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In the midst of taking a drink, she shook her head and raised a finger.
He didn’t mind waiting, it gave him the opportunity to simply watch her. Her full, pink lips pressed against the glass. The slender column on her neck as she tipped her chin up. The rise and fall of her cleavage above the neckline of her dress. Everything about her turned him on. Made him want to toss money on the table, throw her over his shoulder and carry her directly to bed. Immediately. Drinks, dinner, and the rest of the story be damned.
He stuffed a loaded nacho chip in his mouth. Something to focus on, instead of the raging hard-on crowding his jeans.
Tilting her head, she set the glass on the table and smiled at him. “Hungry?”
“Filling my face to prevent drooling all over you,” he said, after swallowing the oversized mouthful. “You’re beautiful. I’m the luckiest man here.”
“Sweet talker.”
“Truth teller. Think I proved that a little while ago.”
“Yes, you definitely did.” She shifted to the edge of her chair, reached over and stroked the line of his jaw. “And in doing so, you turned a major curveball into a homerun.”
“You get the credit for that run, not me.”
“Let’s call it a team effort, then.”
“Deal.” Either way, it was wild how the worst possible scenario about the most shameful thing in his life had turned out to be a positive. He captured her hand and kissed it before lowering their joined fingers to the table. “Tell me the rest of your story.”
“All right. It’ll probably shock you to hear that at thirty, I had my entire life planned out.”
He winked. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“As you’re also aware, I’m pretty dedicated to my schedules. Everything was going according to plan except the relationship-that-leads-to-a-baby thing. No matter how much positive energy I put into the universe, it seemed unwilling to send me the right man for the co-parent job. Hence, my alcohol-fueled meltdown to Tim. When he suggested fathering the baby I wanted, I realized the universe had set the right man in my path years earlier.”
“And that you were in love with him after all.”
“I already knew that I loved Tim. I had for years and I still do. But I wasn’tin lovewith him. Never have been. If you asked him, he’d say the same about me.”
Sam contained a grunt. Barely. Friend-zone Tim could say whatever he wanted, but Sam knew the guy would just be towing the party line. There’s no way Tim, or any man, could be that close to Leigh and have strictly platonic feelings. Unless—
“Is Tim gay?”
Leigh choked on her mouthful of gin and grapefruit juice, spraying it in a way Sam had only seen in sitcoms. “Oh my God, I’m sorry,” she said, dabbing moisture from the tabletop. “And no, Tim’s not gay.”
“Maybe he is, but hasn’t come to terms with it.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You said the friendship chemistry didn’t transfer to sex. Maybe that’s how you felt, but no straight man could be intimate with you and not feel lit on fire. If things didn’t work in the bedroom, he has to be gay.”
“When I said the chemistry wasn’t there, I meant it in the burning-passion way. Neither of us felt that all-encompassing need to rip our clothes off and spend the night consuming each other. We both wanted the fireworks effect, not sparklers, so we agreed not to settle. But everything worked just fine in the bedroom and we got Lennox out of it, the old-fashioned way.”
So the guy wasn’t gay. That much, Sam accepted. Believing Tim hadn’t been into Leigh with every fiber of his being, on the other hand…no way. Didn’t matter though, because Sam had delivered those fireworks Leigh wanted in the bedroom. Tonight, he’d give her a whole lot more.
“Now you know the whole story.” Leigh tipped her glass and drained the remaining pink liquid. “And I need another drink.”
Sam scanned the patio for their server and signaled her with a raised hand and a smile. “Can we get another gin and grapefruit juice next time you go by?”
“Of course. Another double?” Tammy directed the question at Leigh.
“Probably should.” Leigh collected the menus they hadn’t opened and handed them off. “I don’t think we’ll need these after all.”
Tammy nodded, then turned her attention to Sam. “Refill on the beer for you?”
“No, thanks, I’m driving.”
