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Nicky nodded. “No shit. Plus a big tip, too. Even if his rep is bad, the man is my best tipper. And,” she added, “He glowers at anyone who tries to grab my ass.”
“Nice,” Jessa said as she downed one of the waters.
“And,” Nicky added, setting down an order of pom guac, “he sent this, plus he paid for your to-go order, Maddie.” She winked before walking away with a big grin on her face.
“Well, fuck.” Her sigh was borderline epic. “Any man who sends over pom guac? Le sigh.” She spun me around, face to face, hands on my shoulders and said, “Ride him, leave him,and tell no one. I’ll hide the body if he’s an asshole. If you go down-”
“Stop quoting country songs, Jess!” I giggled, but as my gaze snuck over her shoulder, Sebastian raised his water bottle, and pointed it at the table. “Bossy, much,” I muttered, but grabbed the damn thing anyway. One side of his mouth tilted as he watched me drink the entire bottle, then wipe the back of my hand across my mouth. I slammed the empty bottle on the surface of the table just as Reid returned.
“I am so thirsty,” she said as she picked up a bottle of water.
I shot Jessa a glare before she could utter a word, and announced, “I’m heading to the ladies room.” My look must have been murderous, because Jessa backed off when I shook my head.
As I weaved through the crowd, because I wasn’t the only one who loved The Prickly Pear’s tacos and pom guac, I started to feel the way I had a few weeks after AJ’s arrest after the incident at Magpie Dreams.
Like I would shatter if anyone dared to look at me, and even if they meant well, Reid and Jessa held their breath around me, like I was delicate and couldn’t handle the simplest things without falling apart. Reid’s getaway with Owen, even if she didn’t mean it that way, felt like a test. And if I said so myself, I passed it with flying colors.
Stupid strong margaritas. And asshole football players who just stare across the room and look all broody and sexy.
The bathroom was larger than the typical bar, but then again, The Prickly Pear was not typical, without a line. One of the reasons had to be that the menu rivaled most sit-down restaurants, and the atmosphere was perfection.
Still working out that equation with my slightly buzzed (and wearing off, thankfully) and flustered brain (because, hello, Mr. Tall, Dark, And Asshole.) I nodded my head as Istared at my reflection in the mirror after I touched up my lipstick. I’d show him. Sending water then demanding I drink it? I was my own person, and he could just stuff his pretty green eyes under that damn ball cap and deal with it.
And I was keeping the pom guac.
Yep.
All. Mine.
Mind made up, I clutched my vintage handbag in one hand, and pushed open the bathroom door with the other, only to run into a wall.
A solid, muscular, yummy smelling wall.
My eyes drifted up, and there he was.
Mr. Tall, Dark, and Asshole.
CHAPTER 9
SEBASTIAN
If there was one thing I had in spades, it was patience. And a stupid fucking compulsion to take care of stray kittens and innocent women, even when they sometimes turned out to not be so innocent as they let on. Two hours of watching Maddie across the room while listening to Ty drone on about everything from hot fucking yoga to the latest version of whatever damn album released online, and I was at my limit.
Especially because whatever drinks her friend kept bringing over were making her giddy, bright blue eyes shining and haunting me. Teasing me.
Fucking temptation in a sweet package that had no business being around a man like me.
Not every story begins like a fairytale. Once upon a time and Prince Charming didn’t happen in the real world.
I wasn’t a good man.
But watching her the last hour or so?
I wanted to be for her.
I wasn’t even close, though. A girl like that deserved to have the knight riding in on a whitehorse. Who wouldn’t want to fuck her against the wall in the hallway just to hear how she sounded when she came under my hands.
I flagged down Nicky. “See that table over there?” I yelled over the music, which had grown steadily louder as the night progressed. She nodded. “Round of water, on me.” I handed her a hundred. “Keep the rest.”
