“Yes, sir. I was just making conversation over here. That’s all, sir.”
Bolt chuckled. The kid was scared shitless. He couldn’t blame him. Skye was beautiful. Seeing her with someone else had made every muscle in his body tense and flex. He was glad he wasn’t going to have to punch the new guy.
“You know, if I were you, I’d be buying Hollywood and Eagle drinks. I think we’re good over here.” He glared at Hammer.
“Yes, sir. Got it, sir.” Hammer grabbed his beer and headed toward the other pilots without even saying good-bye to Skye.
“What was that all about?” She eyed Bolt.
“New guy. It’s my job to give him a hard time.” He smiled at her.
“You’re pretty good at giving a lot of people a hard time.” Her grin turned to straight-lined lips.
He didn’t have an apology prepared. In fact, he never planned on apologizing. He had always thought she was the one who blew the whole thing out of proportion until he saw Faith this afternoon. Seeing Skye again seemed to make the argument fade into the background. What was it Faith had just told him? He was happy Skye was standing next to him—her black suit and frown. Maybe there was a chance he could right all his wrongs.
“Yeah, about that. I’m sorry. I was a jerk.” He waited for her eyes to tell him if all was forgiven. “Can I buy you an apology drink?”
“Drinks are free tonight.” She held up something in a glass that was pink.
“Oh. Ok, how about dinner?” He thought he caught a glimmer of a smile.
“I already ate.”
“Hmm…what about dessert?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
He edged closer so his arm brushed against hers. “Look, I know I was an ass the last time I saw you. But I can’t tell you how much of an ass, if you don’t at least give me a chance. One dessert.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “One dessert?”
“Yep. Your choice.” He could see her weighing the pros and cons in her head. She was making him sweat it out.
“Hey, there you are!” A slender blonde sashayed next to Skye. “I was looking for you.” She stopped when she saw Bolt. “And who is this?”
He extended his hand over the table. “Ben. Nice to meet you.”
He saw recognition flash in her eyes. “Ben?” Skye must have talked about him. The good and the bad.
Skye nodded.
“Oh, well hi Ben. I’m Kari, Skye’s friend. We work together.”
“Nice to meet you. Maybe you can help me out. I’m trying to get Skye to go get dessert with me, but I really screwed up so she needs convincing.”
“Ha, she needs convincing about everything.” Kari winked.
“Kari, I can’t believe you just said that.” Skye elbowed her friend in the arm. “What about Dave? I’m supposed to meet him here tonight.” Bolt noticed the exchange between them was full of inside information.
“Just go. Have fun. You’ve done your part here. No one will even notice if you’re gone. I’ll call Dave now and tell him we’ll do it another time.”
Bolt wanted to ask who Dave was, but now wasn’t the time.
“I—I thought you might need me to stick around and help you with the promo swag.”
Kari sighed. “No, get out of here. I can do the rest.” She nudged Skye. “Bye, Ben. It was nice to meet you.”
He took his opportunity and wrapped an arm around Skye to steer her away from the table. “Bye, Kari. You too.” He winked as they rounded the shark tank.