“Lead the way!” Damn, I would do just about anything for that grin.
“Don’t you want to take your sister’s photos to your car?”
“I walked.” He shrugs.
“Here, stow them in my car.” I open the trunk of my Lexus SUV and pull the door up for him.
“Nice car.” He says, surprised. His eyebrows are raised as he gazes at me.
“Thanks,” I flip the lever for the door to close and lock the car again as we continue down the sidewalk.
Luke pulls his aviator sunglasses from the neck of his soft white t-shirt and puts them on, looking around him as though he’s making sure no one is watching him and I frown. Is he embarrassed to be seen with me? If so, why did he ask me out?
I’m still puzzling over this as he holds the door to my favorite Irish Pub open for me and we walk into the cool bar.
“Hi! Welcome to the Celtic Swell.”
A young server smiles at both of us, paying special attention to Luke, and I mentally roll my eyes. “It’s a beautiful day out there,” she continues, “Would y’all like to sit inside or outside?”
I glance up at Luke and without pausing or asking me what I’d prefer he says “Inside.”
“Sure thing, follow me, handsome.”
She winks at Luke, ignoring me completely, and leads us to a booth near the back of the bar.
We are seated, and Miss Flirty points out the happy hour menu displayed proudly on the table, smiles broadly at Luke again, and then leaves us alone.
“Are you embarrassed to be out with me?” I am determined to get to the bottom of this.
Luke gasps, takes off his sunglasses revealing his wide blue eyes, and looks horrified. The knots in my stomach slowly release.
“No! No, Natalie, not at all. In fact, I’m thrilled to spend time with you.” He looks so sincere. “Why do you ask?”
“Well…” I gratefully sip the water the waitress has set down before me. “You just seem…”
“What?”
“Quiet all of a sudden.” It’s the best I can come up with. Damn, why does he make me so nervous?
“I’m happy to be here, with you. I just…” he shakes his head, runs a hand through that beautiful hair. “I am a private man, Natalie.” He exhales quickly and closes his eyes like he’s struggling through some difficult internal debate before turning his bright blue gaze back to mine.
“It’s okay,” I hold my hands up in front of me as if in surrender. “I was just checking. No worries.”
I smile reassuringly and grab the happy hour menu before he can say any more. His change in mood and the reasons behind it are none of my business. We’re just out for a drink.
Let’s keep it light.
He smiles at me and I’m rescued from having to start small talk by Flirty Waitress taking our orders.
Luke raises an eyebrow in my direction. “What would the lady like?”
“A margarita, on the rocks, no salt, extra lime.” My eyebrows climb when the waitress’ cheeks redden and the only acknowledgement to my statement is her scribbling ferociously on her notepad.
Luke is hot, I can’t blame her for paying attention to him, yet something primal in me wants to scratch her pretty brown eyes out.
And he’s not even mine.
Luke chuckles. “Make it two.”
“You bet. Anything else?” she asks Luke, pointedly ignoring me, and I smile to myself as Luke hardly spares her a glance before muttering, “No thanks.”
“I deserve a margarita after the day I’ve had.” I sip my water.
“And what kind of day was that?”
Luke leans forward and I love that he genuinely looks interested.
“Well,” I sit back look up at the ceiling like I’m deep in thought. “Let’s see. I couldn’t sleep much last night, so I decided to take an early morning walk to get some work done. At which point, I was almost mugged.” I look back at him and give him a sarcastic look of horror. Luke laughs, a full out belly laugh, and my own belly clenches down again. Holy Jesus, he’s so beautiful!
“And then…?”
“And then, after I made my very daring escape,” I smile at him and he is grinning from ear to ear, his chin resting in his palm. “I went home, had breakfast with my roommate, then took a short nap.”
“I would have loved to see that.” His eyes have narrowed and I feel myself blush.
“Loved to see me have breakfast with my roommate?”
“No, smart ass, loved to see you nap.”
“I’m sure it’s not that exciting.” I thank her for my drink and take a long sip. Oh, that’s good.
“And when you woke up?”
“You really want to know about my whole day?”
“Yes, please.” Luke sips his drink and I watch his lips pucker over his straw. Oh my.
“Um…” I clear my throat and Luke grins again, enjoying my reaction to him. “I had a photo session at noon, it wrapped around two. Then I made some deliveries around the neighborhood and ran into this handsome mugger I know, whom I am now enjoying a drink with.”
“I like that last part the best.”
Oh.
“And what did you do today, sir?” I ask and rest my elbows on the table, happy to have turned the attention back to him.
“Coincidentally, I couldn’t sleep well last night either, so I got up early to take a walk and enjoy the water.” He pauses to take a sip.
“Mmm hmm…”
“Then I made an ass of myself with this incredibly sexy and beautiful woman that I ran into.” I gasp and bite my lip.
Sexy and beautiful? Wow.
Luke’s eyes narrow on my lips.
“Did she forgive you for being an ass?” My voice sounds breathy.
“I’m not sure. I hope so.”
“Then what did you do?”
“I walked home to do some reading.”
“What kind of reading?” Mmm, this margarita is delicious.
Luke frowns a bit then shrugs. “Just some reading for work.”
“Oh? What do you do?” I motion to Miss Flirty for a refill, raise my eyebrow at Luke and signal for his refill as well at his nod.
“Why do you want to know?” He whispers this and suddenly looks ashen.
What the fuck? Is he really a serial killer? A spy? Is he unemployed and looking for a sugarmama? I dismiss that last thought, he wouldn’t be able to live in this neighborhood if he were unemployed.