“If I was, I’d be very disappointed in myself.”
We all chuckle, and Becky and I reclaim our seats at the bar. The bartender named Kevin claps his hands together. “How about two shots of tequila for you ladies, on the house.”
Becky gives me a look. “Why not? How much worse can it get? Surely one shot of tequila won’t put us over the edge.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” I reply with a dash of healthy skepticism.
Kevin fills two shot glasses, but at the last second, he adds a third for his friend and pushes forward a bowl of limes and a saltshaker.
I glance at Becky and shrug, lick my hand, sprinkle the salt, and toss back the shot. Hot fire torches my throat, so I quickly suck the lime and grimace. “I’m going to regret this in the morning.”
“We all will,” our heroic rescuer says. “Thank God for weekends.” He smiles at me, and there’s laughter in his eyes. All the tension from moments ago dissipates, and I lay my hand on his shoulder.
“Thank you. Really. That was so good of you ... what you did.”
“No worries,” he says with ease and offers his hand. “I’m Nate.”
“Sienna.” I slide my hand into his and slowly shake it.
Our eyes remain fixed on each other’s, and I feel a dizzying sensation—which I don’t think is related to the tequila. Or the dirty martini. Or the cosmos. I haven’t felt anything quite like it since Jacob and I first started looking at each other differently in high school.
Good God, how pathetic is it that my libido has been on hiatus for the past seven years? Not that I’m looking for anything, but this guy wakes me up to something—the long-lost thrill of certain feelings I’ve only ever experienced with Jacob. The sort of “complication” that I told Becky I wasn’t interested in.
Becky’s phone rings in her purse, and she pulls it out, flips it open. “Hey, baby.” She listens for a moment. “No way. That’s crazy.” Anotherpause. “Yes, we’re fine. We’re just hanging out. Okay. Call me when you get here.”
She drops her phone into her purse and turns to me. “A tractor trailer crashed on the Macdonald Bridge, so Mark’s stuck there. Nothing’s moving.”
“Oh no,” I reply.
“I hope no one was hurt,” Kevin says. He looks to the far end of the bar, where an older couple had just sat down. “Excuse me.” He slides a pen behind his ear and leaves us.
Becky and I reach for what’s left in our martini glasses, when Nate says, “Hey, if you’re hungry, I have a big plate of nachos at my table, and they’re not going to eat themselves.”
Becky looks at me and shrugs. “I could eat.”
“Me too.”
We follow Nate to a booth overlooking the water, which reflects the moon and the city lights. A gigantic plate of nachos is sitting there, barely touched. I stand for a few seconds, staring at it, wondering how he intended to eat all that by himself. More importantly, the melted cheese looks crusty and dry, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that he abandoned it when it was hot to help us get rid of Joe.
I feel guilty and grateful at the same time. I’m also ravenous, so I slide into the booth and rely on the good manners my mother taught me to make me wait until Nate digs in first.
Becky hesitates. “I need to use the ladies’ room. You guys get started. I’ll be back in a jiff.”
I chuckle because I know her too well. She’s playing matchmaker, but whatever. I pull a cheese-covered nacho from the plate and shove it into my mouth. It’s a bit chewy after sitting out for too long, but it’s still delicious, and I gobble greedily, then reach for another.
“So tell me, Sienna. What do you do?”
“I’m an interior designer.”
“That sounds creative.”
“It is, but I seem to spend most of my time worrying about bills, even though I have an office manager.”
His eyebrows lift. “You own your own business?”
All I can do is nod because my mouth is full of cheese. I hold up a finger, then dig through my bag for my little stash of business cards and hand him one. By this time, I’ve finished chewing.
He reads it and lifts his gaze. His eyes are a mix of blue and gray with flecks of yellow, and I come to notice that his face is quite perfect—a strong jaw, straight nose, full lips. His teeth are perfect too. Clean and white.
