“Take another look, Rookie.”
Kane narrows his bugged-out eyes. “Nah, it can’t be her. Where’s her scarf and her glasses? If that little mouse can look like that, why wouldn’t she do it all the time? Willful frumpiness doesn’t make a bit of sense. I’ve never met a chick who doesn’t like to shake what the good Lord gave her. Usually right in my face.”
Dylan crosses his arms over his chest. “Because that is a woman with nothing to prove. She leads with her brain. You should try a girl like that sometime. It’s a different kind of turn-on.”
Kane fishes his wing out of the creamy dressing. “Negative. I’ll leave that philanthropic shit to you geezers.”
Dylan leans over the table and keeps his deep voice so low I have to strain to hear him in my dazed state. “Ahem… I guess I don’t need to tell you that every single man in the bar is watching your woman. You better stake your claim and do it fast before their perverted thoughts turn into actions.”
My crotch tightens and my dick feels like a loose cannon pointing toward my Cora, aiming and firing without warning. I rise and stretch my arms out so she can walk into them. After kissing her on the cheek, my hands linger longer on her waist than is appropriate so any dipshit thinking he can infringe on my territory will back the fuck off. “You look incredible tonight. Is that a new dress?”
She flushes and glances away. “No. I just don’t get the chance to wear a dress that much. Sue-Ann said she and Max had an important announcement tonight, so it was kind of a special occasion. Is it too much?”
My hand rubs down her back as I situate her next to me. “You’re just right. And I’m really glad you’re here. I saved you a seat.”
When I see Chief and Gwen loitering in the doorway, I wave them over too. Max has known Chief for as long as he’s known me, and brought Gwen along as his plus one.
Gwen flounces around the table, her knowing eyes scanning everyone present as she heads right toward the empty chair next to Dylan. Except she doesn’t know it’s Dylan.
At least not yet.
Her lovely smile caresses him, and it’s like the lights in the bar just got brighter as part of the dark cloud that’s been hanging over the man lifts. “Is this seat taken?”
D stares up at her, his mouth hanging open in a little oval. A few uncomfortable and silent seconds pass and I will him to speak. He doesn’t even move a muscle. He’s always been a man of few words, but this takes the cake. I guess when you normally put your head in the sand, you can’t complain that it’s dark.
Gwen just keeps beaming down into the abyss and waiting for the mute to utter something. I don’t blame him. She has that effect on people. Especially people who probably haven’t been laid in years.
Max leans back and points. “Um… D? The pretty lady wants to know if she can sit in that empty seat right there next to you.”
After a few more electrically charged seconds of staring and salivating, Dylan snaps out of it. And damned if the grumpy old man doesn’t jump up, pull out Gwen’s chair for her, and make sure she’s seated comfortably before he sits back down. I think he even takes a whiff of her special sunshine smell that I know better than anyone whenever she hugs me, but I can’t be sure. What I am sure of is that a dumb-as-fuck look has replaced the scowl that’s usually on his face.
“I’m Gwen,” she offers, holding out her hand. “I thought I’d met all of Blaine’s teammates, but I’d remember you.”
I swear to God he blushes and stammers as he shakes it. “Um… I… I’d remember too.”
A pause. Another knowing smile. “Do you have a name, Blaine’s friend?”
He gets even redder. “Dylan.”
Gwen’s dimple flickers back to life as her eyes sparkle with the knowledge that she’s sitting next to the right man. “Did you say, Dylan? Well, it’s nice to meet you. So what position do you play?”
I know what position he’d like to play. The same one I’m thinking about playing later.
“Um… winger.”
“Ah, sounds like you’re a man who knows how to fly. I’d ask you to tell me about it, but you’re a man of few words, aren’t you? I’m so used to Max oversharing that this