Page 90 of Tangled up in You

Steeling herself she headed inside, ordered a soda, and found herself a place to stand where she didn’t feel totally self-conscious and wasn’t intruding on anyone’s personal space.

CHRISTOPHER

He spotted the woman when she entered and watched her make her way to the bar. But she didn’t order alcohol.

Interesting.

She wore jeans, hiking boots that looked like they hadn’t seen a trail, and a new puffy vest over a red plaid flannel shirt open over a black cami. He didn’t approach her, wanting to see if she was there with or meeting someone. He’d never seen her before, so she was likely a tourist.

She didn’t appear to be looking for anyone as she wove her way around people with her soda in her hand and finally settled on a high-top toward the back of the space that a couple vacated seconds before her approach.

Nothing ventured, right?

He made his way over. She was several inches shorter than his own 5’11”, and at least a foot shorter than Mark’s 6’3”. Her unruly, curly strawberry blonde hair looked perfect on her, as if it didn’t come from a bottle. It was also pulled back into an adorable messy ponytail. She wasn’t wearing make-up. Or if she was, it was so natural-looking as to not be noticeable.

Either way she was adorable.

Her green eyes looked clear and bright behind her glasses, the light pink frames not quite cat-eye, but not large and retro-round, either.

“Hi,” he said, jumping right in. “Chris.”

She nodded, returning his offered fist-bump without any awkwardness, like she preferred them. “Jesse.” There was something slightly familiar about her but he couldn’t place her.

“Have we met before?” he asked.

She arched an eyebrow. “Is that your best pick-up line?”

“No, my best pick-up line is, ‘Did you know there are more than 1,300 species of plants in Yellowstone National Park?’”

She cocked her head. “How many are native species?”

He blinked, processing her question—because in this scenario literallynoone had ever lobbed a question back at him bef?—

Ohhhh. His cock twitched. “Approximately 1,200,” he said.

“Does that include aquatic plants?”

He sucked in a breath.I think I’m in love.“Of course.”

“What about thermophile bacteria and algae?”

Daaaamn!Okay, things were definitely looking up! “No, doesn’t include those. That’s not my specialty.”

“You sound like a botanist.”

He smiled again. “You would be correct.”

“Would be? Or Iamcorrect?”

Ooohhhhhh my god.He didn’t know what freaky frequency her brain was dialed to but it apparently resonated with his in a way that made his cock thicken so much he would soon have to adjust himself if she didn’t stop flirting with him.

Wait,wasshe flirting with him?

Dammit. He wasn’t sure.

This was usually where he needed Mark, and normally Mark would have already drifted over out of what felt like nowhere, eased himself in, and picked up the conversational threads.

But when he glanced around he realized Mark was engaged in conversation with Jason, and Christopher wasn’t certain if it was official business or not.

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