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His expression immediately read chagrinned. “Fair point. And I didn’t mean for that to come out as quite that big of an idiot.”
“That’s good or you’d be relegated to the soggy chips.”
“That’s hardcore.” He grinned at her. And, man, that grin. It managed to be both sexy and reserved, like he couldn’t quite give in fully to the humor. And that impression was intriguing. Because she knew what it felt like to experience life as if through a filter. You on one side. The rest of the world on the other. And you could never quite get to where everyone else was. Maybe it was like that for everyone who’d died and come back to life.
Except, nope. She was cutting off that line of thinking right now. Or else she’d end up needing to count backward from five again.
He took a chip absolutely straining under a load of cheesy, gooey goodness, and Tara arched a skeptical brow that pulled a deep belly laugh from him. She loved the sound of that, too, which made the sarcastic retort she’d been thinking up get stuck in her throat.
Jesse shrugged with one big shoulder. “All I meant was what are the odds that I’d come in here and meet someone like you?”
Tara froze with a chip halfway between the plate and her mouth, and her heart kicked up in her chest. Was he teasing her now? Or flirting with her? Or both? “Someone like me?”
The smile he gave her was genuine. “Yeah, a pretty woman willing to share her nachos with a stranger.”
Her mouth dropped open. Did he just call her pretty? “I don’t even have any make-up on,” she blurted.
His gaze ran over her face. “I didn’t notice that.”
Heat absolutely bloomed over her cheeks, and not a little licked down her spine, too. “Uh.” She swallowed. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Now his glance was more appraising. “Me neither. Sometimes it helps me to walk when I can’t sleep, which is what led me here.”
“Me, too,” Tara said, wondering what in the world was happening. Because it was not every day that she met a freaking gorgeous guy who not only complimented her but with whom she had things in common. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, he walks into mine.” She blinked, more heat filling her face as she realized she’d actually voiced the line that’d popped into her head. No one ever accused her of being smooth.
His grin was crooked. “I doubt they have ‘As Time Goes By’ on the jukebox.”
Casablanca was her favorite movie. Beautifully, devastatingly romantic. “You know Casablanca?”
“Of course. One of the best movies of all time.”
“Right? Wow. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” She raised her glass, more than a little embarrassed by her own cheesiness but having fun nonetheless.
Dark eyes intense, he clinked his tumbler against hers. They drank, eyes connected over the rims of their glasses. Butterflies whirled in Tara’s belly, making her feel like she’d just crested the highest hill on a roller coaster.
Matt arrived with Jesse’s wings. “Can I get y’all anything else?”
“Need a refill?” Jesse asked, nodding at her nearly empty glass.
“Yeah, sure,” she said, even though a second was going to make her alarm going off painful come morning. Still, the sweet, fuzzy heat spreading through her blood felt good. And whether that was from the alcohol or her unexpected dinner companion, Tara wanted more of it.
Nodding, Jesse pushed the plate of wings between them. “Dig in.”
Grinning, she grabbed a wing. “I love meals made out of just appetizers. You get a little bit of everything.”
“So you like appetizers, late-night walks, Casablanca, and Murphy’s, where you’re a regular,” Jesse said, taking a few wings for himself. “What else?”
She chuckled. “I don’t know. I’m not that interesting.”
He arched a brow, and it communicated disagreement so loud that she had to resist squirming on her stool.
“Um, I like swimming. And fighting.” His expression went incredulous, and it made her grin and shake her head. “Not like, beating-people-up fighting. I belong to an MMA training club.” She didn’t offer more about it, because she really didn’t want to get into the fact that Warrior Fight Club was for wounded warriors. Because too often she’d met guys who backed off when they found out she was a veteran. Worse, he might ask how she’d been wounded—something he’d be able to see for himself if he got a look at the other side or base of her throat. She was too much enjoying being fun, flirty Tara. For tonight, she didn’t want to be almost-died Tara.
Jesse scratched his jaw. “How you think that makes you not interesting, I have no idea.”
She nodded to Matt when he brought her fresh drink, then took a long sip. The rum was sweet and smooth on her tongue. “How about you? Tell me some random things you like.”
He shrugged and his eyes narrowed as he thought about it. “The Pacific Ocean. The way the mountains come right up to the beach in California.”
