Why hadn’t he toldherthat he’d be here tonight? They’d agreed to communicate these matters to each other just that morning and he’d fallen down at the first hurdle.
But, as Daffodil Carlisle had just made clear, the men and women were on separate outings this evening. Ralphie’s just happened to be the only spot in town that could accommodate both ladies’ and boys’ nights out.
When Kenny questioned the practicality of having both events on the same night of the week, they’d all stared at her in horror and protested that two separate outings meant too much time apart.
Right.
Now that despotic Daff was certain that everybody understood and would follow the rules, she took everybody’s drink orders and gathered up her sisters, Daisy and Lia, to head for the bar.
“They only have three cocktails on the menu,” Kenny pointed out to Tina, shouting to be heard above the sound of somebody slaughtering “Living on a Prayer” on the karaoke machine.
Tina laughed.
“I know! When I first moved to town, Ralphie didn’t serve cocktails at all. The closest they came was a gin and tonic. But he’s trying to mix things up, bless. And thiscocktails and karaokething has really taken off for him. Who knows? We may get another drink added to the menu soon.”
“Thanks for inviting me, Tina,” Kenny said, a swell of emotion catching in her throat and making her voice wobble.
Tina squeezed her hand under the table.
“I’m happy that you’re here, Kenny. I hope Smith’s presence won’t unsettle you too much. I honestly never once considered that he’d be here tonight, which was silly of me. Ofcoursehe’d be here.”
“No, don’t worry about that,” Kenny hastened to assure the other woman. “We have an understanding. And we’ll respect each other’s boundaries. It’ll be fine.”
Tina smiled and nodded and squeezed her hand again.
“Okay. Good. I’m happy to hear that. Now let’s get some songs picked so that we can get this party started.”
“Stop staring,” Harris warned, as Smith’s eyes once again drifted to the group of laughing, raucous women in the corner. “Daff catches you staring and you’re a dead man.”
The others all nodded in agreement.
Daff was the skinny brunette with the pretty smile, and shoulder-length dark brown hair. Smith had met her before and had found her quite agreeable.
Nothing to instill this level of fear in anyone.
“She doesn’t look too scary,” he scoffed with a laugh.
Her husband, the biggest, most taciturn bastard in the group, snorted and dusted his cue tip with chalk, before lining up his shot.
The guy didn’t talk much, but that sound was derisive as fuck.
Smith had only met Spencer Carlisle a couple of times before tonight. It was hard to get a read on the man who rarelyspoke and seemed to communicate with just grunts and glares. Harris’s twin, Greyson—who could be equally uncommunicative—was good friends with him. Smith was momentarily diverted as he tried to imagine how a conversation would go between the two. He pictured gestures, grunts, and head movements with very few words sprinkled in.
Highly probable scenario, actually.
He shoved the absurd thought from his mind and went back to sneaking peeks at Kenna. She’d been quiet at first. But after her second drink her shoulders had inched down from their initial defensive position up around her ears into a more relaxed posture.
After that her smile had bloomed more frequently, the rarest of desert blossoms in a room full of colorful roses.
One of the reasons he was having such a hard time keeping his eyes off her was because he’d discovered that in addition to those scandalously tiny shorts she’d worn the other day, his wife—ex—also possessed a pair of skintight dark blue jeans that lovingly cupped the round, taut curve of her arse.
She’d combined it with another simple tank top—a deep turquoise color—and even from here he could tell that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Why the fuck wasn’t she wearing a bra?
If he’d noticed, then surely others would notice as well. He cast a quick glance around the already teeming pub, trying to see if anyone else was staring at her.
A few people—menandwomen—occasionally glanced over at the cheerful group with indulgent smiles. But he couldn’t tell if anyone else was paying as much attention to Kenna’s perky, unfettered tits as he was.
