Page 4 of Jagger
I’d darted a glance at him to find him staring at me in shock, then he’d thrown back his head and laughed. Loudly. People at surrounding tables turned to stare, trying to figure out what was so funny. I had wondered if there was enough room for me to slide under the table to hide, but I’d doubted my butt would fit.
“Sorry, Angel, I didn’t realize your fries weren’t neutral territory. You’ve got some lightning-fast reflexes there, though. Maybe I ought to rethink that nickname, Flash.”
I had flushed as I looked around the room, ducking my head again when I saw several people still staring our way. “I amsosorry! I don’t know what came over me. I just – “
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll live,” he’d said with a chuckle. “I think you should have a drink with me tonight though if you really want to make it up to me. Why don’t you stop by the bar later?”
I’d whipped my head up to stare at him, dumbfounded. “Um, well…”
“Come on, Angel, just one drink, if that’s all you want. I’d just like to spend some more time with you, and I need to get going soon. We’re expecting our liquor delivery, and I need to be there for that.”
He had reached across the table and clasped my hand, squeezing my fingers gently before rubbing his thumb back and forth over the back of my hand. I’d shivered at his touch and tried to tell myself that my nipples weren’t visible through my bra and T-shirt. From the way his eyes had focused on my chest, I was fairly certain I was wrong. I’d pulled my hand out from under his and oh-so-casually crossed my arms in front of me. Jagger’s mouth had quirked, and he met my eyes with a shrug, not even trying to pretend he hadn’t been staring at my boobs.
“Please, Angel? Just stop by for an hour. We can talk a little more, get to know each other a little better.” He had given me a smile that was probably supposed to make him appear innocent. It didn’t. It did melt my panties a little more though, along with a few brain cells, apparently.
“Well, I guess I could probably do that,” I’d said, wanting to smack myself as I heard the words come out of my mouth. What the ever-lovin’ heck was I thinking? This guy was so far out of my league it wasn’t even funny. I was way in over my head here, but I just couldn’t resist his smile or the warmth of his brown eyes. They were the color of melted milk chocolate. He even had a hint of a dimple beneath the light scruff of beard on his face, for Pete’s sake. It wasn’t fair to have all that hotness contained on one face.
A smile had lit his face at my words. “Good. Now, let me see your phone for a sec and I’ll put my number in. Call or text me when you’re on your way, so I can meet you at the door and walk you in.”
He had held out his hand expectantly, and before I had even fully registered what I was doing, I’d unlocked my phone and handed it over. His smile froze as he’d glanced down at my phone. With a frown, he’d flipped it around and snapped out, “Boyfriend?” He had gestured to the picture on my home screen, and he did not look happy.
I had looked at the picture taken the last time Matt had been home. His arm was slung around my shoulders, and I was grinning up at him. I’d looked at Jagger again, taking in his stormy expression.
“I asked you a question, Angel. Is this your man?” he’d asked, gripping my phone tightly.
I had wrinkled my nose at the thought. “Ew, no. That’s my brother, Matt.” Jagger’s expression relaxed, and I’d added, “He’s actually the reason for my lightning-fast reflexes. He used to steal food off my plate all the time when we were kids, just to irritate me, and I would smack him every time. It got so bad, Mom assigned us seats at the opposite ends of the dinner table, so we couldn’t reach each other.” Jagger had smiled at my story, and tapped at the screen, presumably entering his number in my contacts.
“Just so you know, if I had a boyfriend, I would never have let you sit down for lunch with me, let alone agreed to meet you for a drink later,” I’d felt compelled to point out to him. “I’m not sure what kind of women you’re used to dealing with, but that’s not my style.”
He’d looked up at me, taking in my arched brow and looking thoughtful. “No, I can see you’re not at all like the women I’m used to dealing with. That’s a good thing. Averygood thing.” I’d heard his phone chime as he handed mine back to me, and he’d looked at his screen briefly before telling me he had to go.
“Don’t forget to text or call when you’re on your way. I don’t want you walking in alone,” he had said as he stood. My eyes had widened in alarm, and he’d hurriedly assured me “You’d be safe, Angel. Don’t worry about that. You’d just have men eyeballing you the minute you walk in the door, and I’d have to beat ‘em if they made a move on you.”
I had laughed, assuming he was joking even though he hadn’t cracked a smile. “What time should I plan to stop by?” I’d asked, not wanting to take him away from his work during a busy time.
“Any time after eight o’clock, if that’s good for you?” he’d asked as he fished out some cash from his wallet and dropped it on the table.
I had nodded, and he’d bent down to drop a soft kiss on my temple. Oh, my sweet Jesus, that was unexpected…and very sweet.
“See you later, Angel. Can’t wait,” he’d murmured, before turning and striding for the door. He had raised his hand and called out a quick goodbye to the server, telling her he’d covered my bill, too.
I had glanced down at the bills he’d left on the table and saw fifty dollars lying there. The total would have been less than thirty, so either Jagger was a really good tipper, or he was trying to impress me. Either way, it had made me smile, and I’d felt butterflies in my stomach in a way that I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
I’d gathered up my untouched Kindle, sliding it into my purse along with my phone. The server made her way over and smiled widely as she saw the money on the table. “How long have you known Jagger?” she’d asked, pocketing the money, and stacking the used dishes.
“Less than an hour now,” I’d said with a laugh. She had paused in clearing the table and looked up at me in surprise. “Really,” I’d assured her. “We just met here when I stopped to warn him about getting that ticket.”
The server, Martie, according to her name tag, got an amused look on her face. “Well, you certainly got his attention. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in here with a woman before, except his grandma when she was alive, of course. She and my mother were good friends, and she used to drag her grandsons in here just about every weekend. Even when they were prospecting for that club of theirs, they still made time for their Grandma Frankie,” she had shared with a fond smile.
As I had left the diner, I’d felt strangely comforted by Martie’s words. Yes, Jagger was a biker, and clearly different than any man I’d ever met. But he must be a good guy if he had taken the time to hang out with his grandmother, right?
I’d driven home in a daze, replaying my lunch with Jagger. The whole thing was surreal. Things like that just didn’t happen to me. I had debated whether or not I should actually show up tonight, knowing I probably shouldn’t, but really wanting to go anyway. I’d continued my internal debate as I’d pulled into my assigned parking spot and stopped to grab my mail before continuing up the stairs to my second-floor apartment.
Opening my front door, I was distracted from my lunch with Jagger by the sight of all the boxes that I still hadn’t gotten around to unpacking. Until my friend Brad had gotten a serious boyfriend, he and I had shared an apartment. When our lease was coming up for renewal, Drew had asked Brad to move in with him, so I’d downsized to a small one-bedroom apartment once the lease was up. I just couldn’t face the thought of having a stranger as a new roommate, and I couldn’t afford the rent on the larger place on my teacher’s salary. Unfortunately, that had happened the week before school started, and I hadn’t had time to do much with the new place yet.
I couldn’t stand living with the boxes anymore, so that was a priority for the next few hours. I’d retrieved my phone from my purse to open up my music app, then set it on the docking station to charge as it played my ‘cleaning playlist’ to keep me motivated.
I’d spent the rest of the afternoon dancing around and singing, while unpacking the remaining boxes and trying to get things organized in the smaller space. I’d tried not to think too hard about Jagger as I’d worked. I had still been on the fence about going to the bar tonight when I’d heard my phone chime with an incoming text, interrupting the song that had just come on. I’d put down the picture frame I had been attempting to hang and walked over to pick up my phone. It was a text from Jagger, and I’d opened the thread to see that the sneaky man had texted himself from my phone after he’d added his number.
