She let go of his hand. ?
??Thank you, Sean.” She retook her seat and he turned toward the bar and signaled a waitress. “What are you ladies drinking?”
Lexie took the last sip from her cocktail glass. “Golden Shower.” She smiled like she was going to enjoy hearing him order up one of those.
Marie held up a frosty mug and grinned. “Horny White Girl.”
Jesus. Within seconds a waitress stood in front of him with a big smile on her pretty face. If it wasn’t for the nose ring and lip piercings, and of course if he wasn’t pretending to be Lexie’s boyfriend, he might have seen if he could get more than a smile from her.
“Hello, Sean,” she said, and took a small notepad from her apron pocket. “I’m a huge Chinooks fan and was at the Anaheim game the other night. You guys are looking good this year.”
“Thanks. Hope you can make it to every game. We love to hear our fans getting rowdy.”
“What can I get for you tonight?”
“I’ll have an Amstel.” He motioned toward the table with his hand.
“Sean!” Lexie called out. “No.”
“I’ve got this one, babe. My girl would love another Golden Shower.” He waved in Marie’s direction. “And our friend is down for another Horny White Girl?”
“Can I interest you in truffle popcorn or chicken and lamb skewers?”
“None for me.” He turned toward the women. “Are you ladies interested in food?” They shook their heads and ducked their faces. “Is something wrong?”
Lexie said something he didn’t quite catch. He took the chair next to her and leaned in. “What?”
“This is a Lemon Drop and Marie is drinking Diet Coke.” She looked up at him. “We were joking!” Her cheeks were a nice scarlet color, and bright red rose up Marie’s neck.
“You should have told me!”
“I tried!”
He looked from one to the other and started to chuckle. Laughter from deep in his chest built and rose, rocked him back in his chair, drawing the attention of people around them.
The whispers of “It’s Sean Knox and Lexie” rose and grew louder until their table was surrounded. Just as Marie’s Horny White Girl arrived, she grabbed her leather backpack and said, “I’m out of here.”
“We’ll talk later,” Lexie told her friend as she slid her hand in his, resting on the table. It was for show. All for show, and he brushed his thumb back and forth across her knuckles.
“We’re happy in love, now,” Lexie answered a question thrown at them. “But yes, running from my wedding to Pete was scary as heck. I wasn’t sure what would happen. Only that I couldn’t marry one man when I loved another. I was anxious and frightened and uncertain what the future looked like for me and Sean.” Lord, she was a good liar. She gazed up at him, looking like she’d fallen so hard for him, it had turned her soft in the head. She was such a good actress; if he didn’t know better, he’d fall for it, too. “Then I saw him at the end of the dock, and I knew.”
The look bothered him more than the lie. Maybe because he couldn’t recall a woman looking at him like she was so deep in love she’d never find her way out. He’d had his share of girlfriends, and none had looked at him like that. Not even after he’d coughed up expensive gifts.
A question got lobbed at Sean and he pulled his gaze from Lexie. “Pardon me?”
“Didn’t it trouble you to see her in a wedding dress meant for another man?”
“No. I’m secure enough not to get bothered over a dress.” Which was true. He recalled her rolling around in that ridiculous dress, then buttons pinging around the fuselage as he ripped it down the back. “But I did have trouble getting her out of that damn dress.” He held up his free hand. “My fingers were too big for all those slippery buttons.”
“He says such romantic things to me.” The smile at the corners of her lips dipped a bit and she squeezed his hand. “Just last night, he told me he wished he could reach up into the sky and pull out the brightest star just for me.”
Jesus. She’d obviously OD’d on romantic quotes. She was making him look like he was soft in the head, too. A real lovesick wimp.
“I told him I don’t need stars. Just him to stand under them with me forever.”
“Ahh,” a few women sighed.
“And—”