She slid into the booth on the opposite side from where he’d been, saying, “I’ll sit across from you,” to squash any potential awkwardness of the across or beside conundrum. Eye contact meant more than snuggling — or did it? She wondered if he’d try to hold her hands across the table or touch her feet with his underneath it.
In all of that, Eamonn must have caught the server’s attention somehow, because even as he sat down, she scurried up to the table and placed a Frosty Peach in front of Nell. “Tim says that’s your usual, right?”
“Yes, but how—?”
The server laughed. “Your date here said to ask the bartender to make your usual drink as soon as you came in. So, there you go.” She unloaded a couple of appetizers from her tray as well. “Cream cheese wontons and coconut shrimp. And are you ready for another Dark ’n Stormy, there?” she asked, turning to Eamonn, whose glass was three-quarters empty.
“Sure, but no hurry.”
“Dark and stormy?” Nell asked. The liquid in his glass was amber in color, and a lime wedge lay among the ice cubes.
“It’s Black Seal rum with ginger beer. Want a taste?”
“Sure.” She eyed the straw in his drink, unsure of the protocol. Use the straw from her own drink? Sip from the edge of his glass? Share his straw?
He chuckled. “You can use my straw, Nella-bella. You’re my girl.”
She cut him a sharp look at that. “I’m not a girl.”
“Okay, you’re my woman… No? How about my sweetheart?”
“Ugh.” She took his glass and sipped from the straw. “Oh, that’s seriously good. You want to try mine?”
He chuckled. “Sure, if you’ll take a sip and kiss me with it…”
“I don’t kiss in public places,” Nell said firmly, though the idea itself was tempting. She picked the peach candy off the top of her drink and ate it.
Then Eamonn leaned in a little and said, “I brought you something.”
She raised her eyebrows at him, not sure how she felt about gifts so early in their getting to know each other. It seemed a bit much.
“So, you might have already got one since I saw you last, but if not — I want you to have a phone, okay? I want to be able to call you.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an oblong object, plunked it on the table in front of her.
A smartphone. Not new, evidently, as the screen had a small chip in one corner and the finish was a bit worn in places where a case wouldn’t have protected it. “Uh… I can’t—”
“It’s just an old one of mine, and you do need a phone, right?”
She sighed. “I was planning to get a burner number for my tablet, ’til I’m working again.”
“This one’s been lying around in a drawer since I upgraded. I got it set up for now on a pay as you go plan so you can use it right away, but it’s unlocked, so you can switch it to anywhere you like.”
“I can’t.” Reluctantly, regretfully, Nell pushed the phone back toward Eamonn. “It’s too much.”
“But you need a phone, and it’s just an old one. Take it. Please?”
She shook her head. “Can’t.” Sipped her drink, and bit her lip. Why am I resisting so hard? A used phone, older model — it couldn’t even be worth much. I could let him give it to me.
He drained his glass, looking stubborn and thoughtful. Then he smirked. “D’you play pool?”
“I do. Why?”
He nodded at the pool table. “If I win, you keep the phone.”
Persistent, much? Nell suppressed an urge to roll her eyes. “Strange kind of stake. Shouldn’t you get something if you win?”
“Oh, but I do. I get to talk to you… and on nights when we can’t be together,” his voice dropped into the thick, husky range that told her he was turned on, “if I’m lucky, maybe you’ll call me from your bed…” And just like that, she was filled with vivid memories of the night he’d called her to say he’d got home safe, both of them in their beds and aching for each other.
Nope. She refused to think about that here. “And what happens if I win?”
“Name your prize, babe — anything you want.”
Her mind went blank. This is worse than truth or dare. “Fine. If we’re going to do ridiculous wagers, when I win, you can get down and do twenty pushups for me right here in the Frog and Ball.”
Eamonn raised one eyebrow. “You know you could ask me for a trip to Paris, or a car, right?”
“Yeah, no. If you ever take me to Paris, it’ll be because you want to take me there, not because I’ve won it. I mean, not that you’d ever—”
“Point taken.” He stood up and gestured toward the pool table. “Pushups if I lose. Let’s play?” He didn’t sound like he thought he’d lose.
Whatever happens, I’ll make you work for it. Nell took a sip of her drink, then stood too. “Sure.”
Eamonn racked the balls efficiently, reminding her of how he’d played against himself the day she first saw him — with confidence and ease, never doubting his game. “You can break,” he said, offering her the chalk.
“We flip a coin for the break,” she countered, feeling her stubbornness rise in the face of his expertise. “Otherwise, it’s like… breaking a rebreakable board that isn’t fully snapped together. Our dojang uses them instead of real wood; they’re just as hard, with plastic teeth that click together, and if the two pieces aren’t fully engaged when you go to break… I don’t know, there’s less satisfaction. The achievement is weakened, even if the technique is perfect.”
She thought he’d brush her explanation off or laugh, but he nodded thoughtfully. “Like using Auto-Tune, I guess. Doesn’t mean you
