Page 37 of Breaking All The Rules
“Nope.” He shook his head. “Not even a little bit.”
Winona clutched her chest in faux shock. “But…I’m such a delight.”
“Yeah, you’re a real treasure. You and him”—he tipped his chin at Tucker—“unicorn glitter everywhere.”
She beamed. “I know, right?” Shifting her attention from a beleaguered Arlo to Bea, Winona smiled and stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Winona.”
“Bea,” she said, and they shook.
“Are you here with one of these bozos, or do you want to come sit with us?” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder, and Bea spied Molly and Marley at a booth with another woman she didn’t know. They all waved at Bea. “For conversation that doesn’t involve unicorn poop?”
Bea laughed. “I came with Austin.”
“Austin.” She eyed him speculatively for a beat or two, her gaze dropping to the way Bea’s thigh was pressed against Austin’s before switching her attention back to Bea and nodding approvingly like she was totally on board with whatever was happening.
With Austin. Who was twenty-five. Bea shot her a nothing-happening-here look. Winona’s gaze clearly called bullshit on that notion.
Glancing at Austin, Bea cocked an eyebrow in question. She was quite eager to make female friends and have a girlie chat, but it seemed rude to just abandon the one who brought her.
“It’s fine—go,” Austin assured. “Enjoy. I’ll be here when you’re ready to head back to the apartment.”
“Excellent.” Winona beamed. “Tucker, my book is done and my friends and I want to get boozy. Can we get a round of piña coladas to the booth and keep ’em coming?”
Book? So Winona was a writer?
“Yes, ma’am,” Tucker said with a smile and a salute.
Bea waited for Tucker’s ma’am to go to her ovaries. For his salute to do funny things to her heartbeat. But it didn’t happen. She thought Tucker was cute, but she didn’t want to dribble melted cheese all over his pecs and lick it off.
“Also, a couple of rounds of the house garlic bread.”
“Can do.”
“C’mon,” Winona said. “Let’s go. I’ll introduce you.”
Grabbing her beer, Bea nodded politely at the men at the bar before sliding from the stool and following Winona across the room. “I’ve not seen you around before?” she asked. “Are you visiting?”
“No. I moved here a couple of weeks ago.” Bea braced herself for the inevitable.
“Ohhh. You’re the cat woman.”
Yeah, clearly she was going to need a not-the-cat-lady tattoo on her forehead if she wanted to avoid these conversations for the next little while. “No, I don’t—”
But her protest got lost as they squeezed past some people and then arrived at the table, where she was greeted enthusiastically by Molly and Marley, who fawned over her hair a bit more, and introductions to the other woman in the group were made. “This is Mia,” Winona said. “She’s Credence’s computer fix-it wiz.” Mia had dark hair; dark, studious eyes; and a warm smile.
“Hey,” Bea said as she slid into the booth, about to offer her name, but was beaten to it by Winona.
“This is Bea. The cat lady.”
“She doesn’t have any cats,” Molly jumped in. “That’s not true. It was just a rumor.”
“Like the one about you being a runaway heiress?” Mia asked.
Bea almost choked on her mouthful of beer. “What?” She laughed. “Definitely not true. What other rumors were circulating about me?”
“That you were on the run from the law,” Marley offered.
“Or in the Witness Protection Program,” Molly added.
