Treat Me (One Night with Sole Regret #8)(16)

"I reckon so," Colton said, smiling at Leah, who was currently stealing glances at him but who had yet to make steady eye contact.

It must suck to be shy, Amanda thought.

As the trio munched on nachos and nursed their drinks, Amanda ushered her tight-lipped companions through small talk. She had no problem getting both of them to talk to her, even if they weren't talking to each other. Or even meeting each other's eyes. Perhaps Leah would be better off if she didn't have Amanda there as a crutch.

Amanda allowed the conversation to lapse, watching her friend for cues. Maybe Leah didn't like this guy after all. Did they need to have a BFF conference in the ladies room? Amanda opened her mouth to announce her need to use the restroom, but Colton turned to Leah and said, "Say, Leah?" 

Leah glanced up into his eyes and flushed before focusing on the second button of his Western-cut blue shirt. "Yes?"

"I'm not much of a dancer," he said.

"Oh," Leah said before lifting her gaze and offering him a sweet smile. "That's okay."

She was totally into him, and apparently Colton had been too polite to tell Amanda to shut the fuck up and get lost so he could make his move.

"If you're not against a few crushed toes . . ."

"I'm not," Leah said a bit too eagerly.

"Would you care to dance? Or rather, endure my clumsy attempts at dancing?"

"I'd love to."

Amanda smiled to herself as Colton stood, offered Leah his hand to help her from her barstool, and put a protective arm at her back as he led her off to the dance floor. Ah, nice guys with manners. Perhaps a perfect match for Leah, but Amanda's tastes ran a bit on the darker side.

Finding herself alone, Amanda fiddled with her phone, wishing Jacob was offstage so they could text each other while she waited to see him again. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so giddy over a guy. Her last couple of boyfriends had been more like Colton-settled, considerate, not forbidden-and those men sure hadn't made her heart thud, belly quiver, or her pussy ache the way it did for Jacob. She wasn't sure if those feelings would last, but holy hell, she was definitely enjoying the ride. Even if it was making her a little crazy.

Amanda kept half of her attention on Leah in case Colton turned out to be one to bolt on and she needed to intervene. But heck, the guy hadn't even pulled Leah up against him yet. Yawn. The other half of her attention was fixed on her cellphone as she waited for Jacob to get in touch with her again. He would be offstage soon. Would he call her? Should she call him? Should she chill the fuck out and try to have a good time tonight? Yeah, she should definitely do that.

She lowered her head to the table and took several deep breaths as her brain tried straightening out her heart.

This is just a fling. He's really not that into you. Get off your bar stool and go flirt with someone. Anyone. Maybe Mr. Right was at this very bar at this very moment.

But even if he was, it didn't matter. Mr. Wrong-aka Jacob "Shade" Silverton-had her complete devotion. Might as well not fight what she was feeling-it was no use anyway. She had more than the hots for her former brother-in-law-she liked him. Liked him in the way that an addict liked methamphetamine.

Someone took the seat across from her and she could tell by the very large set of feet attached to the person that it wasn't her petite friend returning from the dance floor. "Hey, beautiful, why are you sitting here all alone?"

"How do you know I'm beautiful?" she asked, her forehead still pressed to the table. "Maybe I'm sitting alone because I'm ugly enough to melt the paint off a furnace."

"With legs like those?"

Amanda rolled her eyes and lifted her head. "You're wasting your time," she told the handsome young man, who she normally would have found attractive. He had dark hair and startling green eyes and was filing out his plain white T-shirt in exactly the right way. If he'd hit on her just a week ago, she would have probably already given him her phone number. "I'm completely infatuated with Mr. Wrong at the moment."

"Maybe I can help you get over your infatuation."

She snorted and shook her head. "I'm not looking to get over him just yet," she said. "But maybe after he breaks my heart, you could try again."




       
         
       
        
"Do you come here often?" Green-eyes asked.

He lost points for unoriginal pick-up lines, but the green eyes made up for his lack of creativity. "Every Friday night."

"Maybe I'll see you again then."

She shrugged. "Maybe."