I’m about to ask more about this situationship Ana is in when someone taps my shoulder. In the short time we’ve been next to the bar, I’ve been bumped a few times, but I can tell this is different.
I turn and find myself face-to-face with a wall of muscle in a tight black T-shirt. I look up and find a pair of sea-green eyes watching me. “I don’t mean to startle you, but there is an enormous bug on your shoulder.”
It takes me a moment to register what this handsome man has said.Did he ask me to run away with him? Did he tell me that he just stepped off Mount Olympus?
“What?” I follow where he is pointing to with his finger, craning my neck to see A HUGE FUCKING BUG ON MY SHOULDER!
It has wings and big eyes and it could possibly devour me. Slowly, but it could.
I am about to scream when he reaches forwards and picks the demonic being off my body. I hadn’t even sensed it there. “They’re harmless but terrifying,” he says as the bug flies up and away to go bother someone else in the bar. I’m officially against open-air bars now.
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I say to my rescuer. The bar smells like a mix of every perfume and cologne covering a musk of sweat and spilled liquor. Right next to me, he smells familiar, though. Something woodsy I can’t quite place, incongruous with the other scents. Not being able to identify it piques my interest.
“No worries. I didn’t want you to freak out if I took him off without telling you. I didn’t want to be that guy who just walks up and starts touching a beautiful woman.” The man before me blushes and it accentuates his smile perfectly. His cleft chin is adorable. His light blond hair is cropped short and I am momentarily tempted to run my hands through it.
“I mean, you were being chivalrous, so . . .” I trail off, suddenly forgetting how to put words together.
Ana reaches round me and extends a hand to my mystery helper. “Hi, I’m Ana. Charlie is going to help me out for a quick sec, so I need you to stop flirting with her until after the bartender takes our order.”
“I’m Blaed,” he says, and shakes Ana’s hand. Which is silly. I must have misheard him over the noise.
“Blade? Like Wesley Snipes’s vampire Blade?” Ana heard the same thing I did.
I shake my head in disbelief. “I bet no one ever tried to steal your lunch money as a kid,” I breathe, and then check that I’m not literally drooling over this man. Figuratively, I’m drool city. I need one of those dentist suction straws. But I don’t want to actually salivate; it’s not a good look.
“B-L-A-E-D. It’s a family name. And, technically, Blade is a human-vampire hybrid,” he responds. “Charlie?” He turns his attention to me and offers me a hand. His grip is strong and warm. He has to be at least 6’ 3”, has the build of a pro-wrestler with his thick bulky muscles, and his mesmerizing eyes are locked on mine. Thick eyelashes frame his eyes, keeping my attention, forcing me not to look away.
“Hi,” is all I can manage to say, because I have no charisma.
“Can I get you ladies something to drink?” Blaed asks as Ana’s ex walks up to take our orders. Blaed asks for a beer, Ana orders a margarita, and I know I have to say something. I was hoping to discreetly order a mocktail, but now I’m super insecure about it. It’s for my health, but I’ve been healthy for years. A low-inflammation diet doesn’t necessarily mean no inflammation ever. Stressing over it is probably going to cause more trouble for me than one teeny little drink.
“Bourbon and Coke,” I utter, borrowing my dad’s go-to order, because nothing else came to mind except Shirley Temple.
Blaed turns to talk to the guy next to him and Ana pulls me closer. “He is delicious,” she whispers in my ear.
I blush because I was thinking the same exact thing. “Did we ruin your plans with your ex?” I ask.
“Nah,” Ana says as she glances back at the woman mixing our drinks. “She probably feels pity now that I’m the third wheel. I can work with pity.”
Ana’s ex slides our drinks over. I take one hesitant sip and let the sweet and sharp taste wash over my tongue. I’m going to have to limit myself; my liver is not going to know what hit it.
I think of something that will work for me and Ana. “Well, I never play easy to get, so how about we stick to our plan to have fun and leave together to keep both of them guessing and hungry for more.”
Ana gasps. “You’re a genius! Nice and nerdy but a little calculated.” She holds up her glass for a cheers.
I take another sip and remind myself to go slow. And research rheumatologists on my new health insurance. If I’m going to start pushing my limits, I’m going to need a doctor I can call if I push too far.
Blaed leans over and grabs his beer and his hand grazes my shoulder as he does this. I beam at him and we clink glasses as well.
One week down at a new job, a solid lead on a new friend, and a cute guy flirted with me, not so bad after all.
8
CHARLIE
BIGSKY, BIGMILES, BIGSMILES!
The sign over the finish-line arch for our weekend of races in Kalispell, Montana, is cheesy and dorky – and absolutely perfect.
