Page 8 of Wild Promise

My gaze fell back on Melina, but she refused to look my way, too busy frowning at the phone clutched in her hands.

“I think Zane should ask her out,” Nate said. “On a date.”

My stomach flipped. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Afraid of getting turned down again?” Colin flashed me a shit-eating grin.

“What do you mean again? It never happened the first time.” Even to my own ears, my protest sounded exactly like what it was. A pathetic attempt at deflection.

Nate shrugged, a glint of mischief in his eyes. “Hey, you’re the one who said she’d have been willing. I just thought I’d give you the opportunity to try.”

“I bet he won’t do it.” Tonya laid down the indirect dare.

Colin nodded, raising the stakes. “He won’t.”

“No.” Nate stared right at me, confronting me head-on. “I’m betting he won’t.”

Icy dread crawled up my spine, slipped around my neck, and squeezed. “Fine. Challenge accepted.”

Caleb laughed from behind me. “Can’t wait to see this.”

Nate grinned, and Colin rubbed his hands together like a cartoon villain. My friends, ladies and gentlemen. What a bunch of dirty, rotten backstabbers.

Knots formed in my stomach as I stepped out from behind the bar and strolled toward Melina. But she didn’t glance up from her phone. Not even when I stopped right in front of her.

I cleared my throat, aiming for subtle, but only managed to feel more awkward.

Her gorgeous eyes snapped my way, her intense gaze colliding with mine, and I faltered. My mouth opened. My mind went blank. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to say to a woman.

I knew what I wanted to say to this woman, but marry me was probably the wrong place to start a casual conversation. Especially since I’d never have the guts to follow through.

Her brow quirked, and she stared at me in silence.

“Hey. I thought maybe I should save you from a workplace accident waiting to happen.” I snagged my discarded rag off the floor, dragging in a much-needed lungful of air. “Wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”

She continued looking at me like I’d gone insane, and for a moment, maybe I had. Nothing else seemed to explain the absolute need clawing at my insides.

Still, she didn’t speak.

“Go out with me.” The words sounded like a demand instead of the question I’d intended, and immediately, I wanted to take them back.

Her beautiful gaze turned stormy, her brows pinched together, and finally, the only woman I couldn’t get out of my head spoke to me. “You have got to be kidding me.”

She flashed a critical glare toward my cackling friends, then turned her back on me and walked away.

I stood there like an idiot, watching her disappear down the hall, her scent still hanging in the air like an invitation and torture all rolled into one.

Fuck, no wonder she ignored me. I was an asshole. Number one. Grade A. Biggest asshole of assholes.

I strode back toward the bar with my hands on my hips, head hung low and my pride in tatters.

“What’s the matter, Romeo?” Nate’s usual gruff tone was contradicted by the hint of humor still gleaming in his gaze. “First time you’ve ever heard no?”

I glanced up, forcing the cocky grin they all expected. “I didn’t hear her say no.”

But fuck, did I feel it.

Chapter Three