“I’ll have the Championship Belt Burger, loaded, with sweet potato fries.” Boone was oblivious or chose to ignore her flirtation. He handed her the menu, then he lifted his arm and laid it over the back of Luna’s chair.
The server followed the motion and must’ve taken it as some sort of sign, so she moved on to Eddie and started her seduction scene all over again.
Floozy.
“What are you doing?” Luna glanced at his arm, then scowled up at him.
“Nothin’, just stretchin’ my arm. I can move it, if it bothers you?” He started to lift his arm.
“It’s fine. Whatever.” Luna unwrapped her straw, stabbed it into her water with a bit more force than necessary, and took a long swallow.
He left his arm on her chair and, for some reason, she kinda liked it there.
“So, tell me about yourself.” Boone lifted his glass, placed it to his perfect lips, and drank half the glass in one long swallow.
Watching his Adam’s apple glide up and down was mesmerizing. She’d never thought of a man’s neck as sexy before, but his sure was.
“What do you want to know?” She set her glass down on the cardboard coaster bearing the pub’s logo—a wrestling ring with beer mugs knocking together in the center.
She took a deep breath and mentally prepared a response for whatever personal question he might ask.
“How did you come up with the idea for the bio-patch?” He set his glass on a coaster next to hers.
“The … the bio-patch?” That was what he wanted to ask her?
“What?” One corner of his mouth twitched upward. “Did you think I was going to ask you why you’re trying so hard not to like me?”
“I haven’t been—”
His brows shot up, and he gave her a kind of look daring her to finish that statement.
“Okay, maybe you’re right.” She couldn’t lie to him. “It’s not just you, though.” Luna kept her voice low. “I … I have a difficult time with new people in general.”
Her goal was to blend in, keep her head down, and do good work. That was all.
A far cry from the needy child who’d craved acceptance and attention from everyone and anyone. Most especially, the mother and father who were so into each other, they’d forgotten they had two daughters who needed them.
Thank goodness, she’d had Dawn to watch over her. Unfortunately, it took almost losing her sister to finally appreciate her.
“Feel like sharing?” Boone shifted in his seat so he was facing her more directly. Giving her his full attention. “I’m a pretty good listener.”
Was she ready to share her ugliest, most embarrassing secret with him?
He didn’t rush her—he sat perfectly still, patiently waiting.
The fact that Calliope and Lucas trusted Boone enough to recommend him to Cole said a lot about him. Caleb and Dawn seemed to like him, too, which was a huge endorsement, as far as Luna was concerned.
Maybehewas her leap of faith.
“When I was seventeen, I did something impulsive and selfish, and Mason almost died because of it.” She picked up her glass and took a drink.
A slight shift of his shoulders was his only reaction.
“It’s too much to go into here. Suffice to say, I learned a valuable and painful lesson about trusting the wrong people.” A lesson that still burned like acid whenever the nightmare returned to haunt her sleep.
“Are you talking about Mason Croft?” Boone finally spoke. “Emily O’Halleran’s fiancé?”
“Yeah.” Luna nodded. “Look, I really don’t want to drag this all out here. Would you mind if we talk about it another time?”
