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Her heart pounded so hard it made her wince. “So I guess that means you’ll—”
“Be there? Yes. Yes, I will.”
Hannah’s stomach turned. Blake was going to be there to see her all dressed up and looking like a complete idiot. Probably with the beautiful brunette on his arm.
Faking a smile, she said, “Well, great. It sounds like a lot of fun.”
Before he could respond, the brunette came up behind him, smiling at Nicki and Hannah apologetically. “Hey, Kline, we’re ready to order. Do you know what you want?”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll be right there.” When she made no move leave, Blake sighed. “Hannah and Nicki, this is Megan Bryce, my coworker.”
Megan took each of their hands, pausing as she shook Hannah’s. “Oh! You’re the girl Blake gave a self-defense lesson to, huh?”
“Yeah, I am.” Hannah shot Blake a puzzled look over Megan’s excitement.
“Well, I’ve heard so much about you—”
“Okay, we’ve got to get back to the table and order. I’ll see you guys next week,” Blake said. Without giving them a chance to respond, he ushered Megan away.
“What the hell was that about?” Nicki asked.
Hannah just watched them whisper furiously back and forth, wondering what was being said. Had Blake been talking about her?
Hannah was beyond confused, her emotions warring. He had introduced Megan as someone he works with and been talking about Hannah to her. That alone made warmth spread through her chest. But what if it hadn’t been good? What if he’d been talking about the crazy waitress who was obsessed with him?
Bile rose up the back of her throat at the thought of him and the pretty brunette laughing about her behind her back.
Come on, Blake isn’t like that.
But was she really so sure?
“Hello, earth to Hannah. What was that little interlude about?”
“I have no idea.”
Chapter Fifteen
ON TUESDAY MORNING, two weeks since Blake had saved Hannah, Blake’s feet pounded the pavement of the walking trail, classic AC/DC blaring in his ears as sweat dripped into his eyes. He was insanely frustrated, and a lot of it had to do with a certain waitress with golden-flecked eyes.
Despite talking himself out of starting something up with her, he knew he liked her. And they’d both agreed to be friends, but when he’d walked up to Hannah at BJ’s, she hadn’t seemed happy to see him. She’d been distant and cold, and when he’d mentioned that he was going to be at the Valentine’s Day ball, too, she’d almost appeared horrified.
What the hell did that mean? That she’d been lying about wanting to be friends? Had she been trying to avoid him? Sure, he hadn’t texted or called her or gone to Dale’s either, but that was because he was afraid of his reaction to her, not because he wanted to cut her out completely. Especially since Bryce had embarrassed the shit out of him at BJ’s last weekend. He’d been tempted to drown her in her beer when they got back to the table but had simply ignored her as he tried to catch another glimpse of Hannah.
Being near her and smelling that insanely good fruity perfume she wore was like a shock wave to his cock. He knew deep down that the more time he spent with Hannah, the more he was going to want her and the weaker he would be. He wanted to be sure before he made a move.
Which was why he’d decided to go to Dale’s today. Sparks was right about him knowing Hannah and how understanding she was. If he could just move past his own crap about dating, he thought that they could at least have fun together. Take things slow.
But maybe he’d completely screwed things up be
tween them by telling her about Jenny. She might have decided that he had too much baggage to even be friends with. He wouldn’t blame her, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth.
After a few minutes of awkwardness between Hannah, her friend, and him, he’d excused himself and gone back to his table.
He’d looked up in time to watch Hannah and her friend leaving the restaurant, and the fact that she hadn’t even waved good-bye disturbed him. What the hell had he done to piss her off?
He slowed to a jog as he exited the trail, and when he got to his car in the Dale’s Diner parking lot, he almost didn’t go in. He’d brought a change of clothes in case he wanted breakfast, but there was no point in going in if it was just going to make Hannah uncomfortable.
It could also have nothing to do with me. Maybe I just caught her on a bad day?
