To her surprise, the next time a handsome man stood at the side of their table, it wasn’t their server but Xavier looking sexy as usual.
He looked them over, focusing on Justine. “Well, well, what do we have here?”
“Hey, man. Take a seat.” Katie scooted over and patted the spot next to her. “Sit by me so you can moon properly over your cutie.”
He snorted. “How many have beers have you had, Katie?” He shook his head at Justine. “And you. I’m surprised. It’s a work night.”
“Screw work.” She drank some more. “I hate Frank.”
“And Mitch,” Katie added, toasting bottles.
“I’ll drink to that.” Xavier grabbed a glass of water neither of them had claimed.
It took Justine a moment to process. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Katie texted. Said my girlfriend needed me. So here I am.”
“Wait. Girlfriend?” She turned to Katie, who didn’t look nearly as innocent as she pretended to be, even after several beers. Justine asked in a hushed voice, “Uh-oh. I told you about the fake boyfriend thing, didn’t I?”
“You did,” Katie whispered loudly back. Then she laughed. “I texted him and here he is. A superhero with a big package.”
Xavier blinked. “What?”
She pointed to the hat he’d set down next to him. “Did I say a big package? I meant hat.”
He flushed, and Justine thought him just the cutest. He smiled. “The cutest, huh?”
“Crap. I said that out loud.” She had a bad habit of saying whatever popped into her mind aloud when drunk. That would not be good with Xavier. He couldn’t possibly know how much she liked him or was attracted to him. “Don’t want to scare you off.”
He looked smug. “No chance of that.” He glanced around and whispered to Katie.
She nodded in the direction Mitch had gone.
“Ah. The dark-haired guy with the pretty date in red?”
“That’s Dr. Douche.”
Justine sighed. “Katie, if you had a jar for every time you swore, you’d have a lot of nickels.”
Katie and Xavier just looked at her.
“What?”
Xavier shook his head. “I think you two need to lay off the beer and start downing water. Tomorrow probably won’t look so sunny at work. Oh, and I’m driving you both home unless you want to call for a ride.”
Katie pouted. “You’re not nearly as fun as you were when we watchedSpartacus.”
“True.” Justine agreed.
“Well, someone has to take one for the team.” He looked up when Mitch and Mikayla stopped by their table. “Can we help you?”
Wow. Xavier sounded so polite.
Mitch frowned. “Who are you?”
“Her boyfriend,” Katie said before Justine could answer. “And he’s got a big package. I mean, hat.” Katie gave an exaggerated wink.
Justine slapped a hand over her face, but not before she saw Xavier’s shit-eating grin.
