Page 73 of Winning Winnie’s Hand

She sat alone, her phone resting on the bar as she tapped out something on the screen. He tried to decipher if she was working still, but his view of her was soon blocked by the waiter finally reaching their table.

“Evenin’, lads,” he greeted.

He took their orders for drinks, dropped off the menus, then wandered away to his next table.

Matthew peered down at the menu, pretending to be paying attention to the food listed on the page, but he was much more invested now in seeing what Winnie was doing.

She took a sip out of her bottle of J2O—orange and passionfruit, his favorite—then focused again on her phone.

Had she eaten already? Or was she waiting for her order to be taken, too?

“Who’s the bird you’re starin’ at, Matt?” Cedric asked, his voice cutting into Matthew’s focus on Winnie.

Matthew’s eyes darted toward his friend. “What? Oh, no one.”

He stared harder at his menu. That was his first mistake. His second was to think that his friends would let his obvious denial slide.

“Is that the consultant?” Finn asked next. “She looks like a New Yorker.”

“It has to be,” Graham agreed. “Why else would Matthew be cowerin’ behind his menu like that?”

Matthew frowned. “Maybe it’s because I want to order my steak.”

“Would you like it in the shape of the consultant, perhaps?” Finn asked.

The men laughed, and Matthew fought the urge to quiet them. He didn’t want to draw her attention toward their table. Then he’d have to invite her over. That would be the nice thing to do, especially because she was eating alone. But he’d hate to imagine the sort of mischief his friends would create. He’d managed to keep them separated the entire day. He wasn’t about to stop now.

“You didn’t tell us she was a looker,” Finn said next as Winnie looked to the side, her profile becoming visible.

Graham and Cedric hummed in agreement. Matthew would have, too, but then, admitting that Winnie was attractive aloud to his mates would be the final nail in his coffin.

“She’s eatin’ alone, so she is,” Finn said next. Then he faced Matthew and tossed his head toward her. “Why don’t you invite her to sit with us?”

Matthew scoffed. “As if I’d ever agree to that. You guys’d take the mickey right out of me.”

All three of them feigned looks of innocence. “As if we’d do that to you,” Cedric said. “She does look lonely.”

“Aye, go on, then,” Finn pressed.

“She’s working,” Matthew said, shaking his head. “I know better than to interrupt her.”

“Oh, aye?” Finn said. “Are you afraid of the wee bird?”

Again, the men laughed.

Matthew ignored them. “So what’re you all ordering? I highly recommend the gammon.”

“No matter,” Finn said. “I’ll go get her if you won’t.”

“Finn,” Matthew began in warning.

But Finn ignored him. He headed straight for Winnie as Matthew watched in frustration, glued to his chair like the worthless coward that he was.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Matthew watched from the safety of the booth as Finn stopped next to Winnie. She looked up at him in surprise, a hesitant smile on her lips before he pointed to the lads. Her eyes fell on Matthew, and she visibly relaxed.

She raised her hand in a wave, and Matthew awkwardly responded with a wave of his own.