Jack made a sound in his throat. “That’s a terrible choice.”
“What? Why?” I chanced a glance down the bar, and the man in question nodded toward me, making my eyes drop again.
“Trust me on this,” Jack said.
“I do, it’s just…” I swallowed. My hands ached, and I forced them to relax. Here I was, slouching again when Natasha had warned me about that. I straightened my back but couldn’t quite meet Jack’s gaze. “Don’t you think the practice would be good for me? Even if he shoots me down?”
“I wasn’t saying he’s going to shoot you down,” Jack muttered. He sighed, leaning on the bar, his hands settling in my view. “You really want to try this?”
I lifted my gaze. He was looking at me steadily, not frowning, but there also weren’t any of those laugh lines by his eyes.
“I wouldn’t even know what to do. How do I get him to notice me?”
“Oh, he noticed you,” Jack muttered, but then he sighed. “You could always send him a drink to let him know you’re interested.”
I felt stupid for not thinking of that myself. “Right. Let’s do that. I’ll add another of whatever he’s drinking to my tab.”
“Right. I’m definitely charging you for this one.” His lips tilted up.
I laughed. “You should be charging me for all of them.”
He shook his head, straightening. “Wendy has been taking care of him. I’ll have her do it, and she’ll let him know it’s from you.” I watched as Jack walked over to the other bartender, leaning in to talk to her.
The cherries caught my eye again, and I picked up the umbrella, popping the rest of them in my mouth and putting all the stems on the napkin. I curled it up in my hand so I wouldn’t have to see them anymore.
“Hey,” a deep voice said from my side as the dark-haired man took the barstool. “Thanks for the drink.”
I choked on the cherries, forcing myself to swallow them before I coughed them all out. I pressed a hand to my chest, turning my face away from him to finish coughing and reaching for my drink to hopefully stop making a fool of myself.
“Sorry. You startled me,” I admitted, glancing back at him.
His square jaw seemed to have tightened, and he didn’t smile. He tilted his head. “Are you okay now?”
“Yes, I am. Thank you,” I said. A silence fell between us. I’d been so worried about getting his attention, and then about the cherries, that I hadn’t thought about what to say to him.
Jack’s voice came from the stage; he was introducing the band. They thanked him, and then there was a nice distraction of music. He’d been right. I liked them as much as I did the last band, and my head bobbed to the beat.
The dark-haired man leaned in closer. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“I’m Hailey!” I had to shout to make sure he heard it. He tried to tell me his name, but I couldn’t catch it over the music. I leaned in closer so I could ask him to repeat it, but he was already talking.
“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked. “Go somewhere quieter?”
I blinked. He wanted me to leave with him? After only exchanging names or, I guess, attempting to?
“I want to listen to them play,” I said, gesturing toward the band.
The man’s jaw tightened. “You like this crap?”
Okay, so maybe Jack was right about this guy. I looked toward the band, my heart thumping in my chest. It was fine. I didn’t even have to try to talk to him with the music playing.
When the song ended, I risked glancing back, but he wasn’t there. I found him across the room near the pool table, talking to a couple of women.
Jack set a basket of fries in front of me as the next song started up. I picked up one of them, but it was too hot, and I dropped it back in. “You were right,” I admitted, but I didn’t shout it to make sure he heard.
His smile meant he likely had anyway, but he didn’t rub it in.
Chapter 6
