The hostess guides me to one of the high-tops lining the perimeter of the large, crowded room, and I settle in so I can watch the door for Sarah.
Finally, at only ten minutes past seven, she comes walking in. I can only see the back of her head, but I’d recognize that white-blond hair anywhere. She’s wearing a pair of tight jeans that cling to her ass and a black shirt that I can tell is tight as well. I lick my lips and head in her direction, knowing that the front will be even better than the back.
I sneak up behind her and very carefully lean forward to whisper in her ear. "I’m impressed. You actually showed."
She squeaks from surprise and takes a giant step forward. I begin to laugh before, suddenly, a tattooed arm lands hard against my chest, preventing me from following her.
"Back the fuck up," the man growls, and my eyes snap to his. He looks downright pissed, and the minute Sarah turns around, I know exactly why.
"You’re not Sarah," I say, lifting my hands in submission and feeling like a total jackass.
"No. But you must be Leo." The woman smiles, and a pair of blue eyes I immediately recognize sparkles in humor. "Hi, I’m Emma Jones. Sarah’s sister." She knocks the man’s hand off my chest and extends her own.
I give her a confused look but take her hand then turn to the man with her. He still looks pissed, but begrudgingly nods at me.
"Caleb Jones."
"Sorry, man. Leo James. Nice to meet you," I respond, trying to figure out why Sarah’s family is here yet she remains nowhere to be seen.
Then something catches my eye from the corner by the door. Sarah is standing in a line at the hostess desk, biting her knuckles to stifle a laugh. She uses the other hand to give me a very slow finger wave.
I shake my head and excuse myself to move in her direction. I weave through the small crowd by the door, stopping directly in front of her.
"Well, that was embarrassing."
"It was really funny though." She bites her lips to prevent the laugh from escaping but fails miserably.
"Hilarious," I say sarcastically.
She laughs for a second longer before collecting herself. "Hey," she says simply, pushing a hand out for a handshake.
First, she brought company, and now, she’s trying to give me a fucking handshake? Clearly, she got confused somewhere along the way. Maybe I didn’t make it obvious enough that this is a date, not a business meeting.
I lift a questioning eyebrow and stare down at her outstretched hand. Fuck that. "You look beautiful." I very purposefully lick my lips while raking my eyes over her body. Given her nerves on the phone yesterday, I know it will make her clam up and look away, but I don’t want there to be any misconceptions about what this actually is. I’m interested in her. She should know that right off the bat—even if it makes her uncomfortable for a few minutes.
Only Sarah doesn’t seem to be bothered by my overt gesture at all. She tilts her head to the side and does her own head-to-toe assessment of me. I wait for her eyes to travel back up to mine, and when they finally do, she gives me an unimpressed shrug.
I bust out laughing and she quickly follows.
"Come on. I got us a table already," I say, placing a hand on the small of her back and guiding her toward Emma and Caleb.
WHEN THE four of us are seated, the waitress stops by to get our drink orders.
She starts with Emma, who asks for some over-the-top specialty martini, and Caleb, who orders a simple scotch neat. Leo motions for me to go next, and I very uncomfortably ask for a water with lemon. Leo doesn’t seem to give my beverage of choice too much thought and orders a beer right behind me.
"So, what do you do?" Caleb asks Leo while dropping his hand under the table and into Emma’s lap.
Those two are the horniest people I have ever met in my life. I wouldn’t put it past Caleb to throw her down on the table in front of us all. Just knowing that his hand is within a twelve-inch radius of Emma’s pants makes me question his motives. I roll my eyes, and Emma starts laughing when she catches my reaction. Both guys pause to look at her, but she ignores them and takes a sip of her drink while still smiling at me.
"I own a security company," Leo answers, draping his arm around the back of my chair. He doesn’t exactly touch me, but it’s still a flirty gesture that makes my eyes go wide, once again sending my loud-mouth sister into a fit of laughter.
"Really?" Caleb asks, surprised.
"Yep. Guardian Protection. I opened about seven months ago."
"No. Shit," Caleb says impressed. "It was your men who took down Lucas Wilkes."
Leo swallows hard and his relaxed posture from just seconds ago goes stiff. "I didn’t know that was public knowledge," Leo says with a harsh edge to his voice.
"Well, it’s not a secret." Caleb winks, and I’m afraid Leo’s sudden attitude has flipped Caleb’s asshole switch.