I’m hit with an image of Pete wearing some obscenely tight top, material taut across his wide shoulders and chest. My voice is rougher than I’d like when I manage, “I can imagine.” All too fucking well.
“Anyway, go find a table and make sure you check out the specials board.”
“Thanks, I will.”
The bar area is pleasantly busy when I get there, a nice atmosphere without being packed. It’s also a lot more Christmassy than when I saw it this morning.
Wow.
Fairy lights loop across the top of the bar, with more wrapped around the thick tinsel garland decorating the bar itself. There’s a tree in the corner, full and wide and decorated in silver, red, and green. I wasn’t feeling at all festive before I came here, but being surrounded by all things Christmas is swaying me that way.
I do as Hailey suggests and check out the specials board. Then find a table in the corner and place my order. I’ve never been bothered by my own company, and I settle in to wait for my food, nursing the pint I bought and making notes for my next few chapters. It’s warm and cosy, and I’ve got a lot of work done today. I’m gonna have to thank Seb for suggesting I come here.
The door opens, and I glance up to see the two guys from this morning. I don’t think I got their names, and I’m just about to return to my notes when someone walks in after them and my breath catches.
Pete.
His hair is messy, cheeks flush from the cold, and his thick stubble gives him a rough edge that makes me all warm inside. He could be a character in my book. I imagine him as the surlydetective sent to investigate the recent murder in my haunted house. I write horror/murder mystery, not romance, but lately I’ve been toying with the idea of adding in a romantic element. And who wouldn’t want to read about a big, lumberjack-type detective getting his happy-ever-after with say... the pathologist or maybe a guy in the labs. I know that’s been done to death, but it’s popular for a reason.
I’m still staring when he looks up and catches me.
I freeze.
Fuck’s sake, Charlie.
But then he smiles, wide and wonderful, and it’s instinctual to smile back.
I watch as he says something to the two guys he’s with and then heads my way.
Oh, okay then.
Nerves flitter like butterflies in my belly as he gets closer because he’s looking extra fucking hot tonight, and I already feel my ability to make small talk slipping away. It’s been a long time since I felt excitement like this. Since I got all tongue-tied because a guy made my pulse rocket and my belly clench.
Too long,my subconscious happily supplies.
I like it.
Despite knowing I’m probably going to make an arse of myself in about thirty seconds, I don’t care because I’vemissedthis rush of nervous excitement fizzing through my veins.
Clearly, I need to get out more when I get home if I get this worked up from the prospect of talking to a hot guy, let alone anything else.
Pete reaches my table, and my focus settles on all six foot plus inches of him.
I sit back in my chair to see better. “Hey.” I smile up at him.
His cheeks flush. “I was hoping you might be here tonight.”
My eyebrows rise. “Really?”
“Yeah.” His smile turns wry. “I don’t normally eat here, but Vic and Sean invited me.” He bites his lip, hesitates before adding, “They suggested you were probably going to come down for dinner and it’d give me a chance to come say hello.”
Oh.
So he came for me?
“Hope that’s okay,” he adds quickly, eyes widening. “And not stalkerish or creepy in any way.”
I chuckle at the sudden horror on his face, and any nerves I felt drain away as I realise Pete is as nervous and possibly as bad at this as I am. “Not stalkerishorcreepy,” I reassure him. “I’m glad you’re here too.”
