Page 83 of Hot Shot

I huff out a laugh at his ridiculous humor and drop my head forward. “Oh my God.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about that.”

I slant him a glance. “Okay, maybe.” That’s all I’ll admit to.

“Want something else to drink? I’m going to get a beer.”

“Sure. White wine?”

“You got it.”

I make myself pick up another piece of chicken and take a bite, but it’s like eating a sponge.

“Holy shit.”

I blink and look over at Cade, who just uttered the expletive. He’s staring across the bar.

Beck, Hayden, and Carrie all follow his gaze. He’s looking at Marco, leaning against the bar talking to a woman.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Beck says.

Hayden and I turn curious eyes on each other, then look back at Beck.

“What?” Hayden asks. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s Marco’s fiancée.”

My world tilts and goes dark and weirdly quiet for a few seconds. “Fiancée?”

“Ex-fiancée,” Cade adds. “What the hell is she doing here?”

“No idea,” Beck growls.

My stomach churns. I press a hand there. The tension radiating from Beck and Cade thickens the air around us and makes my spine tingle.

I stare at the woman—petite, dark haired, very pretty, with big dark eyes and full lips. She has her hand on Marco’s forearm and is smiling at him.

Marco doesn’t smile back. I sense the tightness in his body even from way over here. Whatever happened between them, it didn’t end happily, at least for him. My heart thuds against my breastbone. Jesus, I’m getting a full cardio workout tonight and haven’t even moved. I hope I don’t have a damn heart attack.

“I didn’t know he was engaged once,” Hayden says quietly, also staring.

“Yeah.” Beck purses his lips and glances at me. “They broke up.”

“Well, duh.” Hayden casts a worried look at me.

I spread my lips into a smile as if I’m at a photo shoot and a camera is aimed at me. I’ve done it a million times. Easy. “Marco doesn’t look happy.”

“No. He doesn’t.”

Even though my knees are shaky and my heart gallops, I push back my chair and stand. I toss my hair over my shoulder, straighten my shoulders, and stride across the bar, weaving my way through tables and chairs and customers and servers to reach Marco’s side. He glances up and sees me.

I beam at him. “What’s taking so long, Hot Shot?” I slide an arm around his waist and lean into him, smiling into his eyes. “I’m waiting for my wine.”

His eyes flicker and he picks up the glass of wine sitting near him on the bar. “So sorry, belleza. I ran into an old friend. Here you go.”

“Oh, an old friend!” I take the glass, do another hair toss, and flash a megawatt smile. “So nice to meet you! I’m Carrie.” I hold out a hand and tilt my head.

“Uh.” The woman’s eyes shift between Marco and me. “I’m Liz.” She takes my hand uncertainly, and I grip it firmly and shake it. My gaze quickly assesses Liz’s left hand. No ring there.

---