Page 24 of When I'm Gone
“Sorry I took so long. You okay?” Luke plopped down, pretending Mick wasn’t standing there ogling Natalie’s best friend’s body parts. Annie met Luke’s gaze, and the tension in her shoulders disappeared instantly.
“Sure thing.” She flashed a smile that looked like relief. “Glad you found your way back. I was about to send in a rescue team.”
Luke laughed as heartily as he could muster, putting on a show for Mick, who was still standing there. When would this guy take a hint?
“Hey, beautiful, my shift’s almost over,” Mick interjected, his voice deepening in what Luke could only guess was an attempt at sexy. “Can I buy you a drink or something? My place is only a few minutes from here, and my bar is well stocked.”
Brian let out a loud “Hah!” behind them. The amount of entertainment he was getting from his wife’s distress was starting to irritate Luke. He took Brian for the protective type, not an unfeeling lout.
“Thanks, but like I already told you, I’m married.”
“And like I told you, I don’t buy it. No ring? At a bar?” He grabbed her bare left hand and lifted it up into the light. She snapped it away, blushing.
“I was doing the dishes and forgot to put it back on,” she explained to Luke, like he should care.
“What? Are you married to this guy?” Mick stood tall, like he was trying to show how much more of a man he was than Luke.
“No,” Annie and Luke said in unison.
“He’s my best friend’s hus—” Annie cut herself off. Looking at Luke, her forehead wrinkled. “Actually, he’s my friend,” she corrected herself.
He’d never thought of Annie as anything other than Natalie’s best friend. He had plenty of casual friendships, but the only real, meaningful friendship he’d ever been able to maintain was with Natalie. Growing up isolated by abuse and then again by foster care, he’d never learned how to lean on anyone but himself. Yet if he looked closely at the past three months, she was right. Annie had become his friend. She might be his only real friend.
“Sooooo.” Mick broke into Luke’s moment of realization. “I got this thing right after all.” He stared pointedly at the empty spot on Annie’s hand where her solitaire usually sat. “You stand behind a bar long enough, and you get to a point where you can read people pretty well. I pick up on things.”
“Yeah, totally FBI material, Mick,” Annie joked, flipping her hair before taking a long drink from her diet soda.
Luke had to work hard not to laugh. Mick, as was becoming habit, didn’t notice the sarcastic lilt to her voice.
“You think so?” Mick ran a hand over his chest. “I’ve definitely got the body for it.”
Luke was done trying to let Mick down easy. This guy needed a dose of honesty.
“Listen.” He snapped his fingers in front of Mick’s face. “She’s clearly not interested. Leave the poor woman alone.”
“Uh, I don’t think you know if she’s interested or not, so back off.”
Annie cleared her throat, catching Mick’s attention. “I’m not interested. Sorry. And Iammarried. See that guy back there, the one who’s been playing Golden Tee for the past hour? That’s my husband, Officer Brian Gurrella, and a few of his work friends.”
Luke piled on. “Maybe you’d like to chat with them about your interest in law enforcement. I can call them over if you’d like.” He turned as if to wave at Brian and his friends. Mick checked out the group of heavily muscled men hovering around a table covered in half-empty mugs of beer.
“No, no.” He backed away from the bar, almost bumping into the bottles of hard liquor behind him, finally finding someone intimidating enough to back off. “I’m good. Uh, looks like you need a refill.” Mick pointed at Annie’s empty glass, seeming almost professional. “My shift’s over, but I’ll send Stacey with one for you.”
“Sounds great; thanks, Mick,” Luke added, finding Mick’s reaction to rejection far too entertaining.
When Mick disappeared through the flapping doors, mumbling something under his breath about them being assholes, Annie let out a loud whoop and offered Luke a high-five. He put up his hand, and she slapped it so hard it tingled.
“That was awesome.” She was beaming—nothing left of the shy, intimidated woman he’d attempted to “save” a few minutes earlier. “I’ve never had the guts to do that before. Brian thinks I’m a wimp. I hope he was watching.”
When she mentioned his name, Brian poked his head between the two of them, reeking of beer and at least a few shots of whiskey.
“Thanks a bunch, Luke. You lost me fifty bucks. I bet those losers she’d run away and cry before she’d get him to back off.” He smacked Luke on the shoulder and gave Annie a brief kiss on the top of her head. “I think the bet should be off since you stuck your nose in there and scared the guy away.”
“Hey!” Annie protested. “I think I did pretty great. And not one tear.” She shrugged off Brian’s arm in mock disgust. Luke was about to join in on the whole strange but playful banter when he caught sight of Annie’s reflection in the mirror over the bar. Her face was smooth, eyes hard and unblinking. There wasn’t any of the bouncing laughter that filled the words she spoke. In fact, the only thing he could easily identify in her features was desperation. Luke cringed.
Brian didn’t see her face, didn’t know he was embarrassing his wife. Or that by sitting back and watching Mick hit on her, he’d made Annie feel insignificant.
“I’m giving you a hard time, Luke.” Brian stood and slapped both of them on opposite shoulders. “You ladies keep enjoying your girls’ night out. The boys are itching to play darts, and I gotta win some of my money back.” He eyed Luke like he was checking his credentials. “You can join us if you want to, man. We always like fresh blood.”
