Tell Me It’s Right (Sweetspire #1)

Chapter Two

FLETCHER

The bar fills pretty quickly once five o’clock rolls around, as it usually does.

But Christine doesn’t leave.

Every time I get pulled aside by another customer, by the time I make it back to peer at her spot, I keep expecting her to be gone, but she’s not.

At least half a dozen men have taken the seat beside her at this point, trying to flirt and buy her a drink.

For some reason, my shoulders tense every time.

But they don’t last long. After a few minutes, sure enough, they leave, and Christine sits there sipping her wine with a smug little smile on her lips.

God, what I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall for those conversations.

It’s obvious why they all keep flocking to her despite witnessing the failures of the men before them. She’s like a neon light sitting there, everything about her screaming she doesn’t belong in here. From the blatantly expensive dress and purse, to the shiny blond hair and perfect posture, to the jewelry I’m a little afraid someone is going to mug her for in the parking lot…a green-skinned alien would blend in better than her.

Something about her is so damn familiar, but I just can’t put my finger on it.

After a seventh guy strikes out with her, I make my way over.

“How are you doing over here?”

She smiles up at me, and that’s how I know she’s drunk. Even when I’d gotten her to laugh earlier, the corners of her mouth never quite passed the middle line, like they were fighting against it. Her eyes are a little glassy now, and I double-check she still has that baseball of a ring on the bar and no one swiped it.

But no, it’s there. She’s still spinning it around and around.

“No more for me,” she says, pushing her half-full wineglass toward me.

“Glad we agree on that.”

“Thank you for talking with me earlier,” she says, her words starting to slur together. “That was nice of you.”

“I enjoyed it. You’re the most interesting person I’ve had in here in a while.” She rolls her eyes, and I lay my hand palm up on the bar top. “But I’m going to need your keys.”

She purses her lips like she knows I’m right, but makes no move to give them to me.

“I can call you a cab,” I add.

Her nose scrunches as she looks up at me. “I don’t want to leave my car here. My hotel is only a few blocks away.”

“Come on, you know that’s not a good idea.”

“Didn’t I see on the news you keep having break-ins in your parking lot?” Her nose scrunches again. “No offense.”

I wince because she’s not wrong. People have definitely caught onto the number of people who regularly have to leave their cars here overnight and taken full advantage of that.

I sigh and glance at the clock, then the second bartender who showed up an hour ago. “Which hotel are you staying at?”

“The Ridley.”

Damn, that is really close.

“All right.” I curl my fingers for the keys, and her lower lip pushes out a little in disappointment. I don’t even think she realizes she’s doing it. “I’m going to drive you. Come on.”

She blinks, a crease forming between her eyebrows. “You won’t get in trouble for leaving?”

I shake my head. “It’ll take less than ten minutes.”

“But how will you get back?” She seems genuinely baffled.

I chuckle. “I’ve got it taken care of. It’s me or the cab. Your pick.”

Slowly, she pulls her keys from her purse and drops them into my waiting palm.

Thank God she didn’t leave her car here. This thing must have cost at least a hundred grand. It wouldn’t have stood a chance.

It’s nothing too flashy—a sleek black SUV. I would’ve taken her more for the sports car type, that is, until I open the back seat to toss my skateboard inside and notice the car seat.

Damn. She seems really upset about the divorce as it is, but that adds a whole new layer to it.

I have a million questions I want to ask, but I don’t know where the line between friendly ends and nosy begins.

She climbs into the passenger seat with a sigh, and I drop the ring she left on the bar into the cupholder.

“Oh.” She stares at it as I adjust the seat. “Oops.”

A laugh gets stuck in my throat. That ring looks like it was a million dollars. Oops? Who the fuck is her ex-husband? God?

“Are you even old enough to drive?” she says as I pull out of the parking lot.

“I am not that much younger than you.”

She scoffs. “I could be your mother.”

My head whips toward her. Is she serious ? “How old do you think I am?”

She frowns and squints at me. “Sixteen?”

I give her an unimpressed look. “And bartending? Try again.”

“Eighteen?”

“That’s more legal, but still no.”

She purses her lips. “Twenty-one.”

“Twenty-two,” I admit. “But you can’t be that much older. Definitely not old enough for the age jokes.”

She groans and covers her face with both hands. “Try ten years.”

Huh. Looking at her, I would’ve guessed less, but still. “That’s nothing.”

“That’s a decade .”

“So?”

She shakes her head like she can’t believe I just said that.

All too soon, I pull into her hotel’s parking lot, and I find myself grasping for something else to say to make her stay longer.

“You have your hotel key?”

She frowns and digs in her purse until she finds it.

“Phone?”

She digs for that next.

“Wallet?”

She throws her hands up, but then she sees me smirking at her and presses her lips together like she’s trying not to smile.

“So I forgot one thing,” she mumbles as she fishes the ring out of the cupholder. It takes her a few tries, but she gets there.

I grab my board from the back and hop out to get the door for her, and she stares at me for a moment before finally climbing out.

“These too,” I say, slipping the car keys into her purse.

“Thank you,” she says softly, not quite meeting my eyes now.

“For what it’s worth, coming from someone with zero knowledge of the situation, your ex-husband must be an idiot. ”

She blinks up at me—blue eyes. I hadn’t been able to tell in the bar lighting, but yeah, they’re definitely blue. The deep kind, like the ocean. She was beautiful sitting there in the bar, but up close? She’s fucking breathtaking. Down to every little detail—the curve of her lips, the freckles on her nose. Without a doubt, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

I’m seized with the sudden urge to kiss her, but that would probably be the worst possible thing I could do right now. If she were sober…I’d probably try to get her to invite me inside.

Reluctantly, I take a step away. “I should get back.”

She blinks and takes a step back too. “Of course. Thank you. For the ride.”

“See you around, Chris.” I set my board down and kick off with a wave. “I work Thursday through Monday!”

Even as I round the corner and her form disappears into the dark, I still manage to catch her smile. “I’m never going back there!” she calls.

I smirk. We’ll see.