“Still Mr. Popularity, I see,” Noah teased, giving his friend a light punch to the shoulder.
“Noah! Holy shit, you really did make it.” He elbowed some room to give Noah a man-hug. “I thought you’d just continue to be a figment of my imagination.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it.” Then his mouth curved in a lopsided grin. “At least I hoped to make it.”
“You’re here now, That’s what’s important.” He looked at Noah’s empty hands. “No dink? Let’s fix that right now.” He waved his hand at the bar and shouted, “Hey Jimbo.”
Jimbo Gratz, he heavyset man working the center of the bar and the owner of the place, looked up even as he continued to open three beers and hand them out.
“What?” he mouthed. “You want another?”
“For my friend here.” He pointed at Noah. “Corona Gold.”
“I’ll get,” Noah told his friend. “You need to stick here with your admirers.”
Jeff laughed. “Yeah admirers. Right.” Then his face sobered. “Can you hang back a while after everyone leaves? I’m off tomorrow and we can get a late cup of coffee.”
Noah nodded. “Sure. Just enjoy celebrating. Catch you later.”
He made his way to the bar and grabbed the beer Jimbo held out to him. The man grinned, bumped fists with him and went back to his work. Noah nodded at people as he worked his way through the crowd, exchanging greetings with the people he knew. He wasn’t quite ready for conversation yet, not until he laid eyes on the one person he’d really come there to see. He scanned the crowd, trying to see f he could spot her, frustrated at the outrageous number of people crowded into the small space.
And then there she was, over by one of the pool tables, talking to three men and another woman, all of them obviously straining to hear over the noise. He took the moment to feast his eyes on her, drinking in the sight of her. She had probably come straight from work because she was wearing a tailored jacket over a silk blouse and tailored slacks. The moment eh saw her he knew with a certainty what a complete idiot he’d been to walk away from her. All the top stories in the world didn’t give him near the rush he got just by looking at this woman. There’d been a big hole in his life he didn’t seem able to fill no matter what he did.
And just like that the stupidity of what he’d done and how he’d handled things stabbed him in the gut. He still thought her job was dangerous but he hadn’t had to be such a prick
about it. And maybe he could have been more open about where they would live. Maybe, maybe, maybe. He and his ego had really fucked up. He’d hoped all during the flight here that eh could find a way to open that door again.
He’d followed her career as best he could, using all his resources. There had been a few stories about the San Antonio Fire Department that. He had studied them intently. Her hair was a more honeyed blonde but the sexy streaks were still there. It hung in soft waves to her shoulders, floating softly as she turned her head to answer someone. Her body was just as lush and tempting as he recalled, at least what he could see of it.
Damn! Just the sight of her and his cock began banging on his fly to get out and attack.
He was gathering himself to approach her, giving himself a pep talk and trying to figure out an appropriately low key greeting when she turned her head. He knew the instant she spotted him. She froze, her hand holding her drink midway to her lips. Her mouth fell open and she just stared at him.
Okay, get to it, schmuck.
He wiggled his way through the jam of people until he was directly beside her. She was s till staring at her and he nearly fell into the golden brown of her eyes. Still the same color as the bets bourbon, he thought incidentally.
“Hey, Randi.” He hated having to shout to make himself heard.
“Hello, Noah.” She might have been speaking to a stranger for as much emotion as she out into the words.
Well, what did he expect?
“You look really great.” Well, that was certainly a lame-ass comment. “Terrific, in fact.” Nope, not getting any better.
She looked him up and down and said, “You’re looking pretty good yourself.”
He was trying to figure out what to say next when a loud cheer rose up from the center of the rom where Jeff was standing. Noah glanced that way and saw a bunch of people raising their drinks to him in a toast.
“Listen.” He might regret giving in to this impulse but he had to do it. “Is there half a chance we can sneak out of here for a few minutes? There’s a coffee shop right across the street.”
She stared at him, something swirling in her eyes. “Really? Coffee?
He managed a smile. “Sure. We can catch up on everything.”
“Catch up,” she repeated.
He had the sinking feeling that he was in for a big fat no.
“Hey, Randi, you okay?” The tall man standing right next to her gave Noah a penetrating look.
“I’m fine,” she shouted back. Then she looked at Noah again.
He
