I can’t help the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. But this is dangerous territory. Flirting with a gorgeous, cocky guy, full of his easy charm and some seriously sexy dimples, when I’m ignoring my actual friends upstairs isn’t my usual M.O. Mostly, because in no reality is this even remotely close to my normal Friday night.
“I should get back to my friends before they send out a search party.”
“Same.” He glances toward the stairs then back at me. “Though I have to say, this has been the highlight of my evening.”
Before I can respond, or do something stupid like agree with him, I force myself to walk away. But I sense his gaze following me. All the way until I’m out of sight.
Chapter four
Leah
The collective gasp from our table pulls my attention from the remnants of a surprisingly delicious salmon dinner. Across the deck, a man has dropped to one knee beside a table, facing a woman whose hands are pressed to her mouth in the universal gesture of proposal shock. The evening light catches the diamond he holds up, sending sparkles across the weathered deck.
“Oh my god,” Sarah whispers, tapping my arm over and over again. “Look at that. It’s so romantic.”
But rather than watch the scene unfold, I scan the crowd for a familiar hot pink polo. Sure enough,he’sthere, standing a respectful distance away, phone raised as he captures the moment. Even from across the deck, Hays’s satisfied grin is hard to miss, thanks to perfect pearly whites. Slightly behind, and watching the scene closely, is a tall, lean man in a dark green polo who must be the friend he mentioned. His wingman for the covert operation.
The woman says yes, and the entire top deck erupts in cheers and applause. I clap along, finding, for the first time since Iwas dumped, that I can celebrate someone’s happily-ever-after without that familiar sting of envy. I don’t have time to analyze that thought, though, because Hays catches my eye. He winks before turning his attention back to his camera.
Something warm unfurls in my chest that has nothing to do with the two rum and Cokes I’ve polished off, but I ignore the sensation. After all, everything about Hays screamsnot my type. The easy confidence. The way he takes up space as if he owns it. I spent two years with someone safe and predictable, a guy who’s the furthest thing you could get from a cocky flirt.
And look how that ended.
The last thing I need now is a man who’s the complete opposite and likely leaves a trail of broken hearts in his wake.
A server appears at our table with a tray of drinks, mostly colorful cocktails, but also a glass of red wine and another rum and Coke.
“For the birthday girl and her friends,” the uniformed man announces, setting them down. The girls light up with excited squeals and a chorus of thank-yous, immediately reaching for the drinks. “Compliments of your birthday buddy,” he explains in answer to my questioning look.
“Birthday buddy?” Tabitha arches an eyebrow, following my gaze to where it’s darted toward Hays. “And who exactly is this generous birthday buddy?”
Heat creeps up my neck. “I may have had a brief encounter at the bar earlier.”
She slaps the table. “I knew something was up. You were gone for twenty minutes then returned with two drinks and a very unlike Leah smile plastered on your face. Plus, you’ve been so distracted you barely touched your dinner roll. Care to explain why you’re staring at the tall, yummy specimen over there like he personally hung the moon rather than enjoy a buttered carb?”
“Nothing happened,” I insist. “He caught me when I almost fell. We talked for a bit. End of story.”
“Uh-huh.”
She doesn’t believe me, but then again, Tabitha’s the one person in the world who knows me almost better than I know myself. She also has details memorized about me that my ex wouldn’t have remembered five seconds later, let alone five years.
“Fine. He’s…got main character energy. And he was charming in a cocky, obnoxious kind of way that should be completely unappealing.”
“But…”
I take a sip of my drink. “But it wasn’t. Even though he’s the farthest thing from my type as you can get.”
“You mean he’s the farthest thing from what you thought was your type.”
“No, I…” I trail off because, as usual, my best friend has a point. I dated a doormat for three years. David was even more of an introverted homebody than me, so maybe, the fact Hays is basically my ex’s complete opposite is what’s so intriguing. Plus, he seemed to like me. Or at least, liked talking pick-up lines with me.
“He’s obviously not from Starlight Bay,” she muses, her mind working.
“He’s from Scottsdale, Arizona,” I confirm because that will prove there’s nothing to come of meeting him.
She clicks her tongue. “Already getting location details. And you said nothing happened.”
“Tab,” I say, shaking my head, “he lives across the country. I’ll never see him again.”
