Anything You Can Do by Berneathy Sally

Author:Berneathy, Sally [Berneathy, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-03-10T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Locating Austin was easy even in the after-work crowd at Reilly's. Admiring his dark hair, good looks, and aura of self-assurance, Bailey was surprised everyone in the place wasn't looking at him. At that thought, twin thrills zigged along her spine—one of exultation that this "hunk" was waiting for her and one of fear that he couldn't possibly be interested in her.

As she walked toward his table, a waitress paused beside him. He looked up at the woman, smiling as he spoke. Bailey experienced a pang of something she reluctantly had to admit was jealousy. Hesitating a moment, she took a deep breath and plunged on. No use kidding herself. Her normal confidence took a vacation when it came to male-female relationships, especially when Austin was the male.

But the smile he turned on her when he saw her approaching went a long way toward restoring it. Now that was a smile, not the imitation he'd given the waitress.

"Hi," he said, standing up and pulling out a chair for her. "I ordered you a glass of white wine. Didn’t mean to make decisions for you, but I was afraid we might not see another waitress for a while. We can send it back if you'd rather have something else. "

She could use something a little stronger—say, a dozen tequila shooters. "Thank you," she said. "White wine will be fine." Great, she thought. You've sunk to lousy poetry. A surefire way to impress the man.

The waitress returned, set a beer in front of Austin and a glass of pale liquid in front of Bailey. She immediately took a shaky gulp then set the glass down so abruptly, the wine sloshed onto her hand. Smooth move, klutz, she berated herself. Maybe if she sort of waved her hand around unobtrusively while she talked, it would dry and Austin wouldn't notice.

"Well," she said, flinging her hand out, "what's new with our little insurance case?"

Austin's expression was confused for a moment, and an absurd happiness sang through her veins. Paula had been right. He hadn't called her to talk about the case. She battled with her lips to keep them from bursting into a sappy grin.

"Nothing significant," he finally answered.

What should she say to that? It was her turn, and her mind was a blank. Nervousness had stolen her happiness. "Done any more running lately?" Way to go! Now he'll think you're being suggestive. "Alone, I mean." No, that was worse! "In the daylight." Oh, jeez! "Hot weather for running."

She grabbed her wine and took a huge drink, filling her mouth. Anything to stop it from talking. She was making a total fool of herself. The man would never want to see her again.

"No, I haven't done any more running, not since we—not in the last couple of days," he answered. "Been really busy at the office. How about you?"

"Yes. Me, too. Really busy." Such eloquence. She badly needed a new mouth or at least a new brain to control the old one.

"Why don't we have some dinner?" Austin suggested.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.