“Yes?”
“Are you checking me out?”
“I check everyone out,” I said. “I mean, sort of. Don’t you?”
He cocked his head to the side, teeth clenching together, as if he was trying to see if this was some sort of test or not.
“I mean, humans are a judgmental crowd. Unlike some, sure, I’m a little more open with taking in the view. Enjoying beauty, or lack thereof, in the world is nothing to be ashamed of.”
The magical world encouraged one to be less shy about finding pleasure in simple things every day.
“Huh,” he said. “Guess not. But am I beauty or lack thereof?”
I raised my eyebrows and pressed my lips together. Okay, now, I was trying to conceal my smile at his slightly burly awkwardness. He might look like he had a big game, but so far, this tall, dark, and handsome biker boy sounded almost bashful, trying to find the right things to say.
“You from around here?”
“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” he asked.
“You’re not from Barnett.”
“And you are?” He looked me up and down—from the darkest roots all the way down toward the kitten Mary Janes I already regretted wearing.
Poor lost man perhaps from a medium-sized city, thinking that he fit in.
“You’re sticking with wanting to keep that line for yourself then?Am you from around here?” I asked. “Or do you prefer the, just as classic,Do you come here often?”
He hummed, reaching up to rub at his jaw, as if he might’ve had a beard at some point in his life. “I don’t know, Sparkles. Not sure if I should anymore.”
“Sparkles?”
“All the glitter and whatever you have going on there.” He waved a hand toward my dark eye shadow. “It’s pretty.”
“I can’t tell if you’re just trying to save your ass now.”
He laughed again. I never knew I was so funny. No other guy had ever really laughed at my jokes before when I was actually trying to make one, let alone my teases and jibes in their direction. In fact, I was sure they frowned most of the time, wondering what I was getting at.
I was about to say something else right when a body pushed between us and our chairs along the bar.
Another man nudged the guy’s shoulder next to me as he leaned around him. “Hey, sorry to interrupt.”
I shook my head as I looked down at my hands.I’m sure he is.
“A friend of mine and I are trying to figure something out. He thinks he knows you from somewhere. You do look sort of familiar. Are you from around here or something?”
The man next to me chuckled as he shook his head, just like he had when I asked him the same question—or the opposite of it. It appeared Dom had confounded Barnett in a matter of fifteen minutes.
“Just have one of those faces.”
“Oh, you sure?” the man asked, making sure before he stepped back out from between us. “All right. Have a good night.”
“Thanks.”
Forcing myself not to look back at the handsome, dark guy next to me again, I instead reached for my drink. I took another sip, though it ended up making an empty sound, nothing but melting ice sticking to the bottom of the glass.
“So, what is your name?”
I paused. I glance back at the guy through my lashes, my surprise probably showing. He was still there.
