Chapter 3 #2
Well, that sounded logical—considerate, even. Lexi gave a nod of approval and twisted on the stool so she partly faced Mr. S. “I can’t keep thinking of you as ‘Mr. Smartass.’ What’s your name?”
More people had filled in, and the din had grown louder.
He leaned in close to her ear, taking a bite out of her personal bubble.
The scent of citrus and something smoky—soft but undeniably male—drifted pleasantly up her nose.
His fragrance was completely at odds with his prickly personality and faded T-shirt.
She refrained from angling in to breathe it in more deeply.
“You think about me?” he purred.
Flustered, she waved her hand and brushed his shoulder by accident, causing him to straighten.
At least he was out of her private space.
“Oh, sorry. And no, I wasn’t thinking about you until now when I thought it would be polite to exchange names.
I’m Lexi Campbell.” She held out her hand for a shake.
“Nice to meet you, Lexi Campbell. I’m Josh Wylder.
” The name suited him. He accepted her proffered hand in his much bigger one.
It was warm and rough and so big it engulfed hers.
The sensation sent a shock wave to her core, and she wriggled on the stool.
If he noticed, his eyes didn’t reflect it. “What brings you here?”
He let go of her hand. Unsure what else to do with the suddenly lonely appendage, she dropped it into her lap. “To this barstool or to this resort?”
“Both, I guess.”
Should she tell him the truth about her lost honeymoon? She didn’t care what he thought of her, but her ego still sported the fading bruises her ex had inflicted on it.
“R and R.” She sipped at her cocktail.
“Are you meeting up with a friend?”
“Unfortunately, no. She got pregnant after I booked the trip, so she couldn’t come. Since it was already paid for and I had set the time aside, I decided to come anyway.”
“No other friends?”
She’d considered asking someone else—her mother, even—but in the end, there hadn’t been anyone she would have felt comfortable spending the entire week with besides her bestie.
“None I wanted to invite.” She shrugged as if being here by herself—without the man who should have been her husband by now—was no big deal. As if the permanent “time aside” was also no big deal. “I’ve always dreamed of staying here, so why not have a solo adventure?”
Matt delivered their drinks, and Lexi immediately nibbled at the pineapple chunk, sliding it off the skewer with her tongue and teeth.
She gobbled it down. Josh Wylder’s eyes followed her every move, expanding, then darkening.
Lord, had she dribbled on herself? She looked down but didn’t see any traces of pineapple juice on her white dress.
When she raised her eyes, he was taking a hefty sip of his drink. “So what brought you to this particular barstool?”
“I wanted to reassure you I’m not normally as oblivious or as clumsy as you might have assumed after our first meeting. Also, I was curious about your, um, friend.”
His brows knotted together.
“The man whose seat I’m in,” she prodded. “Dark hair, dark eyes. You were talking to him until a few minutes ago?”
One corner of Josh’s mouth hitched up. “Oh, I get it.”
She took another prim sip to hide her flush.
“Sounds like you’re interested in him.” There was a mocking quality to Josh’s tone that made her squirm.
She lifted her eyes to the ceiling. “It’s possible.”
“Well, let’s see. His name is Neil, he’s a CFO, he lives in Philly, and he’s straight, but—”
“Could you maybe introduce me?” she blurted.
“Me?” Josh pointed at his sculpted chest. She knew it was chiseled because his T-shirt was a little tight, and his biceps and forearms were all lean muscle. Besides, she’d fallen into the rock wall that was his back. The man was surprisingly ripped.
She nodded. “Yes, you.” Hope fluttered in her rib cage.
“Sure. I don’t know how soon he’s coming back, but when and if he does, I’ll introduce you.” He grinned at her.
“Thank you.” Bubbles fizzed in her tummy, and she twirled her glass a little too vigorously, sloshing pina colada over the edge.
God, could she be any more of a bumble bunny?
As she mopped up her mess, she didn’t dare a glance at Josh.
He was probably yukking it up inside over her declaration that she wasn’t clumsy.
Worse, he was probably reliving her slip of her tongue from earlier.
Penis coladas.
Ugh! Heat blazed up her cheeks once more, and she kept her eyes on the bar. “So what brings you here?”
“Change of scene. And, like you, I booked the trip a while ago.”
“July is an odd time to vacation in Florida, isn’t it?”
He cocked a questioning eyebrow at her. “I could ask you the same thing.”
God, she’d stepped in it again! But she still wasn’t ready to divulge her real reason for being here. “Discounts. It’s the low season.”
“I booked it because summer is the only time I get off.” He rested his forearms on the bar, and she couldn’t help but notice the line of his corded veins …
or his strong hands … or his long fingers.
Everything about him screamed “Masculine!” And that wasn’t a bad thing, except for the unfortunate effect it seemed to be having on her curious libido.
She propped her elbow on the bar and rested her chin in her palm. “You must be a teacher.”
He slid her a sidelong glance. “Hardly.”
That lined up because he looked nothing like a teacher. “Then what do you do?”
He finished his drink and tasted the second one.
This guy was really plowing through them.
Silence stretched between them, but she didn’t push.
He might be a stranger, but something was obviously eating at him, and she didn’t need to know what he did for a living.
She’d simply been making small talk to fill the time until his friend Neil returned.
If she let the question die in the ether, they could pretend she never asked.
He canted his head and leveled his gaze at her. “It’s what I used to do. I’m currently unemployed.”
Former hero. Had he been a firefighter? Except their time off wasn’t necessarily limited to summers. “Your choice or …?”
“Not my choice.”
“That stinks. I guess we have that in common.” She raised her cocktail to him.
“Come again?”
“I’m also unemployed. I got fired a week ago.” There. Maybe hearing about her blunder would make him feel better.
He stared at her, calculations seeming to stream behind his eyes, as if he wanted to ask more but didn’t want to pry. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all, and honestly, he had a good reason to be grumpy.
Plucking the second pineapple skewer, she debated with herself.
She should finish the first drink before raiding the second one, but this was her vacation, damn it!
What better time to break a few rules? With that thought, she finished off the chunk and let out a little moan of contentment.
It felt good to break rules, even tiny ones. Anna would be proud.
Josh’s eyes did that weird widening and darkening thing again, but they were pointed at her mouth this time. Was he …? No. No way.
He gave a quick shake of his head. “What did you do? In your job, not what did you do to get fired.”
“I was a copywriter for a bridal magazine.” She held her breath, anticipating the inevitable next question.
It didn’t come, leaving her staring at him and him staring back.
His eyes weren’t really gray-green. They shimmered like silver, with tiny spruce specks, and his lashes were sinfully lush and long, forming the perfect frame.
“More drinks here?” Matt interrupted, breaking whatever spell had overtaken them.
Josh executed a drumroll on the bar. “Sure. You might want to bring her a bowl of pineapple, though.” He tipped his head toward Lexi. “It seems to be her favorite part of the drink.”
Wow. He noticed that?
Josh flashed her a brilliant smile—a real one—revealing perfect pearly whites. The smile looked good on him and gave her a glimpse of the charm that might possibly be buried beneath his prickly exterior.
“Hey, buddy.”
They both turned toward the voice, and Lexi’s heart caught in her throat. Neil stood behind them. He looked even better up close.
“You’re back,” Josh deadpanned.
Neil shrugged, then his liquid brown eyes zeroed in on Lexi. “You going to introduce me to your beautiful friend?”
Josh straightened and swiveled in his seat so he faced them both. “Lexi, this is Neil. Neil, this is Lexi.”
She couldn’t be certain, but she thought she detected an undercurrent of hostility in his tone, which made no sense.