Page 74 of The Captain

Relief took over me, and I gave a faint smile. “Thanks. I’ve never been one to frequent bars.”

“I can tell.” She didn’t say it as a dig, more like just an observation. “You’re a good girl. I bet your grades are perfect.”

I blushed, hating for whatever reason how correct she was. “They’re all right.”

“Aren’t you entering the master’s program? That’s what my friend is doing, too. And her grades are pretty stellar.”

“Yeah.” It was true, of course. You didn’t get into those programs by having bad grades. Still, sometimes it made me think I wasted my years at college. I didn’t get to live the real “college experience” that everyone else seems to have.

The desire to go out and party, even if I’d had someone to go out and party with, hadn’t been there.

But when I’d met Victoria, who was an apprentice at the tattoo shop I get tattoos at, she asked if I wanted to come to the bar for a drink tonight, and I, being at the end of my college career—before the master’s program, of course—thought it was a good idea.

That had yet to be determined.

A body shuffles in next to me at the bar, and I instinctively move away from him, pushing into Victoria.

She is looking in another direction, and when I see who she’s looking at, I brace myself for her to leave me. There’s yet another guy eyeing her like he’d like to have her for his next meal.

Something tells me it could be his last if he’s not careful.

“What are you drinking?” The man on my left pulled my attention back, and I blinked at him in surprise.

The man staring at me is handsome. Really handsome.

He had light-brown hair that’s a little too long and a dimple in his cheek when he smiled at me. His teeth were perfect, so likely not a hockey player. There was scruff on his cheeks and down his neck, and I would guess he was around twenty-two himself.

I smiled at him and cleared my throat when I realized he was grinning at me and waiting for my answer. “Oh. Beer.”

His grin widened, and he nodded, then looked over at the bartender. “Two more beers, please.”

Somehow, the way he asked made me feel like he was making fun of me, but then his brown eyes came back to mine, and I settled again.

His gaze was unnerving, and it was very unusual for a man to just stare at me without talking to fill the silence or have a purpose for the staring.

Finally, it got to me, and I snapped. “What? Is there something on my face?”

Victoria looked over at me and inspected it, even though I wasn’t technically asking her. “No. Hey, I’m going to the restroom really quick, watch this?” She tapped her beer and didn’t wait for a reply before hopping off the stool and heading toward the back of the bar.

I tugged her beer a little closer to me and watched it like my life—or hers—depended on it.

“There’s nothing on your face, Sunshine. Just taking in a beautiful woman, there’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

I blushed hard. I could feel it spreading over my cheeks and down my neck. It was impossible to hide from anyone looking, and judging by the wide smile on his face, he could see every bit of it.

“What’s your name?” he asked, leaning on the bar so he could get a better angle to look at my face.

I cleared my throat, my gaze returning to the two beers in front of me. I wished the bartender would hurry it up and deliver this guy’s beers so he would walk away. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to him, I did.

I just didn’t know how.

“Cassie,” I said quietly, not looking over at him. He was way too handsome.

“Cassie,” he said in reply, almost like he was talking to himself. I chanced a look at him, and when his eyes met mine, he smiled, holding out his hand. “I’m Lincoln.”

His arm flexed as I took it and shook it with mine. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” he replied, still holding my hand and looking me over. He wasn’t ogling me, just trying to place me. His next words confirmed it. “Have I seen you before? You look familiar.”

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