"And then the blonde sighs, and says, 'Please, not another breathalyzer test!'"
I laughed along with the other girls once Julie finished her joke. Julie was blonde and thought that all blonde jokes were hilarious. She knew them all, and with the slightest encouragement, didn't hesitate to show her prowess. She was on a roll tonight.
I sighed to myself, and tried to think of an excuse to leave. My work day had been particularly long and difficult. I was tired, and just wanted to go home, take a bath, and curl up with a good book. I don't know why I let the girls from the office convince me to go with them for dinner and drinks, but I did. I was regretting the decision now that my exhaustion was catching up to me.
I listened with half an ear as Julie continued to chatter, and glanced around the room while I waited for the waitress to come back to our table. The restaurant was a local favorite in the summer because of the outdoor Tiki bar. It was a gorgeous evening, and the Tiki bar was packed, which meant a long wait, so we opted to eat inside. There were only four other occupied tables, so we had been seated immediately.
I took a sip of my Long Island Ice Tea and discreetly checked out the other diners. Seated to our left was a young family. Their three kids looked to be under the age of five. One parent was paying the bill, while the other collected the various toys that had made their way on to the table and the floor, so I knew they'd be leaving shortly.
An older couple was seated on the other side of the room. They both concentrated on eating instead of on each other. It made me wonder if they were fighting or if they had just run out of things to say.
Three thirty-something guys sat at the table next to ours. I noticed that they were busy flirting with one of the girls at my table.
The last occupied table was tucked into the back corner of the restaurant. A man and woman who looked to be business associates were seated there. I started to direct my attention back to the flirt-a-thon going on next to me, when something caught my eye.
The woman, dressed in a white shirt and dark skirt, started to unbutton her blouse. She was seated at an angle from me, but I clearly saw her open first one, then two and finally three buttons. Her hand moved toward her lap, but stopped in mid-air and hovered when the man spoke. I swear that I saw her hand shake as it moved back toward the buttons. I was fascinated, and suddenly didn't feel quite so tired. I wished that I was closer to their table, so I could hear the conversation. The woman's next move, however, made my jaw drop.
Instead of moving her hand to button her blouse, she slid it inside the opening and began to play with her breast. It looked like her hand was massaging it, and maybe pulling and pinching her nipple. I looked around at the other diners, but they were all focused on their own little worlds, and totally oblivious to what was happening right in front of them.
My eyes snapped back to the woman in the corner right when she changed hands and began playing with her other breast. I wondered what her companion thought of her actions, so I shifted my attention to him, only to find him staring directly at me. He'd caught me staring! It felt as if the air was suddenly sucked from the room.
I gasped, embarrassed to be caught, and bent my head to concentrate on my drink. I took a couple of sips and wished that I had the nerve to hold the cool glass against my heated cheeks.
Our server arrived to deliver fresh drinks. I could hear the voices of the man and woman rising above the chaos of the clinking glasses and the noisy exit of the family. Using the server as a shield, I peeked under my lashes at the back table. The woman was buttoning her blouse in between making large gestures with her hands. Then she got up and walked out of the restaurant. The server chose that moment to walk away with her load of glasses, and I was once again captured by the gaze of the man at the table. He knowingly quirked an eyebrow at me.
"Earth to Clare. Come in, Clare."
My head snapped around upon hearing my name, and I looked questioningly at Karen, who was seated next to me.
"Didn't you hear me ask you to scoot your chair? We're going to make room for the guys." She pointed to the thirty-somethings who were busy moving from their table to ours.
"Sorry," I said. "I spaced out there for a minute. I must be more tired than I thought."
I stood up to move my chair, and chanced a look at the back table. The man was gone. Just like that, the evening went flat, and my exhaustion hit me like a brick. I didn't allow myself the time to examine why that was the case. I moved the chair, pulled some money from my wallet, and set it on the table.
"Karen, I'm going to head home. Would you make sure the server gets this for my drink?"
"What? Clare you can't leave. The fun's just starting." She smiled and canted her head toward the guys.
"Don't worry about me." I eyed the evenly matched girls and guys. "Besides," I said with a laugh, "seven's a crowd."
They all made half-hearted objections, but didn't really put up a fuss as I said my goodbyes and left the restaurant.
The sun was low in the sky, but still bright enough for me to need my shades. I pulled them on, and started toward my car, but stopped short when I saw a man - THE MAN - walking toward me. I was a little nervous at first, but remembered all the people circulating around the Tiki bar, and relaxed slightly.
It only took seconds, but it felt like hours passed as he approached me. I noticed that the suit jacket and tie were gone, and that he'd rolled up his shirt sleeves. I also couldn't help but notice his toned physique. He stopped in front of me and I was both disappointed and relieved that his eyes were also covered by sunglasses.
"You surprised me. I had to wait longer than I expected."
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," I said.
"Don't you? You were watching me. I knew you'd follow me out when I left."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Of all the conceited, egotistical and presumptuous things to say!" I wanted to add in a few more adjectives, but I was embarrassed and on a roll. "I was not watching you at all, and I certainly didn't follow you out here like some sort of faithful puppy. Why would you even think that I'd have anything to do with a man whose date practically undresses, then walks out on him?"
Dammit! I went too far. I just admitted to the very thing I was protesting.
"I thought you said that you weren't watching." He smiled, took off his sunglasses and stuck them into his shirt pocket. "You've got a lot of spirit. I like that."
He took a step closer and looked down at me with the sexiest blue eyes I'd ever seen. I totally forgot that I was pseudo-mad at him. I was drawn to his gaze and didn't even look away when he reached up to pull off my sunglasses.
"You have a very expressive face, and those beautiful, brown eyes give you away every time." A finger slid along my jaw. "I would like to get to know you better." He reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out a business card and held it out to me.
"How do you know that I'm even available?"
"We wouldn't still be standing here if you weren't. I'm pretty sure you would have set me straight when you were giving me hell a minute ago."
I felt my face heat.
"And she blushes, too!" he said teasingly.
I reached up to take the card, and felt a tingle when he wrapped his hand around mine.
