5. Natalie
FIVE
natalie
“I cannot. Believe. He’s a friend. Of Gian’s.”
I was usually kick-ass at TVD trivia, but tonight? Not so much. We were playing as a team, and even Mazzie and Zoe couldn’t carry me. Every time I peered over, Jax was looking back. He didn’t even pretend otherwise.
“Yeah, well, Gian has some colorful friends, as you can imagine,” Mazzie said after we lost another round.
“I bet.” Zoe jumped off her stool. “Another round, on me?”
Mazzie, as usual, seemed torn. On one hand, she loved The Vampire Diaries trivia night. On the other, she had her own bar to run just a few blocks away. Usually she dipped into KC’s Taphouse for a round or two and then bolted.
“Come on,” I prodded, needing the moral support. “Everything’s under control down there. Boots & Brews runs like a well-oiled machine.”
“Ahh, fine. I wanted to talk to you guys about the wedding anyway.”
Gian and Mazzie were getting married in a few weeks, and everyone, including me, was so flipping excited. What was not to love about a destination wedding in Sicily? I’d never been before and could dearly use the vacation.
“Talk to me,” I said, trying not to glance over at the bar.
Too late.
For a change, he wasn’t looking. I took the opportunity to peruse just a bit.
“You talk to me,” Mazzie countered. “For someone claiming to hate the man, you’re looking at him like he’s a plate of pulled pork nachos.”
I did love pulled pork nachos.
“I mean, have you seen him?” I asked as Zoe rejoined us. “Dear lord in heaven.”
“If you’re talking about Jax,” Zoe said, sitting down, “I have some scoop.”
“Dish away,” Mazzie said, taking a sip of beer.
“He’s actually an ex-Army Ranger. He and Gian were talking about it when I got the drinks.”
An ex-Army Ranger. Made sense.
“What exactly does that mean?” I asked, despite myself. Zoe was a military brat, and ended up dating a former Army sniper, so I figured if anyone knew more, it would be her.
“Think of the Rangers as the Army version of Navy SEALs.”
“No shit?” I had no idea about these things, but everyone had heard of the SEALs. “How come no one knows about them?”
Zoe laughed. “Most people do. At least, the ones that don’t spend their days sans a cell phone, knee-deep in wetlands.”
“You should try it sometime,” I said. “Getting out in nature. No cell. Completely disconnected. It does a person good.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Zoe said.
“Same,” Mazzie added. “Especially now with the wedding plans in high gear.”
Attempting to get the focus off my interest in a man I was most definitely not interested in, I encouraged Mazzie to update us on all things wedding. It would be small, just forty people or so with only a maid of honor and one bridesmaid, old friends of Mazzie’s. But having it overseas definitely made things a bit more complicated. And exciting too.
I snuck another peek.
Jax’s slow smile told me that not only had I been caught, but that he wasn’t shy about doing the same. In fact, it was almost as if he were daring me to look at him.
An Army Ranger.
I knew nothing about them, and hardly anything about the SEALs either, but I could guess that it meant he was highly skilled and much more disciplined than the average person. Knowing his profession, which I guessed took a fair amount of negotiation skills and gumption, added to the fact that he was an Army Ranger...a more complete picture was forming. And it didn’t necessarily bode well for me or my land.
“Earth to Natalie.”
It took me all of three seconds to realize I’d zoned out for a little too long.
“Oh my god,” Mazzie said. “She likes him.
“Natalie, you poor thing.” Zoe tried to hide a smile. “You poor, poor girl.”
“If by ‘like’ you mean ‘hate,’ then...” I tried to sound casual. “You’re onto something.”
“Two things can be simultaneously true,” Zoe said as we geared up for the next round of trivia.
I ignored her. “Not in this case. The guy is arrogant, clearly gives two shits about the environment and...”
My pause was long enough for Mazzie to pounce. “Hotter than hell, obviously very skilled and probably smart too. Although, I have to admit, another Army guy in our group might just be one too many.”
“Speaking of Army guys,” I said, anxious to change the subject. “Shouldn’t Charlee be here by now?”
The fourth of our friend group was also dating a former Army sniper—Nate the bartender’s partner when they were stationed in Africa.
“She should.” Zoe pulled out her phone. “I’ll text her.”
“Can you imagine if you two started dating?” Mazzie said. “Three out of four of us with ex-Army boyfriends. Weird.”
