“Dude.”
Jimmy laughed, and Dixie snorted, tossing Ethan a damp towel before walking over to Lily.
“Dude, I’ve been talking to you. Is that her?” Jimmy asked.
Lily, who was looking in Ethan’s direction, had her eyebrows furrowed and her lips turned down in a frown. When Ethan caught her eyes, she quickly shifted them to Dixie.
“That’s her,” Ethan said. He wiped off his arm and the countertop in front of him before setting the rag down.
“She doesn’t look thrilled to see you,” Jimmy said.
Ethan chuckled. “She never does. It’s all about warming her up.”
Ethan motioned for Lily to join them, but she pretended she didn’t notice. Jimmy’s shoulders shook in silent laughter as Lily obviously avoided looking their direction. He stood up with his beer in hand and walked over to Lily, sitting down beside her.
“Fancy seeing you here,” he said.
She looked over at him briefly before looking down at the menu in her hand. “Oh, Ethan. I didn’t see you.”
A large smile spread across his face. “I’m surprised. I was waving you over.”
“You were? Weird.” Her eyes remained fixed down.
“So what happened? We went from having a nice breakfast date this morning to you barely looking at me.”
That caused her to look up, a frown still marring her face. “It wasn’t a date.”
“Okay. An outing.”
She shrugged. “Nothing happened.”
“You’re just going to go back to acting like you don’t know me?”
She tilted her head as she studied him. “Do I, though?”
“Well, we have hiked together, been to the bar together twice, and had coffee together. So I should think so.”
“Um. I was on resort-organized hikes, which you happened to be the guide for. I also did not know who you were when I signed up. We happened to show up at the bar coincidentally. And coffee, that wasn’t planned. It just happened.”
Ethan chuckled. “Regardless, you still know me.”
“Whatever you say.”
He plucked the menu out of her hands and set it aside.
“Hey!”
He leaned forward. “What is it I need to do to get you to be friends with me?”
She leaned across him, her breasts grazing his arm, as she grabbed the menu he had set down. “First, you can give me back the menu before I get hangry on your ass.”
He laughed loudly and waved Dixie over. “Dixie, you better bring this woman some food ASAP.”
Ethan sat back sipping his drink until Lily was done placing her order. Then he looked over at her. “So now that that’s taken care of, what else can I do?”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “How’s that coffee delivery program going?”
Ethan chuckled. “We only discussed that this morning, and this is the first time I’ve been able to sit down since then.”
“Point being?”
He only shook his head with a smile on his face. “I have a feeling I’ll wear you down. It may be slow, but it’ll happen.”
A small smile appeared on her face before quickly fading. “I guess we’ll see.”
“I guess so,” he said softly, hope blooming in his chest. He would find out everything there was about her. It was only amatter of time, and he couldn’t wait. This would be the summer to remember.
