“I’ll have a caramel frap,” Lizzy orders.
“Make that two, please.” I reach for my wallet.
“Oh, no, you don’t have to.” She shakes her head, arguing, but I ignore her.
The barista smiles between us, unsure of who to listen to.
“I’ve got it.”
“Nate.” She warns when I hand the barista my card. “Honestly, I can pay for my own.”
“I’m sure you can, Liz.” I drop some change in the tip jar and smirk.
“You’re stubborn. Now people in town are going to say we’re on a date.” She shakes her head, taking a deep breath.
“There are worse rumors they could start.” I wink before I can catch myself, and I don’t miss the way her jaw drops.
A small part of me swells with pride that I caught her by surprise and left her speechless. And when she bows her head and smiles sweetly, I want to pull her to me and wipe that smile away with my lips.
Fuck, I need to get under control. She’s a co-worker now, and I’ve got enough baggage to make sweet Lizzy unpack it all. She’d probably run until the ocean has swallowed any sign of her.
With our drinks, we head back to the entrance.
“Hi, Bill,” Lizzy says, reaching into her pocket for her ticket stub.
I grab mine from my back pocket and show it to him. I turn to look at her, ready to go, and find her brows furrowed.
“Hold on to this, please.” She shoves her Frappuccino in my hand and pats her pockets, shoving her hands into them again.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“My ticket stub. I can’t find it. I know I have it.” Her voice rises with agitation as she digs into her pockets as if they’d magically grow in size and her ticket stub would be there.
Her chest rises with a deep breath, and she looks at Bill. “I must’ve dropped it somewhere, but you know me, Bill, and you know I wouldn’t try to sneak in. Heck, you saw me come out to go to the coffee shop,” she tells the man.
“You know the rules, Lizzy.”
“Oh, come on.” She throws her hand in the air and rips her cup from my hand, taking a gulp of her Frappuccino.
“She’s with me.” I hold my badge and ticket. Bill arches an eyebrow and looks between us with a sly smile.
“Well, I’ll be… You shoulda said that from the beginning.” He steps to the side so we can enter.
“Not like that, Bill!” Lizzy hollers.
“Your momma know yet?” he responds.
“Ugh!” She throws her head back. “When my mom comes knocking on my door, I’m sending her your way. You can deal with her.” She shakes her head, stepping ahead of me. I laugh at her attempt to be upset, but someone’s mom isn’t going to intimidate me.
“I was just being nice.”
“That kind of nice in a small town is always misinterpreted,” she says over her shoulder.
We reach our friends, and they’re all laughing with beer cups in hand.
“Come on.” Luke claps my shoulder. “Concert’s gonna start.”
We all follow him as close to the stage as we can. When a young guy walks on stage with a cowboy hat, faded jeans, and…flip flops, everyone starts cheering. My eyes narrow with uncertainty when I see his footwear. This guy could be the definition of beach cowboy.