“Yes,” she answers. “But I do think Damien is a nice guy. And he's been staring at you pretty much non-stop.”
“He has?” I hadn't noticed at all, but I've been pretty preoccupied thinking about Jacob.
“Yeah. And you have to admit. He's pretty cute.”
“He is,” I reply. But as cute and nice as he is, he isn't at all what I want. So this definitely won't be going any further than this evening. Unless, of course, friendship is all he wants.
The guys get back with our drinks, and now that Tahnee has mentioned it, I do notice that Damien's eyes linger on me as he passes over my drink.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
He gets settled in beside me, and I notice that he shifts his chair slightly closer. Whether it was intentional or not, I'm not sure.
“So Tahnee says you haven't lived here that long. Are you liking it here?”
“Yes. Yes, I love it, actually.”
“Well, if you love it here, you'll definitely love Morro Bay, maybe even a little more.” Damien winks and then takes a sip of his drink. “You guys should come for a visit.”
“Oh! We should take a trip there next week,” Tahnee interjects, apparently no longer wrapped up in only Justin. “It's only about a half-hour drive. We could go on your day off,” she says to me.
“Maybe.” I offer a polite smile to both of them.
“You live right on the beach, right?” Damien turns to me. “I bet you're always in the water.”
Another sip of my wine. “Not nearly as much as you'd think.”
“Well, I do a lot of surfing. If you guys come, I can give you a lesson.”
I smile at him in a non-committal answer and take another big sip of my wine. I feel like it's going to be a long night. It's not that I don't like the company. I've established that he's a decent enough guy and easy on the eyes, and I always enjoy spending time with Tahnee . . . It's just that it's clear he's interested in more than just drinks with me tonight. And I'm definitely not.
One drink turns into two, plus some wings and fries. The conversation has flowed easily between the four of us, but my head has been elsewhere for most of the night. I've tried to make sure I don't give the wrong impression or lead Damien on in any way, but I'm not sure if he's taken the hint.
At one point, I started to wonder what it'd be like if it were Jacob here instead of Damien. Then I remembered that he would probably never be in this situation, and it hurt my heart. Not because I would never get to experience it with him, but simply that he never would. He'd be forced to leave before he's barely stepped through the door. Not that he'd ever put himself in this situation anyway.
I wonder what he's doing right now?
Letting my mind wander some more, I rest my chin on my palm and lazily look around the bar. Just as my eyes reach the front of the bar, I catch sight of a figure outside the large window.
What the . . .?
My pulse picks up speed when I see it's someone who looks an awful lot like Jacob in the shadows. At least, the same build as him. They're standing at the very edge of the window in the darkness so as not to be seen, which is something I can see him doing.
I stand from my chair, drawing the attention of the others. “Uh, I think I'm going to head out now, sorry. I have to work in the morning.” I drop a couple of twenties on the table, even though I know the guys were planning on paying for everything. “Thanks so much for the lovely evening.”
“Oh, um.” Damien begins to stand, but I stop him with a hand on his shoulder.
“It's okay, you guys enjoy the rest of your night. It was really nice meeting you.”
I give Tahnee's arm a squeeze as I hurry out of the bar, not really giving any of them a chance to respond. The second I step out into the night air, I turn in the direction I thought I saw him, but there is no one there.
“Jacob?” I walk a little further over until I'm standing right in front of the alley that runs down the side of the bar. “Jacob?” It's pretty dark down there, but I'm sure I see some movement. “Hell–”
“Remi?” I twist around at the sound of my name being called and see Tahnee, Justin, and Damien standing outside the door to the bar. “What are you doing?”
I glance back down the alley, but when I don't see anything, I turn back to the others.
