His eyes raised to meet mine. “Is that right?”
His gaze flickered toward the front where Trick was now being led to the table.
Directly next to us.
Son of a bitch.
“Yep,” I squeaked. “That’s right.”
CHAPTER 10
Yeah, breakups suck. But have you ever left the restaurant without your to-go box?
-Swayze to Trick
TRICK
I wasn’t sure why I was standing outside waiting for my date. A date that I hadn’t even wanted to go on.
However, my dick needed something more than my hand, and since I had vowed that I wouldn’t be touching a certain curly-haired blonde across the street, someone else would have to do.
Which was where Ignacia came in.
After her ‘welcome to town’ spiel, I’d seen Ignacia a second time at a grocery store of all places. She’d been squeezing the melons right next to me when she’d caused a stack of them to fall down onto the ground.
I’d helped her pick them up, and I’d grinned because for the first time since I’d arrived in this backwater town, a person didn’t look at me like they were scared.
Whether it was because she didn’t know me, or because she did and didn’t care, I wasn’t quite sure. But when she’d offered to ‘show me around town’ I’d taken her up on the offer. Because beneath her ‘show me the town’ she’d also had a ‘I’d like to show you my bed, too, when we’re done’ kind of vibe going on. And I needed some.
It’d been quite a long fucking time, and it was getting to the point now where I didn’t know if I would even be able to perform.
Though, the way that my dick got hard at the sight of Swayze, I didn’t think that I’d have a problem.
“How long do you plan on staying here?” Ignacia asked as she glanced around the old shop windows of downtown.
“Permanently,” I answered. “This side of town isn’t great just yet, but it’s getting there. The three buildings in the block that my bar is on are completely remodeled per Souls Chapel city code. It’s only a matter of time before…”
My voice trailed off as a figure darted out from the alleyway three up from us but across the street.
I narrowed my eyes at the runner and felt things inside of me start to heat and stiffen.
“Ugh,” Ignacia grumbled. “She would be wearing that. She’s so desperate.”
I looked away from Swayze long enough to make sure that she was seeing what I was seeing, then glanced back at Swayze.
“Pardon me?” I said, my mouth practically watering.
Jesus, she was beautiful.
I couldn’t stop myself from staring at her.
Tonight, Swayze’s long hair was up in a high ponytail at the top of her head. Each step she took caused the ringlets to bounce and sway.
The little band of color around her head kept the fly-away hairs from sticking to her face.
That band of red matched the red tennis shoes she had on her feet.
But it wasn’t the rest that my eyes were attracted to.
It was the tight black shorts that showed off her shapely ass, and the tight black tank top that molded to her skin and showed off everything that the shorts didn’t.
Each step she took caused a ripple of muscle and fat to jiggle her ass, and I nearly moaned.
God, I wanted to be up close and personal to that. Preferably when I was fucking her from behind…
“Can’t stand her,” Ignacia grumbled.
I frowned and watched as Swayze turned and crossed the road to our side, making it much easier to see her.
God, I could see the outline of her thong underneath of her shorts.
“Why?” I found myself asking but not looking away.
“When she first moved her business here, I was on the ‘welcome committee,’” Ignacia explained. “I’d come over to her office and introduced myself, given her a welcome basket full of goodies, and she acted like such a bitch. I swear, it was like I was shitting in her front office and not giving her a basket of baked goods.”
That didn’t sound like something Swayze would do.
Sure, she was abrupt at times, but I had a feeling that she wouldn’t be downright rude unless the person had deserved it.
“And since we’re both on the board for the city, she purposefully opposes everything that I promote,” Ignacia continued.
Ahead of me, Swayze came to a sudden halt, and she leaned over and gathered her breath for a few seconds before she continued to walk forward.
The way she walked, though, signaled that she was hurting. I could tell by the way that she was trying not to put pressure on her left foot that the keg had fallen on two days ago, that it was likely still bothering her.
“And she plays the pity party so well,” Ignacia grumbled. “I mean, how is it that she can have every man in a two-mile radius now looking at her because she’s limping?”
It was then that I realized that in my focus on the woman in front of me, I’d momentarily forgotten to pay attention to my surroundings.
Ignacia was correct, too.
Swayze’s limping had caught quite a few people’s attention. But not just male attention. Female as well.
Up ahead, the woman holding the door to the restaurant that I’d called to make reservations at for Ignacia and me, was staring at Swayze.
Another couple had been heading to their car when the woman called out a greeting to Swayze.
“I swear,” Ignacia grumbled. “It’s like that limp of hers makes her automatically better to talk to. To discuss things with. To look at. It’s so fucking annoying.”
What it sounded like to me was that Ignacia was making shit up because she didn’t like her.
Swayze passed through the door of the restaurant, and Ignacia sighed. “And, of course, she would be going to the same place we are. How can she even wear that in there? The place is fairly formal.”
I fucking hoped not. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
Granted, Ignacia was much more dressed up than I was, and generally people didn’t care what men were wearing compared to women, but I still wasn’t even dressed for ‘nice.’
My jeans had a beer stain on them from earlier when I was replacing keg lines.
I’d intended to change them, but Ignacia had gotten there early, and I’d forgotten.
“Guess that maybe we should find somewhere else to eat,” I suggested. “Because I’m not all that dressed up.”
Ignacia looked at me with horror on her face. “I wasn’t talking about you.”
I gestured toward my clothes. “I’m not dressed up. You said it was pretty formal… I didn’t know that.”
She waved away my concern. “No, no. You’re dressed just fine.”
Frowning, I caught the door to the restaurant and held it open for Ignacia, who offered me a large smile as she passed by me.
I felt a rock settle in my gut upon seeing it, and knew instantly that this was a mistake.
I should’ve followed my gut and stayed away from her.
I also should’ve just pulled my head out of my ass when it came to Swayze.
But apparently, I was incapable of making decisions when it came to her that would benefit me.