I forced myself toward the entrance of the restaurant and pulled open the front door, smiling politely when I caught sight of Sean and his date waiting for their table.
“Hey, Alex,” Sean called in greeting, even though we’d already made eye contact and he’d wiggled his eyebrows. “This is Hailey.”
“Hi, Hailey.” I smiled wide, making Sean’s expression flatten as he stepped a little closer to her. “Nice to meet you.”
I always did that—grinned real big and stared directly into the eyes of my friend’s date. You could tell a lot about a person during a first impression, and I always knew from that initial look if a woman was into my friend.
I was good-looking and I knew it. Tan skin, even white teeth, and eyelashes that annoyingly flicked against the lenses of my sunglasses. As far as I was concerned, it was a freak of genetics that didn’t really matter, but I still used it to my advantage when I could. I wasn’t stupid. Currently I was using those freak genetics to charm my friend’s girl.
When Hailey tilted her head toward Sean just slightly, I relaxed a little. When she laughed at his reaction I relaxed more.
“Nice to meet you, Alex,” she said, grinning. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course,” I said, like I hadn’t been thinking about a reason to bail for the last hour. I looked around the area we were standing in but didn’t see her friend. “Am I making this a third-wheel situation?”
“No.” Hailey shook her head and grimaced a little.
“Her friend’s running late,” Sean said, just as the hostess called his name. “She said she’ll be here as soon as she can, though.”
I nodded and shrugged. The place smelled damn good as we made our way through the tables, and my stomach growled, reminding me that I’d missed lunch. I eyeballed the sushi being prepared, and my mouth watered.
It wasn’t until we’d sat down and ordered drinks that I realized we’d have to wait for Hailey’s friend to get there before we could order. The good mood I’d been enjoying vanished, but I kept a polite expression on my face. I chatted with Sean about work and told Hailey some mildly embarrassing stories, but I couldn’t help but keep glancing at my watch. Jesus, I was starving. Fifteen minutes passed, then thirty, and as we got close to the hour mark, even the waitress started getting a little annoyed.
Finally, about fifty minutes after we’d sat down, a petite woman with long brown hair dropped into the chair next to me.
“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said breathlessly. “There was an armadillo in the road, and I couldn’t just leave it.”
My interest was piqued at the sound of her husky voice, but it solidified when the woman turned toward me and I saw her face. Dark-brown eyes, a mole on her cheekbone, a sharp nose, full lips. There was a gap between her two front teeth when she gave me a small smile.
Holy fuck.
“I’m Sarai,” she said, lifting her hand politely for me to shake.
I froze like a twelve-year-old who had just gotten caught staring at the pretty lifeguard at the neighborhood pool.
“This is Alex,” Sean said, laughter in his voice.
“I’m Alex,” I mimicked, shaking her hand and then letting go as if it were on fire. Oh, that was real smooth. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Nice to meet you, Alex,” she said politely.
She turned back to the table, and I immediately wanted to poke her or pull her hair or make a joke. Anything to get her to turn those big brown eyes my way. The only problem was that my tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of my mouth.
I wasn’t that guy. I didn’t see a pretty face and clam up. I didn’t stumble over my words or make an ass of myself. I was cool. Collected. Charming as fuck. Women loved me.
“Don’t worry about it,” Hailey said with a wave of her hand.
“How’s the armadillo?” I asked at the same time.
“It’s dead,” Sarai replied.
I almost laughed. She’d said it so matter-of-factly, like I should have known the answer before I’d ever asked the question.
“And you still stopped?” I said, my lips twitching.
“Well, someone has to call it in,” she said with a shrug. “You can’t just leave dead animals on the road.”
“Right,” I replied.
“So I stopped and dragged it off the road and waited for someone to come get it.”
I glanced at her hands.
“Don’t worry—I washed them,” she said. Smiling, she lifted her hands from the table and wiggled her fingers.
“Would you like something to drink?” the waitress asked just as Sarai’s hands rested on the table again. I hadn’t even noticed the woman walk up.
“Just water, please,” Sarai answered. The waitress scowled.
“She’s pissed because you were so late and now you’re ordering a free drink,” I said to Sarai as I met the waitress’s eyes. I had meant it as a joke, but when I looked back at my date, her eyes were wide in disbelief and I realized how the words sounded.