“You’re welcome,” he replied just as my sister set our drinks in front of us and walked over to other clients. She might not have been near, but I knew she was watching like the nosy ass she was.
“Come here often?” he asked. I shook my head.
“Not really.”
“What brought you out today?”
“Oh, umm… a long day at work,” I shared softly. “I, umm, well, I work at a high school, and one of the departments is getting hit with a budget cut.” I squished my nose. This guy probably didn’t care about this and was regretting asking. “I’m here having a drink, and after, I’m going to try to figure out how to rally for it.”
“Problem solver,” he observed, and I laughed.
“Some call it naïve.” I shrugged.
“Which department was cut?”
“Mine.” I laughed as I rolled my eyes at myself. The original reason I’d taken Karma up on her offer to make my yummy goodness. “Not all of mine. But enough where the ones that mean something to me, like community outreach, mindful moments kind of stuff, were hit.”
“Oh, that’s… cool.”
“Cool?” My lips twitched as I broke eye contact to pick up my drink.
“I mean what you teach, not the budget cuts.” He shook his head, and I smiled at him.
“You think it’s lame.”
“Not at all,” he responded immediately. “Someone recently kinda changed my life with stuff like that.”
“Really? How?” I asked, setting my drink on the bar and turning to face him fully. I hadn’t realized he was closer than I’d assumed and somehow ended up between his wide-spread thighs. But if the closeness bothered him, he didn’t comment on it.
“She taught me that you should be the energy you want to attract,” he said confidently, and I stilled for a moment.
Something inside of me was yelling at me that I knew him.
“Have we met before?” I asked, and just as he was about to answer, a loud sound banged.
Glass shattered, and someone was shoved, pushing me right into his arms. But I didn’t fall. Not when he wrapped his arms around me protectively before moving. Putting his larger body between whatever fight had broken out and me. Shielding me. Putting himself between the danger and myself. God, why is that so hot?
Two big, burly guys were pushing one another, getting in one another’s faces when one tossed another glass. For a moment, it felt like everyone stopped and was watching the two tipsy idiots. But as quickly as it had started, it stopped. My sister shouted at the two assholes, somehow getting their attention.
She slammed a butcher knife right into the center of the bar and looked at the two huge guys who were holding one another by the collar of the other’s shirt.
“You two done, or do I need to stick one of you with this?” she asked as she pulled the huge knife out. They pushed each other away and took a step back.
A big dude came barreling in, his gaze connecting with Karma’s.
“Jesus, woman. A knife! In the bar!”
“Maybe if you were faster on your feet, huh?” my sister responded. Like the total badass she was.
Suddenly, my sexy stranger was in front of me. “Joy, you okay?” he asked, stroking my shoulders while searching my face.
“I’m fine.” I shook my head and stilled. “Wait, how did you know my name?”
“Your sister said it,” he muttered, waving behind him. “Want to have dinner with me?” There was something in the way he was looking at me, like he was dying for me to say yes. No one had ever looked at me that way.
What about Linc?a voice in the back of my head perked up, and I frowned. Lincoln.
We’re pen pals,his voice repeated, and it was like a lightbulb turned on. He had been adamant about how no one forced the guy to do anything. He’d never mentioned anything about my picture, and that was enough of a clue to know he wasn’t interested in me that way. I was being silly harboring a crush on a faceless man I had only spoken to on the phone once.
“Dinner sounds good,” I found myself agreeing. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the fight or the drinks I’d had or both, but whatever it was, I was going to run with it. Take a chance. “Do you like food trucks?” I suggested, and he nodded.
Quickly, he took care of the tab, and I waved goodbye to my sister, not missing the way she mouthed HOT before we left.
We stepped out of the bar, and when I looked up at him under the moonlight, I paused. His hand took mine in his, and he looked at it and smiled. The man had been so serious inside, but his smile, it made my heart not only pitter-patter but melt slightly.
“Where to?” he asked. I licked my lips. Not because I wanted his gaze to drop to my mouth, which it did, but because I was nervous. “That way.” I pointed with my free hand, and we started walking.
Neither of us said a word, but it was comfortable. Like we somehow knew one another.