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I blow out a huff, trying to hide the giddiness his smile makes me feel. “He was just leaving,” I grit, not offering them his name.
Brenden chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. My gaze is drawn to the muscular forearm peeking out of his rolled-up sleeve, a fire ignited in my belly by the time I focus my stare back on his face.
Brenden’s lips are still quirked up into a smile, but there’s an intensity in his eyes that wasn’t there a moment ago.
Cat clears her throat, reminding us of their presence, and Brenden turns his attention to them. “I’m afraid she’s right. I should get back to my family. I just wanted to introduce myself to Lizzy.”
He turns his attention back to me long enough to wink before scooting to the end of the booth and standing. Cat and Lori tilt their heads up to keep their gazes on his face. “You see, I haven’t been able to get her off my mind since I saw her the other day at the library, and I told myself if I ever saw her again, I would at least get her name.”
My heart stops as his words sink into my jumbled thoughts. I’m certain my jaw hits the table as I flounder for something to say. He looks different in a shirt and tie than he had in his leather jacket, but now that I know it’s him, I see it. He has the same broad, intimidating frame.
Did he say he hasn’t been able to get me off his mind? What the hell does that even mean? My face flames from the thought, likely turning twenty different shades of red by the time Lori and Cat look down at me.
“I’m Brenden, by the way,” he tells them, extending his hand to Lori first.
“Lori. It’s very nice to meet you, Brenden.” She turns a little red, but her voice is husky and smooth, like a groupie meeting a rock star for the first time. It’s ridiculous. I’m sure I’ll never hear the end of this.
Brenden laughs before extending his hand to Cat. “And you are?”
“Catelyn, but you can call me Cat,” she answers, fumbling over her words as she takes his hand.
“Well, it was nice meeting you ladies,” Brenden says to them before looking down at me. “Lizzy. I hope to see you around.” A smile spreads wide across his face, those gray eyes raking over me.
I shift uncomfortably in my seat, biting my lip as he gives me a quick nod before leaving the table.
Cat and Lori turn their heads to watch him walk away, and I can’t help but join them.
What the hell was that?
Brenden
“Dude, you totally got shot down,” Jon says out the corner of his mouth as I take my seat back at the table. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl reject you like that.”
I wasn’t sure it was her when she first walked in. She looked different with her hair down and makeup on. Not necessarily better, just different. Like she was trying to be something she wasn’t. My eyes and thoughts remained on her throughout dinner, and I found myself unable to focus on anything else.
I watched her fidget, flipping between playing with the small gems in her ears and twisting her wedding ring with her thumb. Her eyes darted around the restaurant without ever taking any of it in. Even after downing her drinks in record time, her smiles were forced, her laugh flat and halfhearted.
It made my chest tighten, and there was nothing I wanted more than to make her genuinely smile. Which is exactly what I’d set out to do when I walked over to her table.
I’ve never felt drawn to a woman the way I do Lizzy, and it’s throwing me for a loop. When I realized she was here tonight, I knew I had to talk to her. If only to figure out this gravitational pull.
“No, I didn’t,” I grit, elbowing him. “I wasn’t hitting on her.”
At least, that wasn’t my intention, but she’s so damn beautiful. Her pale skin is the perfect contrast to her dark hair and emerald eyes, and the tight sweater she’s wearing highlights her curves in the most exquisite way. I couldn’t stop devouring her with my eyes the entire time we were talking.
“Dude, you’re so full of shit.” One side of his mouth tilts into a condescending smirk. “You don’t think I noticed you staring at her all damn night? Come on, man, I saw you over there trying to work her. Looks like your charm doesn’t work on everyone.”
“Fuck off.” I don’t want to admit it, even to myself, but he’s right. Like an asshole, I was hitting on her—wedding ring and all. Which isn’t something I normally do.
The interest in her eyes as they roamed over me only heightened my own. Each time her cheeks flushed and her breathing became heavier, I felt like the damn king of the world.
“What are you boys talking about over there?” Jon’s mother asks, pressing her lips together.
“Nothing,” we answer in unison.
“I know what that means,” Jon Sr. chimes in with his thick Southern accent. “They must’ve been talking about girls.”
Jon and I exchange a look and shake our heads. We’re thirty-three years old for Pete’s sake. It’s been a very long time since we sat around talking about girls.
