of his voice, really, sent a wave of giddiness through
her. Like Christmas morning, every time she saw him.
“Oh, hi,” she said, conscious of Emily and
Lisa’s eyes on her. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Inwardly she groaned at how lame that
sounded, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“This is one of my favorite places. I don’t
mean to bother you all, I just wanted to say hi.”
He turned to the man standing next to him,
who Cheryl hadn’t even noticed. “Ladies, this is Evan Hunter.”
Cheryl introduced Jason to Emily and Lisa,
who were looking alarmingly interested. Just then the waitress came
by with their food and Jason and Evan stepped out of the way.
“We’ll let you eat in peace. I’ll see you
Tuesday, Cheryl.”
“Why don’t you join us?” Emily asked.
The two men looked at each other.
“We wouldn’t want to intrude,” Jason said,
without much force.
“You wouldn’t be intruding, would they,
Cheryl? We’ve had plenty of time for girl talk. Have a seat and
we’ll get the waitress back over here.”
It was amazing. Emily looked like a helpless
little blond, but beneath all that lurked a will of iron.
Jason sat in the empty seat next to Cheryl
while Evan pulled up a chair and sat at the end. The waitress came
back over and took Evan and Jason’s orders and then disappeared,
leaving them all staring at one another. Lisa broke the silence
first.
“So Jason, how’s our girl here doing with
your students?”
“She’s doing great.”
Cheryl felt herself flush and shot a
withering look at Lisa.
“I just hope all those horny boys behave
themselves around her,” her friend went on. “I’ll never forget the
hell the boys in my class gave Ms. Carpenter in senior year math
class. That poor woman was at her wit’s end.”
Cheryl kept her face free of expression but
aimed a kick at Lisa. Unfortunately, Jason had stretched his legs
out and she connected with something a bit more solid than Lisa’s
slender calf. Jason started in surprise but merely smiled and
raised an eyebrow in her direction.
“The boys are horny all right, but nothing
Cheryl hasn’t been able to handle.”
“So Evan, what is it you do?” Cheryl asked,
desperate to turn the subject away from her.
“I’m an ER doctor.”
All three women looked at him in surprise and
sat up straighter.
“Damn. It never fails,” Jason complained,
looking exasperated. “Every time he says he’s a doctor, women get
the same look on their faces. Unbelievable.”
Evan grinned and took a sip of beer. “It does
make me sound kind of God-like.”
Jason snorted and tried to hide his amused
smirk.
Cheryl watched the interplay between the two
of them. They had probably been friends for a long time, given how
comfortable they were with each other. And though his friend was
undeniably hunky, it was Jason she couldn’t stop looking at. His
big body shifted until his elbow was on the back of her chair,
giving her an excellent view of his body at ease. It was all she
could do not to ignore everyone else at the table.
The five of them chatted through the meal and
Cheryl enjoyed herself, but the tension never entirely left her,
and she knew who to blame it on. She was so aware of him all the
time, and she was getting a vibe that told her he was pretty damn
aware of her, too.
The bill came and they all threw money
in.
“We’re heading to the Bunkhouse for some
music. You guys want to come?” Lisa asked.
Both Cheryl and Emily turned to look at her.
No one had mentioned going anywhere else, but as usual Lisa was
improvising.
“We’re not exactly dressed for it,” Jason
said, looking down at his tee shirt and gym shorts.
“They don’t care about that there,” Lisa
replied. “Plus we look good enough for both of you.”
This was true, but actually, the two of them
looked plenty hot on their own. Cheryl held her breath, not sure
whether she wanted Jason to agree or not. But when he looked at
her, a question in his