Zane glanced over and locked eyes with Seth, smirking. Stiffening, he went to push back from the table, but Ian put a hand on his arm.
“Don’t. No brawling in here. Save that aggression for fight nights.”
“Coward rarely fights, and when he does, he fights Kian,” he grumbled, settling back in his chair.
“Even if he doesn’t fight, you can still use it in your match with one of us. Look, Cammie and Alex are here.”
Effectively distracted, Seth glanced over and waved as the dragon shifters walked in, and looked behind them as someone followed them in. Straightening in his chair when he realized it was Amelia, he watched with a sense of disbelief as she followed Cammie and Alex to the fighter’s table. She was chatting with Cammie, but her eyes nervously flitted to him before she quickly looked away.
The breath whooshed from his lungs as he took her in. She was wearing boots, jeans, and a pale green sparkly tank top, looking a hundred percent like she belonged with the rest of them in this old, slightly rundown bar. Her dark hair hung in loose curls to her shoulders, and while she was wearing her glasses, she had makeup on again. But this time it was applied flawlessly, and as much as he preferred her natural, he couldn’t deny she was gorgeous when it was done well.
More than gorgeous, she was sexy as fuck, and his leopard was purring in his chest as he drank her in. He was so fucking screwed, because he knew then, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he wasn’t going to be able to resist her.
Amelia took a deep breath, trying to disperse of the sudden and unexpected nerves that assaulted her when she walked into Cocky Pete’s and spotted Seth. Sitting at a large table with the other fighters, he was mouthwateringly gorgeous, his dark brown hair messy and beard freshly trimmed, showing off his strong jaw. He had on a tight white t-shirt, and her eyes got caught on his biceps. What she wouldn’t give to be the fabric hugging those delicious muscles so closely.
Goodness. Resisting the urge to fan herself, she forced her eyes away from his arms and locked gazes with him. His dark brown eyes were wide, but the surprise faded from them as he slowly trailed his eyes up and down her body. When he looked into her eyes again, the heat there made her own body flush, desire warming her blood. Brow twitching, she watched as his brown eyes lightened in color, turning a more golden brown than chocolate.
He yanked his gaze away quickly after that, but it was enough. The brief moment when his eyes changed color was enough to remind her of her purpose, and she willed her body’s reaction to quiet. She needed to figure out how to get the information she wanted, without losing herself to this attraction and lust.
They reached the table, and Cammie gestured at each man. “You’ve met Ian before, and that’s Jax.” Cammie’s lips curved in a smile as she pointed to Seth, a twinkle in her dark blue eyes. “And this is Seth, but, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve met him already, too. Guys, this is Amelia Anderson.”
Amelia smiled at them and waved, wondering at Cammie’s words and the knowing look in her eyes. Could it be possible that Seth had spoken about her? Taking a seat at the table, she looked across at him, taking in the glare he was directing Cammie’s way. It was possible that was the case.
Trying to convince herself she was pleased from a researcher’s standpoint, and not from a feminine one, she tore her gaze away from him and looked around at what the others were drinking. She could count the times she had a drink on one hand, so she knew next to nothing about different types of alcoholic drinks, and even less about what was normal in America. It looked like they were all drinking beer, which made it fairly simple.
“What can I get you to drink, Amelia?” Alex asked, his hands lovingly stroking Cammie’s shoulders.
Uncomfortable with the sudden yearning she felt for Seth to do that to her, she pulled her eyes to Alex’s. “I’ll take a beer.”
“What kind?”
Frowning at the unexpected question, her eyes darted around the table. “Um, a light one?”
“I mean, do you want Budweiser, Coors, Michelob…?”
“Oh! I knew that, of course. I’ll take a Bud Light,” A
melia said hastily, remembering the proper name from a commercial on television last night.
“Are you staying in Eagle Creek long, Amelia?” Ian asked.
“Probably for a while yet. I want to get the place fixed up before selling it, and it also might take a bit before we find a buyer.”
“You’re not going to list it with a realtor and then leave?” Seth asked, his eyes intently focused on her.
Swallowing down her breathlessness, she shook her head and willed her voice to sound normal. “No, I have no plans to leave any time soon.”
He nodded slowly, gaze still locked with hers. Shivering a bit from the look in his eyes, she tried to look elsewhere as the room around them faded and the noise dimmed, but was unsuccessful. The spell was finally broken when Alex came back, and she jumped when he put the bottle on the table in front of her.
It was becoming harder and harder to convince herself that all she wanted from Seth was the truth of what he was.
Fighting to look casual, she grabbed the beer bottle. It was refreshingly cold, and thinking it could help cool the heat swirling inside her, she raised it to her lips and poured a large gulp into her mouth. The cold liquid was refreshing for a split second, and then the taste hit her tongue, and she was unable to stop herself from spitting some of it right back out.
Mortified heat rushed to her cheeks and, eyes watering, she forced herself to swallow the rest of it, gagging a little as she did. Gasping, she grabbed a handful of napkins and wiped her chin before soaking up the beer on the table. Silence rang around the table, and she meticulously cleaned up the mess, practically feeling everyone’s eyes burning into her. Unable to put it off any longer, she willed her cheeks to stop burning and looked up.
The first person’s eyes she met were Seth’s, and they danced with amusement as he cocked an eyebrow at her. “First time you tried beer?”
“Yes. It wasn’t bad, I just—okay, no, it was disgusting. How do you guys drink that?”