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“Might be.”
“I don’t know—I’m supposed to be hiding,” I said. He leaned down close to hear my voice. “This drama dragon is a bit hot for me. Maybe you need to give that girl a little closure?”
His hand touched a button on the waist of my dress. I inhaled, my nipples tightening. He grabbed my hand and pulled me outside.
His friend was standing by the door talking to the bouncer. I pulled my hand out of Clint’s, glancing over my shoulder for Amber. She walked up, a tight expression on her face.
“I’ll wait,” she said. “Not pretty in there and a long line.”
Marcus glanced over at us, and his eyes landed on Amber in a focused kind of way. “Hey, I’m Marcus,” he said to both of us, grinning.
“Hi,” Amber replied, a little flustered.
I cleared my throat. “Amber and I aren’t sure if we’re going to stay out any longer, but we’ll walk to that club with you.”
“Come on, Sally,” said Clint, one side of his mouth curling up. “You’ll like the next place.”
As we moved down the sidewalk, Clint kept his big body next to mine, forcing Amber and Marcus to walk together.
“You look nice,” Marcus said. “Where are you from?”
“Oh, thanks,” Amber replied. “I’m from Texas. And you?”
“Georgia. Came out here to play ball. Now my boy over there is leaving for Nebraska and I’m bummed out. When do you go, Clint?”
Clint frowned. “They want me out there next week. We’re still working on details.”
“Are you going to drive?” I asked.
“Nah. Not enough time. Team’ll hire someone to get my truck and move my stuff.”
“You a student, Amber?” Marcus smiled over at her.
“Yes. Grad student, in business.”
Marcus gave a low whistle.
“She’s real sharp,” I said, proudly—I like having smart friends.
“Oh, stop!” Amber fluttered her hand back at me.
“We used to do beauty pageants together, when we were kids. She’d get up there and give a speech about geopolitics or institutional macroeconomics. I’d be like, girl, your brain’s so big it’s about to tip over your head. And she won the bathing suit competition too.”
“Once,” Amber said, turning around to glare at me. I grinned.
“Wow,” said Marcus, his lips pursed. “Will you ladies come in and let us buy you a drink?”
“All right,” said Amber, walking to the door with Marcus before I could get in a peep.
I stared up at Clint, my eyes narrowed. A big smile broke out on his face. He hugged me. “Damn, I missed you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Clint kept trying to hold my hand as we walked into the club inside a big old whitewashed building surrounded by gardens. He’d been right—I did like that bar, particularly because they had a menu of boutique cocktails to choose from.
I sipped my dragon fruit pina colada and tried to keep myself from leaning into Clint. His big body stayed close to mine, his chest against my back as we stood and watched a jazz band.
Amber and Marcus were managing to have a conversation, talking into each other’s ears and laughing.
