Page 6 of Royal Cocktail

Still, she’d come all this way…

She reached for the door, hesitated, and changed her mind. A crowded bar on a Friday night where strangers would be mingling and talking? Definitely not the kind of stress she needed going into the weekend. Besides, she really should be thinking about antitrust law.

As she took a step backward, the door opened outward and she stumbled. She registered a blur of motion, then a firm, strong hand closing around hers, pulling her upright and steadying her.

“I am so sorry.” The voice was deep and male, with an accent she couldn’t place. “I wasn’t looking where I—”

He lifted his head, met her eyes, and stopped speaking. The guy from last night.

“You.” Her heart pounded against her ribs, and once again she felt as if she might topple over.

“Funny,” he said in that adorable accent. “I was just going to say that.” He stepped all the way out, the doors closing behind him as they lingered on the sidewalk.

“You were … looking at me.” The words came out slow and thick, her speech more distorted than usual. Which, of course, made her want to go hide under the nearest rock. “Last … night,” she added, feeling like an idiot, and wishing she’d just kept her mouth shut.

“I was looking at you?” The corner of his mouth twitched, and those blue eyes lit with humor. “I believe it was you doing the looking.”

Clearly he’d had no trouble understanding her, and if he found her speech impediment annoying, he hid it well. Skye had to fight a ridiculously stupid grin as she said, “Oh … no. You were the one looking. For sure.”

“Do I seem like the kind of man who would be so impolite as to ogle a beautiful woman?”

“Um, yeah.” She grinned. He matched her smile, and it made him so handsome, her knees went a little weak.

“It’s like you already know me,” he said, and this time she couldn’t stop the laughter.

Banter. She was actually bantering with this guy. How had that happened?

“Why don’t we split the difference and say that we were looking at each other?”

“Yes,” she said, managing to control her giggles. “I can … live with … that.”

He turned toward the door, and she wanted the ground to swallow her up, since he was obviously now making a quick getaway. But then he flashed that smile again. “You were on your way in, weren’t you?”

“I—yes. I mean, no.”

“Well, that’s rather confusing, isn’t it?”

She cleared her throat and concentrated on speaking slowly and breathing properly. Usually she didn’t have to focus so much, but he made her unreasonably nervous. “I was going to meet a friend. But she cancelled on me.”

“So you were going to leave and deny those of us in the bar the pleasure of seeing you?”

“You were leaving, too.”

“Something I never would have contemplated had I known you were about to enter.”

“You’re sweet.” She looked down to hide both her blush and her nerves. “But … I should go. I have … finals coming up, and—”

“What are you studying?”

It was a common enough question, almost the equivalent of “How’s it going.” But he seemed genuinely interested.

“Law.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have taken you for a lawyer last night.” His head tilted slightly as he looked at her, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Actually, maybe I would have.”

“Why?”

“You looked like you were debating. That was one of the things that kept drawing my eyes back to you.”