Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(84)
And held it some more.
A flutter started in my stomach. His expression was full of unabashed self-assurance. Clear eyes were trained on me with a brazen focus that made the flutter descend much, much lower. Sparks felt like they were jumping across the room, and my breath caught in my throat. Just when I thought I might pass out, one corner of his lips lifted slightly and he cocked a brow expectantly. I knew how to flirt. And if I was reading him right, he’d just issued a dare to come over—one I wasn’t sure I was capable of accepting. I hadn’t said a word to him, but it was obvious this guy had almost as much confidence as he had testosterone.
He gave me about five seconds to decide what I was going to do, then tilted his head down, lifting a shoulder in a half shrug that seemed to indicate I’d had my chance and lost it. He stood, grabbing his tray filled with trash left over from his lunch. His jeans hung low on his hips, held up by a wide black belt with a square, distressed silver buckle and I couldn’t help but watch him as he walked away. It was a really nice view.
“What the hell was that?” Brynn asked in a half whisper. Her voice brought me out of my trance. “I think you just had eye-sex with him!”
“Sorry,” I muttered, glancing back at her for a brief second so she knew I wasn’t totally ignoring her. I watched the guy empty his tray into the trash, and stack it with the others above the bin. Every fiber of my being was willing him to turn back around and look at me again.
Every.
Single.
One.
My fibers failed me. He walked out the door without a second glance. I blew out a disappointed breath. “Sorry, I got distracted.”
“No shit!” Brynn practically yelled. “I could feel your chemistry with Blue Eyes from here!”
I waved her off, trying to act like it wasn’t a big deal, when really, I was a bit jolted by it. I’d never felt something like that before, especially for a guy I hadn’t even talked to. He could sound like a chipmunk for all I knew. And chipmunks were not a turn-on for me.
“Well, I bet he has more than a cocktail weenie,” Brynn said, her eyes bright with teasing. “Why don’t you find out?”
The guy passed by the front window and out of my line of sight. I shifted my eyes away from the windows and back to Brynn. “Because that would get in the way of my goals.”
She laughed. “You realize you’ve barely looked at me for the last five minutes?”
I took a drink of my dark chocolate iced coffee. It was my third one today. “I can appreciate nice things without having to try them. He was hot, Brynn. That’s all.”
She grinned conspiratorially. “Trying them makes it so much more entertaining.” She leaned back in her chair, contemplative. “I haven’t seen him around town or campus before. I wonder if he’s a student? Or if he just works around here?”
I’d seen the veins visible through his huge arms, and when he’d stood up, I’d noticed his thighs were pretty darn substantial, too. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s a trainer at a gym or something?”
She put a finger to her lips. “Maybe…” she paused, thinking about it. “Nah…I bet he does something mountain-manny. Like chopping wood.”
I rolled my eyes. She’d been spending way too much time watching stripper movies.
“What?” she said, noticing my dismissal. “I’m just saying he probably has a nice, big ax.” She slowly licked her lips and I could practically see the images forming in her head. “And I bet he knows exactly how to use it.”
That thought made my mind immediately wander to what he’d look like shirtless chopping wood—which would be great if I was home alone in my room, with the secret box only Brynn knew the location to in case of my death so my mom didn’t find it and have a stroke over the dirty things her daughter liked—but it wasn’t so great in the middle of a restaurant. I quickly changed the subject. “What’s the plan for this weekend?” Brynn always had our weekends planned by Wednesday at the latest.
“Party at Collin’s.”
I sighed. I hated Collin’s parties. “I don’t know why you still hang out with him. He’s like the President of douchebags.” Really, he was the President of his frat until we graduated a couple of months ago, and that’s pretty much the same thing as being the President of douchery.
She lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug as she pushed her food away. She’d hardly eaten any of it—typical. “He has free food and beer. Plus, he’s a great singer when he gets drunk enough.”
I nodded in concession. He really was a good singer, and if I was being honest, he wasn’t a bad guy. I just despised frat boys in general…which was a problem since Brynn spent so much time with so many of them. Brynn’s phone vibrated and she glanced at the screen. “I have a meeting to go to, but I’ll see you at the house later?”
“Sure.”
The phone vibrated again. She grinned as she read the text and quickly replied, her fingers flying over the screen.
I eyed her skeptically. “You’re not going to a meeting. You’re going to hook up with someone.”
She flashed a sly smile as she slid her phone into her back pocket and stood. “Well, it could be considered a research meeting. I do have a Master’s thesis idea I need to gather information for. I’ll have to start carrying a notebook, and make a chart.”