Page 30 of Can't Help Falling in Love
Ethan grinned. “Throw him a bone. You’re beautiful to me, Will.”
Lexi and Ethan laughed, which made it impossible not to laugh along with them.
Ethan stood, held a hand out. “I’m Ethan. Owner of Side Tap, best friend to this guy. He was just telling me about you. Alexandria, right?”
She shook his hand. “Lexi is fine. This place is beautiful.” She dropped her hand, looked around before meeting Ethan’s gaze again. “My friend Maisie is a photographer. She loves architecture but mostly does people.” Lexi’s eyes widened. “Photographs people.”
Ethan’s bark of laughter made Will’s shoulders relax. “I look forward to meeting her. With you two being engaged and all, she and I should probably connect.” He gave an exaggerated eyebrow wiggle that probably charmed women.
Will glared at him. “Off limits.”
Lexi laughed. “Great, glad the news is spreading.”
He was a little surprised that she wasn’t mad. Put off. But she seemed to be rolling with everything that had happened a hell of a lot better than he had. At least she’d agreed to a second date.
“I’ll bring her by sometime.”
Ethan’s phone lit up in his hand, and his grin faded. “I wish I could stay and chat with you two, get to know you better, Lexi, and give you the dirt on Will.”
Lexi laughed while Will frowned. “I’d like that, too.”
Ethan held up his phone. “Unfortunately, I have a mess to deal with. But I’ll send over our Fall Flight. It’s our newest selection of IPAs to celebrate the season.”
“Thanks. Everything okay?” Will asked, not liking the worry creasing his normally easygoing friend’s eyes.
Ethan shook his head. “Trickier when family and business overlap.”
Will gave a humorless laugh. “Don’t I know it.”
Saying goodbye, Will gestured to the seat, waited while Lexi removed her jacket and purse, hung them on the chair. He sat across from her. Her hair fell in soft waves around the shoulders of her cream-colored sweater. Like him, she wore jeans. Soft makeup and a slightly wary expression made her all the more intriguing.
“I hope your friend is okay. He seems nice.”
Will settled back in his chair, trying to appear more at ease than he felt.
“He’s a great guy. He and his brother own this place, and they’re in the process of opening a second one in southern Washington. Not as far as it sounds—about an hour from here. I’m sure everything is fine. Nothing about starting a business is easy.”
“That’s what my degree is in, actually. Business administration with a focus on operations.”
Will’s jaw dropped. “Shit. You should have said that when he was standing here.”
Lexi shook her head, her cheeks going pink. “Ha. I don’t think he needs anything a mature college student in her final courses might have to offer.”
Will leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees. “Don’t dothat. Don’t diminish how hard you’re working or what you’re working toward.”
Her smile was small, her gaze unreadable. “Thank you.”
The moment hummed between them. “Now, back to more important things. What’s this about me not being beautiful?”
She leaned forward, glanced toward the women for a second, then reached across and took his hand, much as he’d done to her the other night. She lifted it and kissed it, met his gaze through lowered lashes.
“You know how good you look.” She dropped his hand while it still tingled from the press of her lips and subtly hooked her thumb toward the table of women. “If not, they’ll reassure you.”
God, he liked her.
“I’m perfectly happy right here with my fiancée,” he said.
What was it about this woman? He spent his life interacting with people in a business, personal, and social capacity. But this woman with her cautious gaze, her gorgeous smile, her unparalleled laugh made him think about things he hadn’t given much thought to. Like what he really wanted. More,whohe really wanted.
