Page 38 of Firecracker

She walked closer to him. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting a manicure. What does it look like I’m doing?” He lifted the bottle.

Her lips twitched, but she lifted her eyebrows and gave him a long look.

“I told you we hang out here a lot.”

“He’s not lying, love,” Liam said with a wink.

“Okay.” She shrugged. “How did things go in the bathroom?”

Liam snorted. “Jaysus, man, you can’t be talking about your bowel issues with lovely Arden here.”

Tyler met Arden’s eyes, and they both burst out laughing. Arden had to lean on the bar she was laughing so hard.

“Oh my God.” She wiped an eye. “Liam!”

Liam grinned. “What? That’s not what you meant?”

“You know that’s not what I meant!”

Tyler shook his head, still chuckling. “Christ, Liam.”

The four guys she’d been talking to passed by on their way out, calling, “Night, Arden!”

“See you soon, beautiful,” another added.

“Good night, guys!” She waved.

“Making friends already?” Tyler asked, his jaw tight.

She grinned. “Sure. Welp, must get back to work.”

The booths had cleared out now. While he sipped his beer and watched another baseball game on one of the TVs, he glanced at her occasionally as she cleared the tables and wiped them down. Every once in a while, she’d look up and catch him watching her, as if she felt his gaze on her.

He couldn’t stop, though.

This was crazy.

Every time he was around her, his body vibrated with tension. He was mesmerized by her—by her beauty, yes; by her appealing curves too; but also by the sad hope in her eyes, by the determined optimism in her smile, and by her unassuming rejection of all those amazing qualities that had made her the perfect prom queen.

Now, watching her interact with customers and with Liam, who all appeared to be as entranced with her as he was, something unfurled in his chest.

Christ. He gulped a mouthful of beer. That crush he’d had on her all those years ago apparently hadn’t died. How could that be?

It seemed as if getting to know her better made her even hotter. Even more beautiful. Even more…special.

They were both different people now. Looking back at the geeky kid he’d been, tongue-tied and wide-eyed in her presence, feeling completely out of her league, he almost felt sorry for himself. But he wasn’t that kid anymore. He was a man now, a man who’d had relationships with women, a man with the confidence to go after what he wanted in life.

He wanted her.

He let out a short exhalation and bent his head briefly. Okay, he’d admitted it. He wanted her.

But there were problems with that. She still saw him as her little brother’s friend. Or maybe not…he was pretty sure she felt those sparks that sizzled around them. Or she feltsomething. Maybe.

The other problem was that her husband had just died. Fuck. He hated thinking about her in love with another man. Was she still in love with him? Was she heartbroken and grieving?

It had been a year. That was enough time for someone to move on. Wasn’t it?

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