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“Oh, I see exactly what you’re looking at.”
I feel my cheeks pink up, betrayed again by my pale Irish genes, as both Jake and Olivia lean out of the booth to get a better look at the guy.
“Jesus, could you be more obvious?” I moan. “Jake, aren’t you supposed to be trained to be all stealthy and shit?”
He chuckles and shifts back into the booth, putting his arm around Livi to rein her back in as well. “Sorry, Julia,” Jake drawls, draining his lime and soda. “He doesn’t look familiar, so he must be an out of towner. Fresh meat for you.”
Thankfully, Livi slaps her husband's arm before I can reach over and do it.
“Babe, don’t talk about Jules like that. She’s looking for love, not a hook-up. Right?” Livi looks at me hopefully, and I can’t help but laugh.
“It’s been so long since I had a date, I just want a guy to come and lay on top of me so I can feel the weight of a man on me again,” I sigh, thinking back to the last, very unsatisfying fling I had before I came home from college. Of course I’m looking for love, but at this point I’d take a hot night of sweaty sex with a handsome stranger.
Livi quickly drains the rest of her drink and shoves her and Jake’s glasses at me. “Well, we need more drinks, so get your butt up to the bar and talk to him.” She smiles sweetly at me, and I know this is an order not a suggestion.
“Fine,” I huff, blowing out an exasperated breath, shuffling out of the booth and heading toward the bar.
As I approach, fully aware that Livi and Jake are staring at my progress, I take a deep breath and place the empty glasses on the bar next to the giant man. Up close he’s even bigger and broader than I thought, still taller than me even though he’s sat down on one of the bar stools.
“Hey Violet, can we have two more daiquiris and a soda water with lime for our table please?” I say in a confident voice, but I hear the slight quiver in it as the guy stiffens slightly.
He’s wearing an open plaid shirt rolled up at the sleeves with a white t-shirt, dark jeans that hug his thick thighs, and biker boots on his large feet. I notice tattoos decorate his corded forearms — a mixture of small pieces that make up a sleeve starting at his wrist and disappearing under his shirt sleeve. Damn, I’m a sucker for a bad boy with tats.
“Julia, you know you haven’t worked here for three years now,” Violet laughs. “You don’t have to come up and put your orders in like you still do.”
“Force of habit, I guess,” I reply, with a laugh. “You know I always loved working here when I came home from college.”
Violet laughs good-naturedly, knowing full well I only worked here because she’s my aunt, and my mom made me.
As Violet makes the drinks, I notice the giant has cocked his head to listen to our conversation. I’m also aware that he’s checking me out — at first quite subtly, but then his eyes are devouring me like I’m his next snack. He seems so intent on checking me out that he barely notices when I speak to him.
“Hey there, stranger,” I say in my best friendly, but sexy voice. I put my hands on my hips to accentuate my best asset. “You like what you see?”
Now I’m no great beauty, and I’m definitely on the plump side of curvy, so hitting on guys in a bar is still a little terrifying for me. But the way this guy was eating me up with his hungry gaze made me pretty certain he was attracted to me too.
However, the words that come out of his perfect lips hit me like a sucker punch to the gut.
“Look, I just wanna eat my food and finish my drink in peace,” he grumbles under his breath. “I didn’t come here to get hit on.”
Suddenly all the warm fuzzy feelings I had toward this guy are gone, and I’m pissed.
“Jesus, I’m just trying to be friendly,” I growl back, the hands on my hips have gone from alluring to sassy.
He turns toward me, and I’m almost floored by how attractive he is, even with the angry scowl on his face. “I just wanna be left the fuck alone!”
Oh man, I’m absolutely furious. “Violet, don’t you have a zero-tolerance policy against letting grumpy assholes into your bar?” I say firmly, cocking a red eyebrow at him.
“Julia, take it easy,” Violet replies quietly, trying to defuse the situation. “Just let the man eat his dinner in peace.”
As I turn back toward Violet, I notice that the tension drains from his body, and he almost slumps against the bar. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he says, standing to his full height, dwarfing both me and Violet in his presence. Instinctively, I take a step back. Not because he intimidates me, but because I have to look up to see his face when we’re this close.
He turns to Violet. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. If you’d be so kind as to bag up my food, I’ll be on my way.” For such a big guy he’s actually very softly spoken, and I fear I may have been a bit too sassy for my own good and misjudged his need for peace and quiet.
“Look, you don’t have to leave,” I splutter, trying to back peddle from being my usual snarky self. “You stay and enjoy your dinner. I’m sorry to bother you.”
I quickly turn on my heel and slink back to the table with a tray of drinks, and my tail between my legs. I find Jake and Livi desperately trying to hold in their laughter so instead of responding like a grown up, I remove the lime wedge from my drink and launch it at my so-called best friend before proceeding to sulk for the rest of the night.
I don’t glance up at the bar again for a good long time, but when I do, I notice the giant has left. I feel sad at the lost opportunity to get to know him. Why did I have to come on so strong?
