I walked back over to Jacob’s table and threw myself into my chair like a petulant child.
“Strike out?”
I shrugged. “Can’t win them all.”
Jacob pushed a fresh vodka and cranberry juice toward me. “The waitress is a sure thing, I think. She brought this over a moment ago and said it was on the house.”
“That was nice of her.”
“I don’t know how you get all this attention. You and your ugly mug…”
I just sipped at my drink, not rising to the bait. Jacob had teased me about my looks almost from the moment we met, claiming the only reason women found me interesting was that they felt pity for me. It was a running joke. I think the truth ran more in the realm of jealousy, but I’d never bothered to explore that idea. No point in causing tension.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Jacob muttered.
“What?”
I looked up, and the dark beauty from the bar was coming our way. And beauty…damn, she was beautiful. A little petite for my taste, but she had curves that didn’t stop. Full breasts, a tight little waist, round hips. She was the kind of girl guys drooled over in high school and stabbed each other in the back for as adults. And that dark hair against her fair skin, and those blue eyes… It was a combination that made me want to simply stare at her for hours and hours.
“She’s gorgeous,” Jacob whispered.
I just nodded.
I stood and pulled out a chair for her. She slid her hand over her ass, collecting her skirt so that it wouldn’t get terribly wrinkled as she sat on it. Then she leaned forward slightly and held a polite hand to Jacob.
“Adrienne.”
“Jacob,” he said, hesitating just a second before taking her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jacob.”
He inclined his head, a little color rising on his face.
“I’m Lucien, by the way,” I said as I took a seat next to her.
“Lucien. That’s an interesting name.”
“It’s French. My mother grew up in France.”
“Oh, wow. That’s impressive.”
“Her father was in the military. They were stationed there until she was a teenager. Then she ended up in New Jersey for a while.”
“Talk about culture shock.”
Jacob snorted. “She does. All the time.”
“Ignore him,” I said, leaning a little closer to the dark beauty. “He’s in a foul mood.”
“Oh? Bad day?”
“No. He’s just like that all the time.”
Surprise made her eyes round. And then she laughed a little, her eyes sliding over Jacob as she did. “Sorry,” she said.
“Don’t listen to him,” Jacob said. “He’s just trying to impress you.”
“Is that right?” Her eyes came back to mine, and there seemed to be an interested glow in them. “Why would you want to impress me? You know nothing about me.”
“Perhaps because I’d like to get to know you better.”
That smile was back, and it made my heart do a funny little flip. I sat back a little, thinking that maybe I should slow down just a bit. I like women. I flirt quite often. But it’d been a while since I’d met a woman who truly interested me. This one… There was definitely something about her that intrigued me.
“So, you said your relationship was an interesting story.”
Jacob glared at me even as he shook his head. “Are you using that again?”
“If it works…”
Jacob lifted his glass to his lips, draining the last few tablespoons of his seltzer water.
“It isn’t as interesting as he makes it out to be,” he said, setting it back down.
“Speak for yourself,” I said, glancing at him over my shoulder even as I moved closer to Adrienne and took her hands in mine. “I think it’s very fascinating.”
“Why don’t you tell me, and I’ll let you know what I think?”
Jacob groaned.
“You want to tell it?” I asked.
“Go for it,” he said, waving his hand at me.
I focused on Adrienne, running my thumbs over the tops of her soft hands. “So, my father was a salesman. He moved from job to job, dragging my mom and me all over the country. When I was four, he got a job with an oil company down in Houston. My mom… Oh, she hated the idea of moving down to the Gulf of Mexico. She was about two seconds away from calling it quits and taking me back to New Jersey. If she hadn’t hated New Jersey as much as she hated Houston, she probably would have done it sooner.”
“And where would we all be then?” Jacob asked.
I ignored him and continued. “So, my dad starts this job. He’s working in the human resources department, having lied on his application about his experience. He’s doing background checks on people, calling up references and schools, using his salesman experience to sweet talk people into giving up the dirt on the applicants. For the first time, he’s found a job he’s actually pretty good at.”