“Hey, Luke. What are you doing here?” Daisy beams when she realizes he’s joined the conversation.
“How much have you had to drink?” he asks gruffly.
“It’s girls’ night,sowho knows?” She giggles to herself.
He ignores everyone else at the table when he directs his question to Luisa. “How much?”
She nods at the bottle of tequila. “Let’s just say she’s going to be feeling that tomorrow. Gonna need some fluids and ibuprofen, for sure.”
He nods, as if he’s just been given orders and leans down closer toward Daisy. If I hadn’t heard it myself, I wouldn’t have thought it was possible for his voice to soften so suddenly. “Hey, Daisy girl. What do you say I take you home?”
She pouts dramatically. “But it’s girls’ night.”
He looks around the table, finally paying us some mind, and when those glacial blue eyes land on me, I realize he’s looking for backup. I look at Luisa for guidance, since she works with Coach Weston and knows him better than I do.
Our female telepathy kicks in, and she nods. “Oh, um, Daisy, we were all about to call it a night. Isa here was just about to lose this guy and then head home to make sweet, sweet love to Mateo. Isn’t that right, Isa?” Luisa smirks my way.
Luke’s eyebrows almost hit his hairline. Must be the closest thing the man does to a shout. But he quickly disregards our comments and focuses back on Daisy. “How about we stop for some mac and cheese on the way home? Might even swing for some soft serve while we’re at it.”
She eyes him suspiciously. “From where?”
“Do you really have to ask? C’mon, I’ll take you to see the place you’re always stealing my lunch from.”
“Dale’s Diner?” She hops down from her seat, wobbling in place. But Luke is there, steadying her with a respectful hold on her bicep. “I get to eat their food warm instead of from your Tupperware? Yes! Let’s get out here. Bye, girls. I love you so much. You have no idea how much tonight meant to me. I had so much fun,” she yammers on as she proceeds to give each of us a loud kiss on the cheek.
“Text us when you get home.” I give Luke a stern look. Just because Luisa vouches for him doesn’t mean it’ll hurt to give him a slightly threatening glare and a reminder that we’ll be waiting to hear from her tonight.
I think I see his mouth twitch before he gives me a subtle nod. Then he’s off, gently guiding Daisy through the crowd.
“Am I missing something here?” I point to myself.
Luisa shrugs. “From what I can tell, Daisy’s a literal wallflower. The complete opposite of her brother, Lucifer.”
“I thought his name was Nick?” Nikki chimes in.
“Isn’t that what I said? Anyway, any time there’s mention of Daisy’s dad or fiancé, she shuts down. If I had to put money on it, our girl is struggling to stand up for herself and step out of the shadows of all the alpha men around her.”
“And how does the lumberjack hottie fit into all of this?” Amelia slurps the last bit of her frozen margarita.
Luisa sighs. “Luke’s a good guy. Tragic past that I won’t get into. But he keeps to himself and speaks only when absolutely necessary.”
“He was speaking mighty fine with Daisy,” I tease.
Luisa taps her nose. “Yes. And there lies the unknown mystery. The man who can barely stand small talk yet can often be found sharing his lunch with our sweet Daisy. We can try to tackle that whole bit at our next girls’ night. Preferably doing an activity that doesn’t involve alcohol so that we can try and get to the bottom of it.”
“Oh, daddy issues. I’m fluent in the subject matter. Can’t wait to dig in.” Nikki smiles.
I’ve just about forgotten about my mystery date when a handsome man comes to stand by Denise shyly. “Hi, there. Sorry, I spotted Denise and figured this was the right place.” He struggles to make eye contact with each of us, and his cheeks are displaying what I already know.
He’s nervous as hell.
I look at the time on my phone and realize it’s eleven p.m. If I hurry this “thanks, but no thanks” conversation up, I can be outof here in no time and hopefully catch Mateo before he goes to bed.
With that thought pushing me into action, I say, “Hi, I’m Isabella. I think my nosy friend here arranged for you to meet me.”
His eyes meet mine, and his shoulders lower slightly at my humorous tone. “Ah, so we’ve both been conned. Nice to know we’re walking into this on equal footing.” He points at a small two-person booth to the right of me. “I actually had that booth reserved for us earlier. Would you want to bring your drink over there so we can chat?”
“Oh, you mean as opposed to you standing there next to Denise while a table full of women dissect your every word?” I shrug playfully. “I guess so.”
