Right. She stumbled and just happened to fall against him.
I do my best to keep a straight face.
“Oh!” The supposedly clumsy girl feels up Paxton’s arm. “Did I ruin your tuxedo? I’m so, so sorry.”
“No you didn’t. These things happen,” Paxton tells Busty while easily pulling his arm out of her grasp before turning his attention to the bartender. “It’s not ruined. Don’t worry about it a bit,” he assures the girl who looks close to tears.
Meanwhile, here I am. Standing here like an idiot, watching this unfold. Wondering how there’s even a universe where this girl thinks she’s not painfully obvious.
To everybody but Paxton anyway. He’s too busy making sure the bartender knows she’s not going to lose her job over this. The woman waits, smiling a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
I’d chat with her if she’d acknowledge my presence. She only has eyes for Paxton though. When he doesn’t immediately return her attention, she rolls her eyes and walks away.
“Oh, you just keep on rolling,” I whisper before taking a sip of my drink.
“Hmm?” Paxton turns his attention back to me. “What’d you say?”
“Nothing. You okay?”
“Sure. Just a little vodka. I might have to spill a dash of olive brine on there to make it a dirty-martini situation. Though I’ve always been more of a whiskey man.”
“I enjoy whiskey myself, as you know.” I raise my glass to him. He touches the rim of his glass against it.
“What did we toast to?” he asks with an honest-to-God twinkle in his eye, leaning in so I can smell his intoxicating cologne.
What did we toast to? Oh, I can think of many things.
CHAPTER FOUR
“So, what happened next?”
I shrug and then take a sip of my Bloody Mary. “Nothing much. His dad was looking for him, so he had to go. But he did ask me to dinner tonight, and of course, I said yes. I gave him my address, and he’ll be there later to pick me up.”
Hayley sits back in wonder, shaking her head. “How you manage to find men so easily, I have no idea.”
“Easily? Did any part of what I just described sound easy? I was about two seconds away from clawing somebody’s eyes out.”
“But I mean, it just so happened he was exactly who you were looking for.”
“That’s true. I guess I got lucky again. Though honestly, considering that he saved me from ruining my grandmother’s reputation forever, I’m a little more grateful for that part than I am for meeting a rich cowboy.”
“What’s his name again?”
“Paxton Cleary.”
She whips out her phone and types the name in while I nurse my drink. That bourbon definitely went down too quickly last night. I should’ve paced myself, if only for Grandmother’s sake, but I was so steamed when we first got to the bar.
I’m still steamed in fact. If that wretched thing were in front of me right now, outside of a fancy ball chaired by my grandmother and surrounded by people who know her, it would be a whole different story.
I know when Hayley’s jaw pretty much hits the table that she’s found Paxton’s picture. “Oh, holy hell. He’s too hot. It’s burning my eyes.”
I’m giggling as I take the phone from her to check out what she found. Is it just me, or are my panties ready to melt off?
Because as hot as he was in a tuxedo, he is about a million times hotter than the sun when he’s dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, a flannel shirt, and a Stetson hat. In one picture, he’s sitting astride a gorgeous chestnut horse. In another, he’s grooming a horse in the stables, looking over his shoulder to grin at the photographer and showing off a butt that looks like a denim-covered peach.
There goes my jaw too. “I’m dying. I literally can’t breathe.”
“And you’re going to dinner with him tonight?”
“Great. I wasn’t already nervous enough. Now, I just know I’m going to say something dumb because I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about these pictures.”
“You can blame it on me. Tell him your best friend stalked him online and found this photo shoot for Forbes and it’s basically soft-core porn.”
I can’t stop laughing even though I’m blushing to the roots of my hair. It’s like having a sunburn. “You’re just making it worse!”
“All I have to say is, if this next book doesn’t burst into flames in my hands from the hotness inside, I’m going to have your hormone levels tested.”
“He’s probably the best-looking of all of the guys I’ve dated. What do you think?”
“Oh, without a doubt. He’s even hotter than Dr. Jake.”
“Do you stalk all of my dates online?”
“Don’t you know by now that your life is one endless distraction for me? If it wasn’t for you, I would have to actually work through the roadblocks I face rather than pretend they don’t exist.” She taps her screen, nodding. “He’s easily the hottest. And the way you make it sound, he’s a really nice guy too.”
“Honestly, if I had met him on the street, I wouldn’t have known who he was. He had this really easygoing attitude. It didn’t seem like much could shake him. And he was really nice to the bartender and everybody around us. That’s important too.”
“Oh, no doubt. You can always tell a person by the way they treat people who take care of them.”
As if on cue, our food arrives, and I dig into my pancakes, hoping by the time I finish them and the bacon sitting beside them, I’ll feel less hungover and more alert to take on the task of getting ready for an important date.
I really don’t want to mess this up—and not just for the sake of a book. I got a really good feeling about him. This isn’t all trying to talk myself into liking him either. Trying to make him seem more special than he is so I can get into the act of writing yet another book.
The few minutes I spent with him last night were enough to show me the sort of man I want to be with. No, not wealthy—though that never hurts. He’s kind and thoughtful, and he’s good in a tight spot, which is an excellent quality for any man who dates me. I tend to get myself into tight spots.
“It’s amazing,” I manage around a mouthful of sweet, banana-studded pancake bliss.
“What is?” Hayley is a good girl today, eating an egg white omelet with steamed spinach and turkey sausage.
I swear, she just loves to show me up. Easy for her to eat that way—she didn’t overdo it last night the way I did.
“The difference between fake confidence and the real deal. Paxton has real confidence. He’s comfortable with himself. He doesn’t have anything to prove. He’s not one of those people who walks around, acting like he owns the world just because he has some money. He’s not flashy about it. What’s the word for that?”
“You’re the writer.”
I roll my eyes. “I can’t think of the word right now, but he’s not like that. He’s just … chill. He’s cool. A generally nice person.”
“Boy, you’re really swooning over him already, aren’t you?” She shoots me a knowing look.