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She stares down at her phone. “Don’t even mention it.” She glances up briefly. “I thought you might cry when I saw you eyeing that guy’s beer.” A tiny smile flirts at the corner of her full lips.
I lean towards her, my forearms on the table. “I very nearly did. It’s hard not to get emotional over a good beer and it’s been a long day. You may have saved my sanity.”
She puts her phone down, pauses, and then flips it so it’s facedown. “It has been a long day.”
“Where did you start out?”
“Los Angeles. Then Orlando and Atlanta.” She smiles up at the waitress. “I’ll take the avocado chicken sandwich and the IPA please.”
The waitress turns to me, and I order a burger. We pass over our menus, and I turn back to Boots. “That’s quite the run today.”
She shakes her head. “Tell me about it. I feel like I’ve been here forever. Luckily, I found a place where I could buy a coat.” She flicks her cuffs. “It was quite the climate shock and I thought I would be fine packing mine in my luggage.”
“I bet, especially if you’re not used to it. Are you a southern girl?”
She tucks her hair behind her ears. “Not originally, but I’m a California girl through and through now.”
I reach across the table. “Owen.”
Her eyes flash to my hand before she extends her own. “Serena.”
I’m hyperaware of her slender fingers sliding against mine, the way her dark lashes fan over her cheeks and how I’m noticing the pink gloss of her mouth as straight, white teeth bite into her lush bottom lip. Damn, this girl is beautiful. I’ve been so focused on hockey, the trade, new teammates, a new city and then the injury I haven’t had time to date or even just hook up for a night. I’ll go out with the guys, party for a bit, but it takes me a while to settle in and get comfortable somewhere new, it always has. But right now, I’m painfully aware of how long it’s been since I’ve been with anyone.
“That’s a pretty name.”
“Thanks, I’ll tell my mom you like it.” Her lips twist in a little smirk as she pulls her hand back.
I blink, not quite sure how to take her. The waitress arrives with our drinks, and I savor my first taste, the toasty caramel notes raising my mood instantly.
“Good?” she asks, lifting her own glass.
“Oh yeah. What about yours?”
She takes a sip and her tongue slides over her lips as she lowers the glass, making my cock twitch. I don’t know what it is about this woman, but there’s something magnetic about her.
“It’s delicious.” She takes another drink and sets it down. Her phone pings, and because I’m watching her so closely, I notice the way her jaw tightens.
“Something wrong?” I ask because I’m totally nosy like that. Olivia would be elbowing me by now, reminding me that I’m a complete stranger to this woman.
“Only everything,” she mutters.
“Man, friend or job?”
She pauses, takes another sip of her beer and tilts her head. “Family, job, man.”
I grin. “In that order?” I raise my glass. “You might need a second one of these.”
“Oh, no. This is my limit. More than one and I might do something I regret.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Now that sounds like it could be interesting.”
A small laugh escapes her as the waitress brings our food. She picks up a French fry and points it at me. “I think I’ll play it safe tonight.”
I should let it go, but I can’t resist. “The man?”
Indecision wars in her gaze before she picks up her glass again. “Oh, what the hell. Strangers in airports and all that. I was with this guy for a few weeks, maybe, but I’ve known him longer than that.” She taps her glass. “He chased me forever, but we sort of work together, and I thought it was a bad idea, right?”
I nod because she seems to expect it but I’m hoping her use of past tense really means she’s single now.
