Page 46 of Wild Eyes
“That a question?”
Skylar snorts. “I’ll have a chardonnay,please.”
Doris’s lips curve into a smile as she jots it down. Without looking at me, she mumbles, “This one’s smarter than the others,” before she stomps away on flat feet.
We watch her leave and turn back to face each other at the same time. Skylar’s mouth opens like she’s going to say something, but she closes it.
Then again. Open. And closed.
“Cat got your tongue, fancy face?”
“I…” Her head joggles as she searches for what to say. “She’s amazing.”
I agree with a solemn nod. “Indeed, she is. A town mainstay. She owns the place.”
Skylar shifts her wide-eyed gaze back to the bar. “I need to channel her energy. Find my inner Doris.”
“Okay, well, you’ve got a roof over your head at the bunkhouse. I’m about to buy you a plate of wings. And I have a big dick, but I can’t marry you.”
She smirks at me, and just when I think she’s gonna give me hell about the bunkhouse barely constituting a roof, she surprises me by asking, “How big?”
I’m caught completely off guard. My face flushes red and my breath leaves me in a disbelieving huff. I stare at her slack-jawed for a few beats and then lick my lips as I regain my composure. “First, I amscandalizedby that question. Second, I don’t like to talk about it because then people start asking to see it and shit just gets weird.”
She’s grinning as she shakes her head. But I don’t miss the way her eyes narrow. “Oh, do you not usually show yourfriendsyour dick?”
I bite down on my inner cheek and clench my biceps. “I have many friends. Of many sorts. I’m a friendly guy.”
She quirks an eyebrow at me.
“Spit it out, fancy face. Ask away.”
She shifts in her seat and links her fingers together on the table. “What did she mean when she called meanother one of your friends?”
I look Skylar right in her bruised eyes. “It means she thinks I’m sleeping with you.”
Silence settles over us. I swear I can hear her tongue as it swipes across her bottom lip. Even though with the hum of tables around us, that would be impossible.
“Do you sleep with all your friends?”
“No. Only a few.”
Her eyes bug out comically now. “A few?”
“Not at once. But I’m not a monk, Skylar. I like to have some companionship, and I’m not set up for anything serious. Definitely not ready to add a relationship to the dynamic with my kids. I’m busy. Oliver has been improving slowly but surely, and I refuse to bring someone new into the fold and set him back. Especially since it took him so long to warm up to Brandon. So yes, since you’re being snoopy, I have friends with benefits because that is the least complicated solution to remaining single as a thirty-three-year-old man.”
She blinks. “Is it… Do you… Are you… You know what? Never mind.”
Now she’s flustered. She mirrors my position and crosses her arms, effectively shutting me out.
Since the silent drive over, our conversation has flowed easily, but it falls away. And I may not be in a relationship, but I’m not emotionally stunted either.
I’m not about to let her kill the ease between us.
“What’s got you all pissed at me, Skylar?”
The muscle in her jaw pops, and I can tell she’s grinding her teeth. “That stupid kiss,” she hisses while glancing around like someone might hear us. “I shouldn’t have done that. I feel like I kissed someone’s boyfriend.”
I bite back my chuckle, but it rumbles in my chest anyway. “Skylar, I am as single as they come.”
