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I nodded, forcing a smile. “Yes,” I said and lied.
I was ready, but my heart still ached out of disappointment. I hoped I’d be seeing Beckett once I returned to Manhattan and that he’d be part of my new life. Now, that was likely not going to happen.
We had a nice meal, catching each other up on our own news since the last time I visited at Easter. Then we walked back to the pub and I took my place behind the counter. A few hours later, Leah showed up and sat at the bar, and spent the next hour regaling me about her first week of classes and the hot business school grad she met in a seminar. I laughed, amazed that she was such a flirt and always meeting new men wherever she went.
About 9:30, Steve from Topsail Beach walked into the bar and made a big to-do about seeing me and Leah.
“Well, looky here,” he said and came up behind Leah, grabbing onto her shoulders and squeezing. “Fancy meeting you here,” he said and winked at me.
“How did you find this place?” I said to Steve, frowning.
“Oh, Mira,” Leah said and turned to me, a look of guilt on her face. “I forgot to tell you that I met up with Steve and told him about tonight. I thought it would be fun for the three of us to spend your first night back bartending together.”
I forced a smile I didn’t feel and wiped down the bar. “Wasn’t that thoughtful?” I said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.
It wasn’t that I disliked Steve. It was that he’d been a bit too protective of me. He took his big brother role a bit too seriously for my liking.
We made small talk for a while about his decision to transfer to Columbia and Leah and Steve had a few drinks while I bartended.
Then, out of the blue, Leah brought up Beckett.
“I’m trying to convince Mira to hear Beckett out,” she said and pointed her glass to me.
I made a face at Leah, wondering why she’d bring Beckett up. She must be feeling the couple of beers she already drank.
Steve and I were work friends – nothing more. He wasn’t a confidant. I didn’t want to talk to him about Beckett. The very fact he knew about it made me really uncomfortable.
“Why?” Steve said, shaking his head. “What’s so great about him? He seemed pretty rough to me. A biker. Had this swagger and cocky attitude. Not your type,” he said to me.
“He’s not rough at all,” I said, suddenly feeling all protective about Beckett. “He’s a Marine. He’s a business man.”
“He’s hotter than hell, Mira,” Le
ah said, raising her eyebrows. “You have to admit it. Plus, he was clearly hot for you.”
I felt my face heat, and turned away, pretending to do something behind the bar.
“Are you seeing him now?” Steve asked. I turned back and saw his jaw was clenched.
“No,” I said. “We’re not seeing each other.” I turned to Leah and made a face intended to shut her up about Beckett. She seemed immune to my signals.
“You could be if you just called him up,” Leah added. “You have his number.”
I shook my head and turned away again. “Not going to happen.”
“Why not?” Steve asked, his eyes narrowing. “Did he hurt you?”
“He broke her heart,” Leah said. “Seduced her and left behind a package of letters she wrote to Dan and—.”
“Leah!” I frowned at her. “That’s personal.”
Leah looked all surprised “We’re all friends,” she said, glancing between Steve and me.
“This is private,” I said with as much emphasis as I could. “End of story.”
Steve nodded. “I get it. He broke your heart and you don’t want to talk about him. I could have known he’d hurt you when I saw him the first time. He was just way too pushy.”
I rubbed down the bar a bit too hard, trying to keep from responding too emotionally. He was wrong. While Beckett was pretty clear that he wanted to spend time with me, and then once we were together, he wanted to be with me and have me as much as possible, he wasn’t pushy. At least, not pushier than I wanted him to be.
