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Ellie
* * *
Iknew immediately I’d never seen him before. I never forget a face, and his was definitely worth remembering. Despite the dark hair and eyes, he had an unmistakable air of ‘Captain America’ I found intriguing. His hair was neatly cut, his jeans and shirt impeccable compared to the sea of rumpled band t-shirts around me, and even from here the broad shoulders and muscular fit of his pants clearly portrayed ‘man’ as opposed to ‘boy’.
I felt his eyes on me long before I deigned to look back. These guys all know who I am, and even though I like to hang out, there’s a definite line they don’t cross with the boss’s daughter.
This one clearly didn’t know, judging from the way his eyes roved over my body.
Or didn’t care, which was even more intriguing.
As the song ended, I decided refreshment was in order and excused myself to get a drink.
The man reclined against the bar with one muscular forearm, his other hand clutching a beer. When he realized I was heading his way, he froze completely, like prey attempting to avoid catching the eye of a predator.
Interesting.
“Hey Erik, a beer, please.”
The bartender nodded and popped the cap on a brown long neck bottle before placing it on a napkin in front of me. I took a long pull from the frosty drink before I turned and looked directly at Captain America.
“Hi,” I smiled, pulling damp hair from my neck and draping it over my shoulder. “Are you new?”
Seeming to come out of a trance, he straightened and offered me his hand. “Hi, yes I am, first day. I’m Jake, it’s nice to meet you…?” he trailed off, holding my gaze as he waited.
“Ellie,” I replied with a grin and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you as well. Did you have a good first day?”
“Yeah, I did actually. A bit strange, but I’ll adapt.”
“Strange? Strange how?” Oh yeah, he definitely had no clue who I was. The pleasure of anonymity widened my smile; I so rarely met someone completely unaware of who I was.
“I just got out of the military, so that in itself makes all of this strange.” He gestured to the party.
“Ah, that makes sense.”
“It does?”
“Yeah, I thought you had a whole ‘Captain America’ look about you. That’s odd for Aspen Ridge. It’s adding up now.”
He glanced around, then dropped his gaze to his hands. “You’re not wrong. Is it that bad?”
“No, it’s not bad. Just… noticeable. We draw more of the earth-loving hippy types. Not that you don’t love the earth,” I corrected quickly. “Just… I mean, I’m sure you can see it.”
Thankfully, he laughed. “Yeah, I get what you mean. Don’t worry, I’m not insulted. I’m sure I’ll adapt. I’ve already received some helpful tips.” He snorted.
Suspicion rose in my chest. “Oh, no, what happened? If someone was rude to you, I’ll-”
“No, no, nothing like that. Everyone has been very kind,” he rushed to reassure me. “I met Alyssa, the events center manager. She was just tired and wasn’t very amused by my attempt at humor. I’m pretty sure she didn’t get the joke at all.”
“Oh. I’m glad to hear you haven’t had problems, at least. Yeah, I think her pregnancy has been harder on her than she expected. Honestly, I thought she went home hours ago, but I’m not surprised she stayed. I will say that her sense of humor has definitely tanked in the last couple of months. But you didn’t make a joke about her being pregnant, did you? Because that never goes over well.”
He raised both hands. “No, absolutely not. Trust me, I know better than to tease a pregnant woman.”
“So what was it?”
“What was what?”
“What was the joke?”
