Page 24 of Welcome to Forever
Lawson’s smile grew as he rubbed his hands together. “Ben told me about her the other night. Said you like his principal a lot. Emphasis on a lot.”
The waitress set a beer in front of him. “Ben wants me to like her a lot. He feels guilty about Nicole. Thinks I’m lonely.”
Lawson drank from his Coke. “You are lonely. Why don’t we buy a round for the pretty ladies over there? I can’t decide between Val and She-Ra. She-Ra looks pretty kickass in a sexy-as-hell way. I’ll leave Cinderella for you, though.” His brows bounced playfully.
Micah started to peel the label on his bottle. “I’m not buying Ben’s principal a drink.”
“This isn’t school, it’s a bar. And she’s not a principal right now, she’s a woman. A fairest-of-them-all specimen,” Lawson said, mixing up his fairy tales—not that Micah would admit to knowing the difference, much less point that fact out.
Micah leaned back in his chair and nursed the beer in his hand. “What are we? Twelve?”
Lawson waved the waitress back over. “Three refills of whatever the ladies over there are having.”
“Got it.” Scribbling on her notepad, she flushed again as she met Lawson’s eyes. It was enough to make Micah gag. Women fell over themselves around the guy, acted like he walked on water.
“It’s the cowboy hat,” Micah said, when she walked away.
Lawson grinned. “Whatever works. You can borrow it sometime if you want. If you’re feeling like you need a little help in the romantic field.”
Screw tiny sips. He took a huge gulp from his beer. “I don’t need help. Thanks.”
“Uh-oh. She’s bringing the drinks over.” Lawson grabbed a menu and pretended to read, lifting his gaze, none too casually. “They’re looking at us,” he said through the corner of his mouth.
Micah turned in his chair and met Kat’s eyes.Wow.Lawson was right. She wasn’t a principal tonight. She looked…like a goddess. Or, yes, Cinderella with her pale skin and flowing blond hair that hung past her shoulders.
And there was no man in sight. This was the second time that he’d run into her outside of school and she’d been without a guy. She obviously had one. Women didn’t just wear diamonds on their left ring finger for no reason. Whoever the hell her fiancé was, he was lucky to get to take her home. So why wasn’t he guarding his territory? Maybe her fiancé was in the military and deployed, he considered, which made him feel even shittier for checking her out.
She-Ra, as Lawson had deemed her, stood up and headed in their direction. When she got to their table, she leaned forward, bracing her hands on the table in front of her. “Thanks for the drinks, guys.”
She was thin, but light muscles twisted up her arms. It wasn’t a look that Micah normally found attractive, but, considering she was a clone of Kat Chandler, it worked.
She stuck out her hand and shook both of theirs. “I’m Julie Chandler. That’s my sister, Kat, and her friend Val.”
Lawson was in full charm mode. “I’m Lawson and this is my buddy Micah. Are you ladies all alone tonight?” he asked.
With a smile, her gaze landed on his cowboy hat. “Hopefully not for long. Want to join us?”
Micah started to say no, but was stopped short by Lawson’s “Hell, yeah.”
A moment later, the five of them sat comfortably around the other table.
“We keep running into each other,” Kat said, leaning over to him as Lawson captured Val’s and Julie’s attention.
“Great minds think alike.” It had come out smooth, hopefully charming, but then Micah shook his head. “Actually, this wasn’t my idea. To be honest, I’d rather be at home with Ben.” He looked at Kat. “No offense. You’re beautiful company.”
Her hair swept across her face as she glanced down to look at her hands. “Thank you. And this wasn’t my idea, either. Val and Julie decided I needed a night out.”
“Why is that?” he asked.
A shadow of emotion crossed her expression as she looked at him. “Oh, you know. I work too much, I guess.”
“We’ve talked about that, Kat,” he said, taking another sip from his beer, and motioning toward her ring. “When you get married, you’re going to have to rearrange your priorities.”
Her smile faded.
“Sorry, just saying. I know this from experience. Ben’s mom loved her work more than she loved us. The relationship was doomed from the beginning.”
Shit.By the look on her face, he’d really stuck his foot in his mouth. He tried to backpedal. “I’m sure your marriage will be different, though. And he’s a lucky guy.”
