Page 6 of Must Love Alligators

He was stereotyping her.Just because she didn’t dress up to go out to the local bar, wore glasses, and brought a highlighter along while she drank beer, didn’t mean she wasn’t a sex kitten under it all.It didn’t mean she wasn’t doing all of this on purpose to keep guys from hitting on her…

Oh.

Yeah, that was very possible.

Chase leaned back.

“I would ask why,” she said.

“Because…” He trailed off.Which was maybe not the wisest way of answering that question.But why did people flirt?To convey attraction.To further a conversation into something else.As a prelude to more.

“I wanted to see if I could get you to smile.”

The arched eyebrows and the slight lean back told him instantly that was the wrong thing to say.

“Smile?Why do you care if I smile?”she asked.“I was perfectly fine sitting at the bar, going over those papers, being left alone.Just because I wasn’tsmilingdidn’t mean that I wasn’t completely content.Just because the erosion of the Louisiana coast and the plight of the freshwater animals and plants that live inside the barrier islands doesn’t make mehappy, doesn’t mean that studying it and ways to combat the problem isn’t exactly where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing tonight.”

Chase stared at her.

Yeah.

She had a point.He needed to mind his own damned business.

Also, she was definitely a nerdy scientist.Not his type.Not someone he had anything in common with.

And he’d never wanted to kiss a woman more than he wanted to kiss Bailey Wilcox.

“Why would you be studying all of that in a bar?”

Stupid question.But it was better than, “Can I please smell your neck again?”which was the other thing that had occurred to him to ask.

She blinked, then frowned.“Because I was hungry and don’t cook.And they’re the only ones that have Ghost in the Machine IPA.”

Okay, they had two things in common.He didn’t cook either and Ghost in the Machine was his favorite beer.It was the best Louisiana beer he’d tried since coming here and topped all of his previous favorites, even from up north.But it sold out quickly and was hard to find.

“Good answer,” he told her.

“So glad you approve.”

Yep, if he wanted a woman who thought he was amazing and couldn’t wait to spend more time with him, he should have stuck with the blonde.Bailey Wilcox was not impressed.Still, he found himself grinning.

“Okay, you don’t have to smile,” he said.“But you have to admit that I helped you out with Justin.”

He thought maybe, just maybe, there was a hint of a smile at one corner of her mouth.

“Justin is… a huge problem.”She frowned.“But not in the way you think.”

Chase frowned.“Is he an ex?I’m happy to stick close for the rest of the night to be sure he doesn’t bother you.”

She tipped her head.“Can you just not shut that off or do you really think that will work?”

“Shut what off?”

“The supposed charm.”

“Supposed?”He arched an eyebrow.

And damn if her lips didn’t curl up just the tiniest bit.“You just can’t shut it off,” she said, as if she’d figured it out for sure.

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