Page 63 of Wish I Might
Nash nodded, sticking out his hand automatically.“Sawyer.Good to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Sawyer said and jerked his chin at the archway that led to the restaurant side of the pub.“I thought we’d get a booth next door.”
Nash nodded again, and Sawyer turned to lead the way.
Nash followed, a little bemused.He’d known the man was handsome—there were photos on his website, after all, and both Jesse and Chloe had described him as such.But he hadn’t been quite prepared for the gut punch of seeing him in person.
He was, in a word, beautiful.Tall, with an athlete’s build, he moved with an easy grace through the archway that separated the pub from the restaurant side.He paused there, aiming sharp green eyes and a charming smile at the woman manning the hostess stand.
“Ready for that table now,” he said, and Nash realized with a start that the woman smiling back at Sawyer was Bailey’s friend Gwen.
He didn’t know why he didn’t recognize her right off.She looked the same as she had in college, with a waterfall of chestnut hair and big, round glasses that made her brown eyes look even more Bambi-like.Her build hit somewhere between Chloe’s fairy-like delicacy and Bailey’s voluptuous curves, currently clad in trim black slacks and a softly draping blouse.
“You’re all set up in the back corner,” she told them, shifting to look at Nash.Her eyes, huge behind her lenses and framed with lush, dark lashes, twinkled with humor.“Figured you’d want the privacy.”
“Thanks.”Sawyer sent her a wink, then ambled away.
Nash lingered behind, wondering if he’d find the kind of hostility from Gwen that Chloe had given him.“How are you, Gwen?”
She smiled easily, her velvety eyes warm.“I’m good, Nash.You?”
“Good.I’m good.”He shoved his hands in his pockets, not sure what to say next.
“Weird, isn’t it?”Gwen said, humor twinkling in her eyes again.
“Little bit,” he agreed and relaxed enough to smile at her.“You’re being a lot nicer to me than Chloe was.”
“Well, Chloe holds a grudge,” Gwen allowed, that twinkle increasing.“And she didn’t understand what happened back in college.”
Intrigued, he angled his head.“And you do?”
“I have an idea,” she said, and for a moment her gaze looked bleak.Then she blinked, and was smiling again.“Go on, have your meeting before this place fills up and there are people close enough to overhear what you’re talking about.”
He nodded.“Thanks, Gwen.”
“Anything for Bailey,” she said, and the message was clear.
“Understood,” he said, and crossed the room to join Sawyer at the back booth.
He slid in across from Sawyer and pulled the envelope out of his pocket.“I think you dropped this.”
Amusement quirking his lips, Sawyer took it.“Thanks, I was wondering what happened to that.”
The server approached before Nash could respond, a young woman who looked like she’d graduated from high school about five minutes ago and couldn’t take her eyes off Sawyer.
She made her way through the specials, stuttering and sighing and blushing, then took their orders and scurried away like a frightened mouse.
Nash watched her go, then turned to Sawyer.“That happen to you a lot?”
Sawyer shrugged, amusement quirking his mouth, and picked up his beer.“It’s a curse.”
Nash snorted.“A curse.Sure.”
“Curses are relative,” Sawyer said, eyeing Nash over the rim of his glass.After a long, slow drink, he set the beer down.“So.You want a gang bang.”
Nash wished for his own beer, but the server hadn’t returned with it yet—he wasn’t sure she was ever coming back—so he just nodded.“We’re calling it a group project.”
Sawyer’s lips twitched.“Okay.I have questions.”
