He couldn’t stop looking at her, and she knew it. Oh, she was pretending to be absorbed in conversation with her friends, but the way she kept fidgeting with her earlobe told him that he’d gotten to her.
Levi waved a hand in front of Emmitt’s face. “You going to order?”
“What?”
“The bar is packed, and the dining room is a forty-minute wait.” Levi pointed to the crowd clogging the entry to his bar, where local families and a few unfamiliar faces were waiting to be seated. “Dan called in sick, and so did my new hostess, which means they’re probably taking each other’s temperature with their tongues, so I don’t have time for you to be eye-fucking my patrons. Either order or give up your bar stool.”
“I’ll have a burger and one of whatever you have on tap.” It had been well over twelve hours since his last painkiller. “And for the record, I’m not eye-fucking your patrons.”
Emmitt was only interested in one patron, and she’d throw her stilettos at him if he used that term.
Levi set a frosty mug under the spigot of a local IPA. “You know Gray will kick your ass if you screw around with his temp.”
“I’m aware.” And it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as what Emmitt would do to himself if he hurt her. “And nothing’s happened.”
That wasn’t entirely true. Nothing physical had happened, but a whole lot of other stuff was happening even as Annie pretended to ignore him. That she was pretending so hard confirmed it.
Being around her felt good. Watching her prance around his kitchen in her cotton pajamas while griping that he’d drunk all the milk was even better. Sitting at the kitchen table and sharing pizza and beer with her made him wish for things he shouldn’t be wishing for.
Levi slid Emmitt his beer, and frothy foam spilled over the side and onto the bar top, which was made of planking stripped from an old boat. “You need to get laid by someone other than Annie before you do something stupid.”
“Says the born-again virgin.” Emmitt took a long swig. “Unless something happened since I was here last, you haven’t been on a date with someone other than Paisley since Beth sailed away with that weekend warrior from Vermont.”
“I’ve dated.”
“Lotion and a sock don’t count.”
Levi rested his elbows on the bar top and leaned in. “You’re just pissy because you’ve got a thing for Annie, and it scares the shit out of you.”
“So, I think she’s cute. So what?”
“Cute? I don’t know if that is the pussiest thing you’ve ever said or the most refreshing.”
“How else do I say that while, yes, I find her insanely attractive, I also like her, and not just in my bed. Not that I’ve had her in my bed. Okay I have, just not at the same time as me. But what I’m saying is I like her out of bed. It’s weird.”
“It’s about to get weirder.” Levi’s grin was a little too big for Emmitt’s comfort.
Someone slid up to the bar next to him. A very cute someone with pink glossy lips, who hip-checked him as she took half his chair. “Okay, deal.”
“Seriously?” he asked, knowing he had a dopey grin on his face.
“Are you giving me a chance to reconsider?”
“Bartender, two glasses of your finest boring Pino Grigio.” He held up two fingers.
Annie raised just one. “No more boring Pino for me.” Then to Levi, “I’ll have what he’s having.”
“Actually, she can have mine.” He waved Levi off, then slid his mug her way.
She eyed the mug with suspicion. “Trying to pass off bad beer?”
“There are a couple things I’m not bad at. Picking a good beer is the other one.”
After a skeptical look, she tilted her head back, making the delicate lines of her neck elongate, and took a sip. A tiny sip. Then her eyes twinkled with delight and she took a big gulp.
It was the freckles, he decided. The light sprinkling right across the bridge of her nose and cheeks was all kinds of cute. He’d never considered himself a freckles man. But she had him seriously reconsidering.
“So, what changed?” he asked.
She shrugged. “When I left Connecticut, my goal was to try new things. To throw caution to the wind and be open to experiences that come my way.”
He picked up the mug and took a drink. “I’ve seen your aim. I wouldn’t advise throwing anything.”
“Then I will go over these one by one.” She fanned a