He arched his brow. “Who’s the third?”
The third? It took her a second to replay their conversation. One out of three.Oh shit.
She laughed and cringed at the awkward hitch. What the hell was this man doing to her? She needed a quick recovery.
“Well, you do have to give up a Saturday to fix my car. I expect to be on your shit list as well.”
Jonah didn’t answer, but his lips twitched. Her gaze drifted to his hands wrapped around his beer bottle. His knuckles had small scabs, some older and others fresh, with scrapes along thefingers. For some odd reason, that did something to her.A man who works with his hands.She snickered at her inner voice and grabbed her glass, taking a big sip, immediately experiencing brain freeze.
She squeezed her eyes shut and felt warmth invade her space.
“Tongue to the roof of your mouth, sweetheart.”
She jerked her gaze to Jonah, who was only inches away. Obviously, he was reading the distress on her face. She stared back while following his instructions.Well, damn.
“It worked.”
“Every time.” He turned his head toward the hallway leading to the bathrooms and then back to her. “You meeting someone?”
“Emory, Ethan’s wife.” She sighed. “She either stood me up or she’ll rush in any minute. You never know with her. She’s unpredictable.”
She was babbling and sounded extremely awkward speaking to him. She was like a nervous freshman talking to a senior on the first day of school.
“But lucky for me, I have you to keep me company.”
Maybe it was the margarita talking, but why shouldn’t she make the first move? This wasn’t decades ago, where women were expected to wait for the man to ask them out. Jonah was the one who sat next to her. Obviously, there was an ounce of interest, right? They were both alone at the bar, so why not grab dinner together? Roxanne could excuse herself to the bathroom and send a text to Emory. She’d debrief her on the situation and tell her not to show up. As the plan formed in her mind, her sister-in-law’s voices replayed with their advice.
“That’s a man I would chase.”
“You should go for it, pursue him.”
“Yeah, I uh …” Jonah raked his hand over his jaw, looking uncomfortable, which sent a heat through her body.And not the good heat.
Out of nowhere, a woman appeared behind Jonah wrapping her hand around his waist, gripping his stomach. She laid her chin on his shoulder, curling into him. There was no mistaking the familiarity between these two. “Sorry, I took so long.” She kissed his cheek and settled into his side. “The line at the bathroom was three people deep.”
It only took seconds for Roxanne to realize, this was Jonah’s date for the night. Or his girlfriend of a few years. Hell, for all she knew, this woman was his fiancée. Roxanne had been ten seconds away from asking this man out while he was waiting for his date.
This is a new low.
The woman leaned across Jonah, smiling. “Hi.”
Roxanne shifted on her stool and stammered. “H-hello.” She cleared her throat and shook her head. “Margarita’s always give me cotton mouth.”
“Same here.” She reached forward and around Jonah, whose stare was pinned on Roxanne though she refused to make eye contact.
“I’m Rachel.” She offered her hand.
Roxanne leaned forward, unintentionally brushing against Jonah’s arm when she shook Rachel’s hand. “Roxanne. Nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
“I work with Roxanne’s brother,” Jonah said.
She was sure it wasn’t meant as a dig, but it stung. Of course, he’d want to make it clear to his date he wasn’t hitting on her. And his explanation was accurate. Jonah worked with Ethan on some projects. She was no more than a familiar acquaintance.Itotally misread this.Heat rose from her chest to her cheeks, and she forced a smile, hoping to mask her embarrassment.
Roxanne slowly swiveled her seat away from Jonah and his date. She tapped her phone, hoping God would throw her a bone, and she’d have a message from Emory.Nothing.Obviously, God was a man.
“Our table is ready, babe,” Rachel said, and Roxanne angled her head to glance over at them. Their demeanors were interesting. She seemed completely at ease, while Jonah seemed tense and on edge.
