Page 5 of The Heart of a Capricorn
I’d just put a fry in my mouth when the room suddenly got warm. The chair across from me scraped against the floor, but I was too afraid to look up. I knew who it was by the way my body came alive. His earthy scent wrapped around me and made my heart race.
He didn’t say anything right away, but I could feel him staring. When I finally built up the courage to look up, the look in his eyes made heat rush to my cheeks and forced me to look down.
Chauncey looked at me like there was no one else in the room but him and me.
“I see you’re still eating like a toddler.”
“And I see you are still a fry thief.” I popped Chauncey’s hand when he stole a fry from my plate.
His deep rumble of laughter made my stomach flip. He stared at me intensely as he dipped his fry into the ketchup, then put it in his mouth.
When he licked the drop of ketchup off his lip, my middle leaked. Chauncey had always been so damn fine to me, and time had done him well. Especially the thickness in his arms and thetattoos that covered them. From just the little I could see, I knew his body was a work of art.
“How have you been, L?”
“I’ve been good, Tank.” I smirked. “I never knew you were Ciara’s godbrother. Small world, isn’t it?”
“Not small enough.” His lip curled into a half cocky smile. “If it were smaller, I would have found you sooner.”
I dipped a chicken finger in the sauce before taking a bite. I needed to get my thoughts together because being in Chauncey’s presence had me discombobulated. I glanced at his ring finger and didn’t see a ring or a tan line, so that was a good sign. At least I hoped it was. I’d met men who were married but never wore their rings.
Once I swallowed my food, I took a sip of water. I had to make sure I didn’t have any leftover chicken in my mouth.
“You were looking for me?”
Chauncey leaned forward, putting his arms on the table. The light behind him gave his brown skin a soft glow.
“I did for a minute, but obviously, I didn’t look hard enough, because you’ve been right under my nose this whole time.”
I shifted under his gaze. His dark eyes always made me feel nervous. I could never read what was on his mind.
He kept his outfit simple with jeans and a graphic tee, but he still looked better than any other man in the bar.
Laughter from my coworkers echoed through the bar, as well as music playing through the speakers, but the look in Chauncey’s eyes had me tuning out all the noise.
“That’s interesting. How have you been? Did you ever go into Homeland Security?” I needed to change the subject.
My heart beat out of sync when he smiled at me again.
“It’s nice to see that you remembered. I’m an air marshal. And I see you followed your dreams. That’s good for you.”His eyes glanced at my ring finger, then back to my face. “No husband?”
I wasn’t surprised by his career choice, but it gave me pause. Before I let my thoughts overtake me, I answered his question.
“No. No wife?”
“Not yet. I have a feeling she’s close, though.” He smirked.
I grabbed a handful of fries and popped them in my mouth without even putting ketchup on them. Something in his tone made my belly flip.
Chauncey chuckled like he knew I tried to steer us away from that conversation.
“Good luck,” I encouraged once I swallowed.
“Thanks. Do you want a drink? The waitress is headed this way.”
I told Chauncey what I wanted, and when the waitress came over, he ordered for both of us and told her to put my stuff on his tab.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I told him once the waitress walked away.
