Page 55 of The Backup Groom
“Very.” He grinned. “It was worth it just to see your cute fish face.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said, feeling my face suddenly inflame.
Was I blushing or was I simply feeling the effects of the tequila?
“I may dance on the table before you,” I said.
Scotty pulled his phone from his pocket and set it on the table. “I’ll get it on video.” He scooped up some guacamole on a chip, and ate it. “We didn’t have time to chat when you came in for your morning coffee today. I wanted to find out how everything turned out last night with your cousin. Did you resolve your issues?”
“Not quite,” I said. “My life is a little complicated right now.”
Scotty glanced over at the mariachis as they segued into an interesting version of “Livin’ La Vida Loca” in the middle of the dining room. “That song should be your anthem.”
I rolled my eyes with a smile. “It is right on the money. By the way, thank you for doing what you did. I felt bad asking you to basically go hide in the bushes, but I appreciate you not asking a lot of questions.” I clinked his margarita glass, and took another sip to wash down the embarrassment I was feeling.
I needed to be careful because I was getting more tipsy with every sip. It was a good thing the restaurant was walking distance from my house.
“You’re welcome.” Scotty also took another sip of his margarita. He seemed pensive, like he wanted to say something else. “But you did promise you’d tell me what was going on with you. He raised his brows and folded his arms, accentuating his biceps.
“Now?” I said.
Scotty chuckled. “Would you rather talk about my horrendous performance last night?”
“It wasn’tthatbad.”
He scoffed, even though he had an amused look on his face. “Uh-huh. Your devious plan to distract me worked like magic. Admit it. You cheated.”
I shook my head. “Listen here, Mr. Sore Loser Pants.”
“What did you call me?” He barked out a laugh.
I waved him off. “Never mind. It sounded much better in my head. Anyway, the best way to beat an opponent is to find their weaknesses and then take full advantage of them. That’s all I did! I simply took advantage of your weakness. That’s not cheating.”
Scotty picked up his margarita to take another sip, but paused. “Oh, yeah? And what exactly is my weakness?”
The answer flew out of my mouth before I could stop it. “Apparently,Iam.” I slapped my hands over my mouth, but it was too late. I couldn’t take it back.
Scotty choked on his drink.
That damned tequila.
It was like a truth serum.
Scotty studied me, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “I’m not going to lie, you’re my kryptonite, Lois. I thought I’d hidden it better than that from you, but I was sorely mistaken.”
There was a warm, fluttery feeling in my stomach from his honesty, but I was hesitant about it, wondering why in the heck we were even having this conversation.
Rectum Ryan was going to be there any minute!
Scotty leaned forward. “And while we’re on the subject, you wanted to know why I was jealous when I saw you at Starbucks. Let’s get that out of the way as well. It wasn’t because you were drinking someone else’s coffee.”
I motioned with my hand for him to continue. “Yes? Go on. What was it?”
He didn’t hesitate with the answer. “I wanted to be that guy you were with.”
Oh, dear . . .
Who turned off the air conditioning?
