Then I froze, my eyes snapping back to him to do a double-take.
Well, I’ll be damned…
Chapter 6
The tableby the window in the back corner of the bar offered me the right amount of solitude with an unimpeded vantage point of my surroundings. I needed the open view to feel settled, to be able to see everyone and everything around me.
One of the first things I noticed was the clientele. Some still wore color-coded scrubs, while others sported shirts with logos. They all seemed to know one another and were on a first-name basis with the bar staff.
I’d never been here before, but it was obvious this was the frequented bar of choice for the area’s emergency service and healthcare employees.
As I continued scanning the room, I paused at the pool table. One guy wearing a Bayport Fire Department T-shirt had a 3D tattoo running from his forearm up under his sleeve. I could make out the image of an American flag overlaying a camouflage backdrop. Paired with his crew cut, it was a clear indication: military. Sensing my gaze, he turned. Then, henodded, as if he knew I was a fellow brother. I dipped my chin to acknowledge him before sipping my drink and returning to the crowd.
My eyes shifted from a table to a booth, then toward the bar…and they stopped dead on the back of a brunette in a fitted white shirt and jeans—not just on her back…but her ass.Jesus. My gaze raked up and down the length of her—she appeared to be average in height with a fit hourglass figure and long brown hair that fell to the dip in her waist. And her ass in those jeans…
I cleared my throat and dragged my gaze away, but every few seconds, my eyes would involuntarily flick back to her. Something I couldn’t explain kept drawing me in. Sure, I was your average guy who appreciated a woman’s beauty just as much as the next, but I’d never been one to ogle. Not likethis. And not from one physical attribute alone. I hadn’t even seen her face…but then she turned.
I watched a small smile play on her lips as she looked around the bar. Her gaze slid right by me before it faltered and snapped back, meeting mine across the room. I stilled.Fuck. She wasgorgeous. As quickly as she looked at me, she turned away, putting her back—and that ass—to me again. But then I watched her glance over her shoulder. I leaned back in my chair, lifted my beer to my lips, and tipped back the bottle as my gaze stayed locked on hers before she turned away again.
She did that for the next hour, discreetly letting her eyes find me before looking away. It was almost like she was trying to put a puzzle together…or like she already had and wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Eventually, she whispered something to the woman beside her before she turned and started making her way across the bar toward me.
She stopped at my table and offered a gentle smile. “Hey, stranger.”
I dipped my chin. “Hey, yourself.”
I already thought she was gorgeous, but up close?Fucking stunning. Long lashes framing green eyes that glinted like emeralds beneath the weathered iron lighting that hung above the table. Her perfect cupid’s bow lips turned up in a soft smile. A very faint dusting of freckles scattered across her cheekbones and the slope of her nose.
Something about her seemed almost familiar.Almost…but not quite.
She let out a chuckle. “You look like you’re studying me.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. “And if I am?”
“What is it?” she asked as she took one of the empty seats beside me at the table. “Didn’t expect to see me here tonight, I take it?”
There went my smirk, just enough to make my dimple pop. “I didn’t expect to meetanyonehere tonight.” Running into a beautiful woman was the furthest thing from my mind when I came in earlier.
She held my stare and tilted her head, almost as if she was trying to dissect my words. “Well,” she started with a smile, “I thought I’d come say hi. It’s been a while.”
My brow furrowed slightly and I tipped my head to the side, confusion written on my face as I tried to read her expression. “A while since what?”
A huff of laughter escaped her. “Oh, we’re playingthatgame, huh?”
With a puzzled grin, I let out an awkward laugh, my eyes narrowing as I tried to piece together her meaning. “What game would that be?”
“Okay…” Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she nodded. “I’ll play along.” Before I could question what she meant—because I had no idea what the hell she was talking about—one of the wait staff interrupted, asking if they could get either of us another round. She glanced at me and smiled. “What do you say? Want to have a drink with me,stranger?”
I came here looking for a distraction, and while this wasn’t at all the kind of distraction I had in mind, I wasn’t going to complain. I looked at the waiter. “I’ll have another beer, please. And you can put whatever she’s having on my tab.”
He nodded and turned away, and she looked at me and smiled again. “How chivalrous of you to pay for astranger’s drink,” she teased.
I noticed her repeated use of the word “stranger,” and while it piqued my curiosity, I let it go. Because I was oddly at ease, and for the first time that day, the usual thoughts in my mind faded into the background.
We talked sporadically over drinks for the next two hours—we kept getting interrupted by her friends pulling her away, others coming up to make small talk with her, or the waiter bringing us another round.
When we were conversing, our topics were superficial and impersonal. The most in-depth I got was when I shared my name. When I asked for hers, she playfully rolled her eyes, made a joke about role-playing, and said I could call her whatever I wanted. She then asked teasingly if I was new in town, and she outright laughed when I asked if she was from around Bayport. She pointed at me and said, “Good one.”
I let her playful diversion pull me away from my usual headspace. It didn’t matter what she found so funny; just talking with someone who didn’t look at me with pity and like a charitycase was enough. The alcohol made me bolder, and without meaning to, I kept studying her—probably more than I should. It didn’t help that she would stare back, her eyes almost captivated, and her gaze seemed to intensify with each drink.
