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Chapter Two
Brittany
Jacob is good-looking, but he’s cold as ice. I can see it already. He reminds me of my brother- hard-hearted and empty. The men in this town are either stubborn, emotionless assholes, or they’re overly-sensitive and girlier than me. I love a man that can talk about his feelings as much as the next girl, but sometimes, a woman just wants to be tossed on the bed and told what to do.
It seems that is too much to ask for. That’s probably why I jumped at the opportunity to meet someone that’s not from here. I’ve never left ABQ, unless you count the few road trips on the back of my dad’s motorcycle we took when I was a little kid, and I don’t think those count. I was so young I barely even remember them.
I know just about everybody that lives here and finding out there’s a new, hot, single guy around? One my brother hasn’t had a chance to scare off yet? I had to be the first one to get a date with him. Other girls are going to want this man, but I’m the only one who needs him.
Jacob seems to be interested in me, at least slightly. His forehead is creased and his eyes haven’t stopped roaming over my face, checking me over since the waitress showed up. He’s trying to figure me out, and that’s all I know for sure about him. He crosses his arms and takes his eyes off me just long enough to speak directly to our waitress.
She’s a girl I went to school with. Boys probably consider her ‘less’ than me, but I don’t know how to be more like her. I’m too much of everything. Too loud, too outspoken, too giggly, too girly, too curvy- too much. I ‘don’t know when to quit’, or so I’ve been told. I don’t find myself as annoying as everyone else seems to, but they never hesitate to tell me when I’ve crossed the line.
Jacob turns his attention back to me as the waitress leaves, and his eyes narrow. “What’s your usual, Brittany?”
My heart stutters when he speaks to me and says my name. Not because I’m so crazy I’ve already fallen in love with him, but from excitement. This could be part of a story I’ll tell for the next seventy-five years. This could be my ‘how we met’. This might get written down on some trivia card for people to answer at my bridal shower. This could be nothing, but, just as easily, it could become something.
It’s stupid, I know. My brother tells me all the time that the reason he runs off every guy I try to date is because my heart is gentle, and he just wants to protect me from guys he knows could never be good enough for me. But my brother’s definition of ‘good enough’ is miles above where mine is. I don’t need a man to check every box out of a thousand on a list to be considered a feasible option to date me.
He only has to check one box. It’s a simple task, really, just not necessarily easy to accomplish. All a guy has to do to win a chance with me is to not be afraid of Rowan Kovacs. Or, if he is afraid, he has to know how to fight. Having both is a plus, but not a requirement.
“Grilled chicken caesar salad.” I like to think it offsets the calories in the sugary margarita the waitress is putting in front of me right now.
Jacob’s brow furrows further. “A salad?”
I take a sip of my Pink Cadillac and raise my brows back at him. “I prefer to have a few of these and a nice salad, as opposed to a steak and one drink.”
He sighs and drains his whiskey into his open mouth, holding the empty glass up for the waitress when she comes back with the fried pickles he ordered as an appetizer. He’s already fucking bored of me, and I immediately shift gears to get him back. He may not like me, but he probably likes his coworkers, so I have to hope that speaking of them will make him more open to discussion.
“How do you like working with Kyle?” I ask, going for another sip of my drink.
“Thank you,” he tells the waitress, drinking the rest of it again and sliding the glass back across the table to her. “Keep ‘em coming.”
Fuck, this is already going badly. “I’m glad you decided to come out tonight. Your coworkers are amazing friends. They might seem-”
He holds his hand up to cut me off and turns what looks like an angry glare to me. The intensity in his eyes would’ve been enough to shut me up on its own- he didn’t have to gesture with his hands. “You have shitty friends. They’re annoying as coworkers, but as friends, they’re bottom of the barrel. Those people set you up with me after seeing me in a professional setting ten times. I go out of my way to make myself unapproachable, and they left you here with me. They clearly don’t care about your safety.”
