“Do I know you?” she asked.
Okay, she opened the door for about a hundred different tried-and-true scenarios I could have used. I could have lied my ass off and most definitely ended up sympathy fucking her. The thing was, I just didn’t want to use a single one of those bullshit stories.
“I’m the idiot who couldn’t put two words together to talk to you the other night,” I admitted. “Nick Wolfe.”
I held out my hand, but she didn’t take it.
“Oh, you.” She looked back at her drink and didn’t say anything else.
Shit.
“It’s just...you caught me off guard,” I said. “I don’t usually have that much trouble using my tongue.”
Shit again.
I hadn’t meant it to sound the way it did, but her rainbow eyes narrowed at the innuendo.
“Off guard?” she repeated, her voice fully snarky now.
“Just…when I saw you,” I tried to explain, but all the words that came to mind were completely lame and likely to get me slapped. I took a deep breath. “You have beautiful eyes. I’ve never seen eyes quite that color before.”
Her face hardened. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, narrowed her eyes at me, and her voice changed.
“Look, Nick,” she said, “I don't know what your game is, but I have a pretty good idea what you want. Not interested, so just go away, all right?”
I had to admit I was a little taken aback at her tone. I didn't really know how to respond at first. A thousand tips and tricks I could use to change her attitude came to mind. One of them would likely work, too. They always had before.
But I didn't want to use them.
Fact was, surprisingly enough, I just didn't want her to look so sad. I could still see in her fascinating eyes how upset she was. I didn't give a shit if I got laid or not.
“I’m not playing a game,” I finally said definitively. “You just looked sad, and I wanted to know what I could do to help.”
She didn’t respond, so I tried again.
“Why are you sitting alone?”
“It's really none of your business,” she snapped back.
Her tone was harsh, no doubt about it, but I was still focused on her eyes. They had a whole other look about them.
“You seem upset,” I commented.
“What part of ‘none of your business’ don't you get?” she growled. “Can’t you just go away?”
I might have done it, too, if it weren’t for the look in the eyes I couldn’t stop watching. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and the thought that she was so upset she’d cry in front of a virtual stranger in a sports bar was about the saddest thing I could imagine.
“I don't want you to be sad,” I said with a slight shrug. “I thought maybe I could help.”
“How are you going to help?”
“I could tell you a joke.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
The lashes framing the rainbow eyes fluttered a few times, and then the lids closed for a long moment. Milena took a long breath before opening her eyes and looking back to me again.