Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(41)

Once they got to the restaurant, Krista’s stomach felt like it was imploding she was so hungry. When they walked in she realized that it was an Irish pub, but a different one than she was in last week with the girls. The bar was long, covering the entire right side of the restaurant. Aside from a walkway along the bar, the rest of the space had tables and chairs, with three booths in the back left corner. At the back of the restaurant was a large kitchen with cooks busily getting orders out.

Instead of sitting at a table, and there were more than a few available, Sean led her to the far end of the bar. They took two stools and settled in.

“The waitress is completely indifferent,” Sean said, folding his hands in front of him patiently. “The bar has much quicker service.”

“Why come here if the service is bad?” Krista said, looking around.

There were two waitresses in their mid-thirties moving around the tables. Krista couldn’t tell their indifference by looking at them. In fact, they seemed to gab to their patrons as they took orders, asking if everything was alright, and moving on. They weren’t bustling by any means, but they didn’t look lazy, either. The place was large—she could imagine the waitresses having their work cut out for them if the place got packed.

In the awkward hours between lunch and dinner, most restaurants and bars in the financial district were slow. There weren’t many tourists this far from downtown to fill the off-hour void of the workforce. This restaurant, however, was still humming. It had a used, worked-in sort of feeling, lacking the gloss and shine of the other Irish pub she’d been in last Friday, but people seemed all the more relaxed for it. It wasn’t pretentious, but it wasn’t dirty. It fit somewhere in between. Krista felt comfortable here. And judging by how relaxed Sean was, leaning idly against the bar, he was, too.

“It isn’t that the service is bad.” Sean said, looking around. “Just indifferent. Sometimes that means you’re left to your own devices a little too long. At the bar you generally get what you need as you need it.”

Just as he said this the bartender showed up. She was a middle-aged woman with a pleasant, laid back look. “What’ll ye have?” She asked with an Irish accent.

“I’ll have a Guinness and a menu, please.” Sean looked at Krista. He was still feeling uncomfortable with the scene earlier. The scene he had made.

She figured she’d let him stew in it for a while. “Uh, I guess I’ll try a Guinness as well, and a menu also. Please.”

The bartender nodded once, put some menus within reach, and wandered away, making a joke with a guy down the way. Indifferent made sense. Polite indifference.

“Have you ever had Guinness?” Sean asked with a bemused grin. He was bemused a lot. Was it just her or life in general?

She hoped it was life. She was damn funny, sure, but she didn’t think of herself as all that confusing.

“I mostly drink Guinness when in Ireland and England,” she explained, making an effort to turn off her mental dialogue. “Not so much anywhere else.”

“You travel there often?”

“Which? To Ireland or England?”

“Either. Both.”

“I haven’t gone anywhere in a couple years, but when headed to Europe I tend to spend some time in England. It isn’t that I love it—I mean, I like it—but travel out of Gatwick to most anywhere in Europe is crazy easy. Oh, and I understand the language.”

Sean laughed that deep, throaty laugh of his. “Knowing what people are saying is a decided advantage, yes. Have you traveled anywhere else?”

“Oh yes. I took a year off school, much to my parents’ chagrin, to travel around Europe. Besides that I’ve been to a few other places.”

“Like where?”

Sean had his full attention on her. He seemed calm and relaxed. For the first time, he seemed completely, utterly normal. Human. Not a God, or a supermodel, and certainly not a womanizer. He seemed interested in nothing more than friendly conversation. They could’ve been two friends, meeting up for lunch and a chat. Two people with no drama, no sordid work history, and no sexual office tension. Regardless of Krista’s wishes, she could feel her guard slipping even more, and instead of his sexual attraction, she admired his exquisite beauty.

His eyes were radiant and intelligent, currently sparkling a brilliant shade of green. His straight, perfect nose ended above a full set of defined lips that looked sensual. And kissable.

She rushed into her answer to get her brain back on track. “I’ve been to many places in South America, to Canada, to most of the U.S., including Alaska, um, Mexico, ah...let’s see...Egypt--”

“Egypt?” Sean interrupted.

“Yes. I went there about four years ago.”

“I’ve never been. How was it?”

The bartender showed up with their beers. Krista belatedly realized she should have looked at the menu.

“Now.” The bartender said it in a way that meant “there ya go” as she put their beers in front of them. She leaned against the counter casually and asked, “Do ye know what ye want?”

Sean said, “I’ll have the burger, please. Medium.” The bartender nodded and looked at Krista.

“Oh God, um…” She scanned words quickly, then just picked the first thing that looked half-way decent. “French dip.”