I shook his hand. He had a firm grip. "I'm Markie. And that's okay. I don't want to impose."
"Nah, it's nothin'. Me and my buddy are right there." He pointed to a table where an even more muscular guy wearing a suit sat, watching us with a concerned scowl. "That's Bones. He's not nearly as scary as he looks."
"But his name is Bones?" I asked.
Angel laughed, lighting up his face, which, in turn, made my stomach flip. The man was so far beyond handsome it was almost ridiculous.
"Point. But I promise he'll be on his best behavior," he said.
I'd never been one to follow a sexy stranger, but we were in a crowded restaurant, and he was just offering me a seat at his table. No big deal. I'd eaten lunch with strangers before. Heck, I'd traveled across the world to work with strangers. I'd had a bad experience in the past, but I was older and wiser now. Promising myself I'd be careful and bail at the first sign of sleaziness, I followed him to the table.
Sitting in the seat Angel pulled out for me--which was super sweet and immediately made me feel more confident in my decision to join him--I studied the handsome duo. Where Angel was lean and sexy with an aura that drew me in, Bones was like caged violence, almost hostile, making me want to scoot away. Keeping my chair right where it was, I looked him in the eyes like I wasn't affected by his posturing.
"Angel and Bones, huh? Nice suits, code names... you're not secret government agents, are you?"
Bones had just taken a sip from his water, and he almost spit it all over the table, coughing and choking. Chuckling, Angel pounded his friend's back until he started breathing normally again.
"I'll take it that's a no, not government agents."
"Hell no," Angel replied, still laughing. "And they're nicknames, not code names."
"Good to know. I'm just Markie, not short for anything, no nickname. My parents wanted a boy, but got two girls." Realizing they probably didn't care about my life story, I pointed at their wine glasses and changed the topic. "What are you drinking?"
"Merlot. Would you like some?" Angel asked. Before I could answer he slid Bones's glass in front of me. "The waiter poured us two, but Bones isn't a wine drinker."
"Thank you," I replied, reaching for the glass.
Bones stopped me. "Are you even old enough to drink?"
Since, despite Angel's reaction, there was still a possibility the two mystery men could be cops, I pulled out my ID and handed it to Bones. "I'm twenty-three."
Bones glanced at the ID before handing it to Angel. "Knock yourself out," he said, gesturing toward the glass.
"Thank you." Unsure whether or not I'd like it, I took a sip. Blackberries and currents danced over my taste buds, reminding me of other reasons it was good to be back in the States. "Mmm. This is delicious! I haven't had wine since before I went away. Of course, this is better than anything I drank before I left. Boones Farm was the drink of choice for my dorm."
"Went away? You get locked up or something?" Bones asked.
"Locked up?" I asked. As in jail? I knew I looked rough in my rumpled dress and sandals, but jail? "I've been traveling for days, literally... but..." And now I felt stupidly self-conscious. "Do I lookthatbad?"
"No," Angel hurried to say, flashing his friend a dark look. "You look great. Bones thinks he's funny sometimes. He's not."
"I'm fuckin' hilarious," Bones deadpanned.
"See what I mean?" Angel asked with a smirk.
An Asian man carrying a pizza almost as big as the table and piled with more toppings than I'd ever seen stopped and eyed me. "Is everything all right, Mr--"
"Angel," he snapped. "Please. And yes, everything is great, Ling. Can you get us an extra plate?"
"Of course, sir." Ling set the pizza down and flagged down a bus boy carrying clean table settings. He dropped off the extra plate, asked if we needed anything else, and then hurried off.
"That's the manager," Angel said.
My cheeks heated, but my mouth was watering too much to pay them any mind.
Angel set my plate in front of me. "We can get you a menu. I didn't even think to ask if you'd want something else."
"No, this is amazing, and it's really sweet of you guys to share with me. I can't tell you how much I've missed pizza. I'm so glad to be back in the states," I said between bites.
