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Maya bounced her knee where she sat in the passenger seat of my car. She’d acted different last night, and it seemed like it was going to happen again. What was going on? Why did she suddenly seem nervous around me?
She rubbed her hands down her thighs and took a shaky breath.
“Babe.”
She glanced at me and then away. “Uh, yeah?”
“What’s goin’ on?”
She huffed. “What? Nothing. What’s going on with you?”
Drawing my brows down in confusion, I pulled to a stop at the red light and turned to her. “Maya, you’re bein’ all jittery.” I pointed down at her knee, which promptly stopped.
She bit her bottom lip and ran her hand over the side of her neck. “I-I guess it’s… ah….” She scrunched up her nose. Was she trying to think of something to say? “Easton called today. He mentioned that he, Lan, and Parker were hoping to come to the pub tonight for the band. But… I mean, I could tell he wanted to bring up work on the phone, but he didn’t. I’m just not sure if he will or won’t tonight if I see him.”
I get that she’d be apprehensive talking about it, but I didn’t think it’d make her this nervous.
Reaching over, I placed a palm on her thigh, just above her knee, and squeezed before putting both hands back on the steering wheel when the light turned green. “Don’t stress about it. Give me a code word if you want out of a conversation, and I’ll get you out.”
I could feel her gaze on me, but I didn’t look her way to catch it.
“Thanks. I guess I could say ‘Pepsi.’”
“Pepsi?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, Pepsi it is.” I grinned, thinking she was cute. “You heard anythin’ about this band?”
“No. But I did look them up, and they sound good.”
“At least there’s that.”
“Thanks again for offering to pick me up.”
“It’s on the way. Thought it’d be sensible.” Shit, did that sound like I was doing it just because and not me wanting that extra time with her alone?
She hummed. “True.”
Fuck. Did her tone sound off? Had she taken it the wrong way? Was she ready for the right way though? The truth?
Before I could correct anything, or actually think of the right thing to say—I also thought it best to leave it in case I fucked it up—I pulled into a car park down the road from the pub. The street was busy, but not too much. Christ, I hoped it wasn’t too crowded. Crowds annoyed me. It also meant there was a chance some guys would take notice of Maya.
Who was I kidding? Of course she’d be noticed by other guys. She was stunning. I glanced down at her jeans when we met at the front of my car. I’d already noticed how they hugged her arse nicely. There were a little too many cuts and slits for others to look at, though. The shirt she had on was cut low enough for a taste of cleavage but wasn’t over-the-top bare all. Thank fuck.
Placing a hand on her lower back, I led her down the footpath. She glanced up at me with a small smile that had my gut damn well fluttering.
Christ, she was beautiful. I wanted to thread my fingers into her long, dark-brown hair. It was so damn thick and wavy. But I refrained. Hopefully one day.
The closer we got, the louder the noise spilled from the bar. Coyote and Channa were already inside. Coyote had texted, letting me know they’d grabbed a booth on the far side. We just had to get in there and find it.
Maya took out her purse to pay the fee to get in, but I’d already had the money in my pocket and handed it over top of her.
She looked over her shoulder with a glare. “You didn’t have to.”
I winked. “I know.”
She grumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t hear as we walked down the hall. When it opened up to the main area, I took in the room quickly, noting all the exits as a just in case. I also spotted Coyote and Channa. Leaning down, I said into Maya’s ear, “Over to the right.”
