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“Scarlet?” he said, as if testing out my name to see if it would feel familiar coming out of his mouth. But he just shook his head. “I’m sorry. That’s not ringing any bells.”
Well hell, I was seconds away from turning on the spot and leaving so that I could pretend the disastrous encounter hadn’t happened.
Go figure I’m single and miserable. I clearly don’t leave much of an impression, I thought bitterly.
Just when I turned around to leave, Preston reached out to me, delicately grabbing my wrist. “Hey, wait,” he said.
I looked back at him, agitated. “What?”
“I’m sorry to have upset you. Can I at least buy you a drink to make up for it?”
I continued staring back into those gray eyes of his, and suddenly, I realized the way they sparkled. And then I began to notice the slow and playful smirk forming on his lips.
Was I imagining things, or was there a knowing gleam in his gaze?
It suddenly occurred to me that he was just playing with me. Teasing me…
He remembered me all along.
I couldn’t help smiling, remembering how playful Preston had been as a kid. In fact, that was one of the things that had drawn me to him; I had always loved the way he could make me laugh with his silly jokes and pranks.
Maybe times hadn’t changed that much after all.
I folded my arms across my chest even though I felt a whole lot less defensive now that I realized he was just attempting to role-play with me, wanting to act as if we were strangers meeting each other for the first time.
I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry. You just look a lot like someone I thought I knew a long time ago.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I figured that much.”
“So, what’s your name, stranger?” I asked.
“I’m Tobias. Tobias Gentry.”
I laughed, impressed that he so easily thought of an alias name right on the spot. He had even said it with so much conviction, if I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought he meant it.
I held out my hand to him. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Tobias Gentry.”
He took my hand and kissed the back of it. “Likewise. Scarlet, is it?”
I nodded, although I wished I had given him a different name so that I could play along. But I wasn’t as quick of a thinker as he was, so Scarlet I would have to remain. The whole situation was a little overkill, but if this is how I would finally break my dry spell, I could play along. I mean there had been that one time I wore a nurses outfit for a guy, this wasn’t any different.
“Well, the offer still stands, Scarlet. Can I buy you a drink? And maybe you can tell me a little bit more about this guy you think I am.”
“Sure,” I said, and then glanced back to my friends. They were still so engrossed in their gossip they hardly seemed to notice my absence.
“Friends of yours?” Preston, aka Tobias, asked on our way back to the bar.
“Yeah, but they won’t miss me,” I said.
“You didn’t get into a fight with them, did you?”
“No, nothing like that. This just hasn’t been the most ideal outing for me. They’re boring me out of my mind right now,” I said, and then immediately felt guilty when I saw Mila finally coming back inside. Her eyes darted around the pub for a moment before landing on me and widening in surprise.
I winked at her, letting her know that everything was all right. In return, she flashed me a thumbs up and then returned to the table with the rest of our friends. I quickly turned back toward the bar, away from them, not wanting to witness the moment when Mila inevitably pointed out the fact that I had found male company. I knew it would only be a matter of time before they all began eyeing Preston and gossiping about us instead of whatever juicy topics had kept them so preoccupied thus far.
“What would you like, Ms. Scarlet?” Preston asked.
I paused for a moment, knowing that I’d already had enough to drink for the night. But then I remembered I didn’t have to work the next day, and I certainly had no one to go home to.
