Page 18 of Homebody
He honestly didn’t want to know. What he wanted was a damn beer, food, and some peace and quiet.
But when the front door opened and he saw his ex-girlfriend Juniper come strutting in and head straight for the bar he knew. He might eventually get that beer, but there’d be no peace or quiet for him. Not here. Not tonight. Not withheraround.
Chapter Eight
Trying not to let her hands shake where she stood next to the pool table, Tessa watched Dean settle in the corner booth with his parents.
Yanking her gaze away before it became obvious, she pretended to be sizing up the plays on the pool table. In reality, she was tracking Dean’s actions in her peripheral vision.
He had barely sat down with his parents before Red and Ruby were both up and out of their chairs. And of course, their destination was obvious. They were rushing directly toward Tessa.
Red handed Tessa the margarita that she had left behind. They’d shoved her toward the pool table the moment they spotted the Sinclair’s car pull into the parking lot.
She rolled her eyes at the ruse. As if them delivering her drink made it less suspicious or less obvious that both Ruby and Red had leapt up to come speak to her the moment Dean had walked away.
Tessa took the glass anyway. She could use a drink after that disastrous first meeting with the man she’d been hired to lure away from his ex and into a date with her. The man who was far more attractive than she’d anticipated.
That had been a surprise. With all the plotting and planning they’d done today, no one had thought to show her a photo.
She certainly hadn’t had time to look him up online or on social media—if he was even on any of the usual platforms. Wasn’t there some sort of rule about military personnel not downloading those kinds of apps onto their cell? She wasn’t sure. The subject of active-duty military protocols hadn’t been in her purview… until now. Maybe she needed to bone up on it for this assignment.
It didn’t matter anyway if he was or wasn’t on social media since she wasn’t even sure she could still log into her own accounts. It had been so long since she’d been on them.
She let herself glance over at where he sat, then yanked it away when he raised his eyes and his gaze locked onto hers.
Eep!He’d caught her staring.
She angled away from the table and tried not to look suspicious doing so.
If she could pull any of this off was doubtful. But there was no doubt Dean was attractive.
He was tall. She liked tall.
His muscles were visible even through his long-sleeved shirt, conjuring images in her mind of him without a shirt on. All broad shoulders and narrow waist. Thick arms and defined stomach.
His thick brown hair looked perfect for running her fingers through, but she only got to his hair after she pulled her focus off his classically handsome face.
She slurped down a big swallow of the cold tart liquid… and then coughed from the amount of tequila in it.
The bartender poured a strong drink. But since she was nervous and it was doubtful things could get much worse, Tessa took another sip.
Ruby turned so her back was to the Sinclairs’ table before she said, “You have to go over there and say hello.”
Since the music was too loud for anyone to hear anything, Tessa guessed the subterfuge was so the family couldn’t read Ruby’s lips.
Such intrigue…
Tessa rolled her eyes again. “Yeah, because my almost impaling him in the gut didn’t make enough of a first impression. Let me rush right over and start flirting.”
“No. No flirting.” Obviously ignoring the sarcasm in Tessa’s tone, Ruby shook her head. “You need to play hard to get. Remember, you’re aloof. Above him and all men.”
“Yeah,” Red agreed. “You’re too tough for that flirty stuff. You’re a bad-ass woman who doesn’t need a man.”
“Unless your vibrator runs out of batteries,” Ruby added conspiratorially.
“Ooo, you’re so bad.” Red giggled. “But yes. That. You’re the use-em-and-lose-em bad girl. The love-em-and-leave-em type.”
Tessa’s two fake dating fairy godmothers were having too much fun… and all of it at her expense.