“Um, I think Natalie is pretty far away from boyfriend material with that one,” Zoe looked back at the bar. “Not to mention he’s only in town for a little bit.”
“Yeah,” I pointed out. “To take the inlet. Let’s remember the fact that his sole purpose here is to buy and sell land he has no right to touch. Asshole.”
“Whoa.” Mazzie pretended to be shocked. “Where’s our sweet little Natalie?”
The girls loved making a big deal out of me being the “sweet and nice” one of the group, and it might be mostly true, but not one hundred percent of the time. I liked to party with the best of them and, in cases like this, certainly had no problem pulling out my claws.
“She’s currently being stared down,” Zoe said. “He really hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night.”
Dammit. Why did she have to remind me? Sure enough, he was staring.
“That’s it,” I said. Jumping off my stool, I ignored Mazzie and Zoe attempting to talk reason into me. That was the thing with super-sweet girls. Once you made them snap, it was game over.
“What,” I asked as I approached him, “is your problem?”
Gian’s face said it all. Clearly shocked, his mouth made an “oh” as in “oh boy” as he swiveled around to talk to someone on his other side.
The guy looked me up and down like the head cheerleader from an opposing squad.
I waited for him to finish. Pretended he had no effect on me when quite the opposite was true. Even sitting on the stool, he exuded power and control.
“I have a few problems,” he said. “But none at the moment. Thanks for asking.”
Adding dismissive to arrogant prick in describing this guy, I remained calm, knowing he would do the same. Military discipline and all.
“Let me rephrase, then. What’s with the staring?”
Gian nearly spit out his beer. So much for that pretend conversation of his. I would have smiled, except it would completely ruin the effect I was trying to achieve.
“A guy can’t stare at a beautiful woman from across the bar?”
Refusing to acknowledge the hard thud in my chest at his mention of a beautiful woman, I forged ahead.
“Sure, he can. But that’s not what’s going on here, and we both know it.”
His perfect eyebrows rose. “You sure about that?”
Why did his voice have to be so deep and sexy, like an ocean at night that tried to lure you in for a dip, moonlight shining down all peacefully, even though it was beyond dangerous? Waves. Undertow. Not to mention sharks. I was unusually terrified of sharks, given the very remote possibility of ever actually being attacked by one.
“Yes,” I lied. “I am.”
“Hmm.” When he leaned forward, I got my second whiff of him that day. Two too many. “Sorry to say you’re off the mark on this one, Natalie.”
First, could I hate a man but still want him to say my name a hundred more times?
Second, if he was trying to convince me his staring was really just because he thought I was pretty, and this wasn’t some mind game...he was sort of succeeding.
“Be that as it may,” I said, pretending to be completely unaffected. “I just want to be clear about our relationship while you’re in town, Mr. Hayes.”
“Jaxon. Or even better, Jax.”
Hell no. “As I was saying, Mr. Hayes, you and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum with respect to your interest in the inlet property, as I’m sure you know.”
“Oh, I’m well aware.”
“And I might as well go on record and tell you that what you’re doing, trying to purchase protected land, really sucks.”
His mocking smile made me wish I had my beer to dump in his smug face.
“Protected land? Or your own private little happy hour spot?”
Oh, the gall of him. Gian peeked over then, so it didn’t take long to figure out who the Benedict Arnold was.
“I run a community rowing program on that land. For kids. You know, cute little people you obviously don’t give a shit about.”
“Careful making assumptions, Natalie.”
His use of my name was obviously intentional.
“It doesn’t take a huge leap to assume you are buying the land to resell it for a huge profit, and that”—I rubbed my fingers together to indicate cash—“isn’t a huge assumption to think you care about this most of all.”
“You think so?” Mr. Army Ranger, aka Smug-head, asked.
“I know so.”
My God, he was sexy. What a waste.
Time to bolt.
“It’s been really nice talking to you,” I said with as much sarcasm as possible. “Have a lovely evening.” And then, before waiting for his response, I said to Gian, “I’ll talk to you later, mister.”
When Jax laughed, I nearly jumped out of my skin, the sound was so surprising. And pleasing. I had to get out of there.
After I made my way back to my seat, the girls wide-eyed, they asked how it went.
I answered honestly. “Round one. Jax, one. Natalie, zero. And you really need to rein in that fiancé of yours,” I said to Mazzie.
In response, the two of them laughed as if something was funny. But it wasn’t.
Not. Funny. At. All.