After walking for a few more minutes, I see him. He’s far enough away that I can’t make out all of his features, but I know it’s him just by his easy stride and the hands stuffed into his pockets. As he approaches, I almost trip. He’s mouthwatering in a maroon sweater over a white collared shirt with charcoal gray slacks. While reminding myself to shut my gaping mouth, I notice his steps falter, his eyes going wide as they trail from my head to my feet and back up my body. Placing a hand over his heart, he lets out an almost pained sound.
“Christ Almighty,” he breathes, stopping inches from me.
“Hola,” I say softly, peeking up at him through my lashes.
Clearing his throat, he takes a step back and looks me over again. “Layla, you look…devastatingly beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I blush. “You’re looking pretty good yourself.”
I can’tnotcompliment him. Even if he hadn’t said a word to me, I still wouldn’t have been able to refrain from telling him how handsome he is. If Niall Horan and Lucas Bravo had a love child, it would look just like Teagan. He has the boyish smile of Niall mixed with the sexy and pensive eyes of Lucas. His maroon sweater is stretched tight over his broad chest and shoulders. Does he actually have product in his hair? It looks like it has been artfully tousled and swept to the side. He even shaved. Oh, that jawline.Damn.
“I wasn’t sure what the dress code was. I was afraid I might have overdressed, but now I feel like maybe I didn’t dress up enough,” he says, eyes continuing to roam.
“Uh, no. You look just right,” I blurt out, which makes him grin, showing off that dimple. “Shall we, Lovely?” he asks, offering his arm to me.
Unable to stop myself, I run a hand down his bicep before looping it through and resting it in the crook of his arm. What I actually want to do is run my hands all over him.
“We shall. Hopefully, we’ll find some good seats,” I tell him as we begin walking towards the theater.
“I think Eamon said Norah reserved some for us.”
That was news to me. “Oh yeah? She didn’t mention it to me earlier.”
He shrugs in response, and we walk silently the rest of the way, our eyes repeatedly darting towards each other. Each time I catch his gaze, he smiles, which makes me blush. Everything he does makes me blush.Annoying.When we reach the theater, I stop and pull the tickets out of my small handbag then turn and hand one to Teagan.
“Right. Here.” He starts to pull his wallet from his pocket.
I reach out a hand to stop him. “We’ll worry about it later.”
“Is this your way of trying to get me to forget?” he asks with narrowed eyes.
I roll mine in return. “You’re ridiculous. Let’s just go find our seats first.”
Teagan pulls the door open and ushers me through with a hand on the small of my back. I can feel the heat searing through my dress. How can such a small gesture be so telling? When we enter the lobby, we stop short. It’s completely packed full of people. Half of them are just waiting to be seated, while the other half are visiting in large circles. I’m suddenly very glad I wore heels as they give me just enough height to see over all of the heads.
“Sheesh. I wasn’t expecting this big of a crowd,” I mumble to Teagan.
“C’mon. Let’s try going around,” he says as he slips his warm, rough hand into mine, holding it firmly and leading me to the outside edge of the room.
He doesn’t release his grip once. Any time someone steps in front of us or blocks our path, he pauses and rubs soothing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. Eventually, we find a side door and sneak into the auditorium. The room is half full with people milling about trying to find the best seats.
“Did Eamon say where our seats were?” I ask, craning my neck to findthe man in question.
“No, he didn’t. Not very helpful of him, was it?” Teagan teases before saying, “Ah! There he is.”
Following his line of sight, I see Eamon standing to the left of the stage and about ten rows back, motioning us forward
“Hey,” Teagan greets his friend. “Thanks for saving the seats.”
“Yeah, mate, no worries,” the tall dark-haired Irishman says. He looks at me and nods in greeting. “Layla. You look lovely.”
Giving him a small smile, I murmur a quick thank you right as Teagan says, “Doesn’t she just? I about fell to my knees at the sight of her. Took the breath right out of me.”
My face heats, but I shake my head in amusement and Eamon chuckles before clapping his friend on the shoulder.
“Right, well your seats are in the middle there.” He points. “I’m in the row ahead of you but down a bit. See you after the show?”
“Yeah, mate. ‘Course.”
