far as I know,” Bea states, looking directly at Arden.
“What? Stop looking at me like that!” Arden whines.
“You’ve been here formonths,and you haven’t dated anyone,” Bea says a little more gently. “You’re obviously interested.”
“I was going to say awestruck,” I add, earning a glare from Arden.
“Yeah, I haven’t dated anyone, but do you know how hard it is here to find an attractive single man?”
I put up my hand. “I do. But a guyelevenyears younger than I am answered that call, andwowI’ve been missing out.”
Bea holds up her hand for a high five, and dutifully, I slap it.
“You go, girl.” She takes a sip of her drink and nods approvingly. “Mason is such a sweetheart. I’ve beendyingto ask about it. Are you guys official?”
“No. We’re just having fun,” I say, suddenly not sure if that’s the right answer. We haven’t talked about it, but the idea of being involved seriously with someone so soon after my divorce isn’t something I wanted. Mason is nothing like Jacob, but it still scares the hell out of me that I could be attached to someone again.
“Hmm…” Bea says.
“What?”
“I’m trying to figure out if I believe you,” she replies with a slight tilt to her head.
“Not so fun when it’syouin the hot seat, is it?” Arden snarks, but all I can do is grin at her.
“The orgasms are worth it,” I tell her as Bea throws her head back and laughs.
Jude chooses that exact moment to drop our plates in front of us. He undoubtedly heard us but just leaves without a word.
Poor guy.
We laugh and dive into our food and it’s nice.
Lunch.
Friends.
