Free Tequila And Tingles: Turtle Pine, Book 2 by Keri Ford

asked for the same and handed over a twenty. He tossed her a smile. “I got it. Lunch was my idea.”
    “Thanks.”
    Paula set two cups out and Beth escaped Jason and whatever that delicious smell was on him. He should smell like a pool. With the way the water had choked the life out of her nose before he’d gotten there, she should be able to smell him a mile away and nearly pass out. Not the good kind of passing out that could be mistaken for swooning either. Smelled like he got the water fixed.
    He eased in next to her at the drink fountain and this fresh, woodsy scent surrounded her again. Ice dropped in loud clumps in tandem with her pounding heart as he moved alongside her, filled his drink and settled in a booth with her. He poked his straw in and she managed to look everywhere but at him.
    Then he went and reached across the table and touched her hand. “Are you okay?”
    His touch was hot and intoxicating and she jerked her hand away. “Great. Why?”
    She flicked hair off her shoulders and rubbed her palms over her thighs. She was completely fabulous sitting here across from a man she’d spent the night passed out naked with. A man she’d never expected to see again.
    “You seem a little jumpy.”
    “I’m always this way. Mom used to call me a nervous Nelly.”
    He lifted a brow. “You weren’t nervous the first time we were together.”
    Tequila was good for the nerves like that. She readjusted in her seat. “As we’ve discovered, I wouldn’t know.”
    He chuckled and leaned back in his seat. “Relax, Beth. If I wanted to chop you into little pieces, I could have already done that.”
    She shot him a look. “Funny.”
    “Sorry.” He winced. “I was trying to make a joke to get you to relax. We’re just two friends meeting for lunch. That’s it.”
    Okay, she was an adult here. An adult with gross, sticky sweat making tracks down her spine. Time to be responsible. “Here’s the thing. I’m—”
    Paula leaned over their table and placed their food down. “All ready for you two. Is there anything else y’all need?”
    Jason shook his head. “Looks good, thanks.”
    When Paula looked her way, Beth managed a nod and a smile. As the woman walked away, Jason was back to chuckling. Glad he found her nerves oh so hilarious. She snatched the ketchup bottle and poured some on her plate. “You’re too young for me and I have too much happening in my life.”
    His brows lifted. “Do you feel better now?”
    She stared at him. “What?”
    “You were sitting on that statement since before you got here. I’m asking if you feel better now that you got it out.”
    She dropped a fry on her plate. “I don’t get you.”
    “There’s a lot I don’t get about you. That’s why I asked you to lunch. To find out more.”
    She shook her head. “Why me?”
    He lifted his burger and shrugged. “Other than my sister, you’re the only person I sort of know in this town.”
    “You don’t seem like the type of person who struggles to make friends.” She gestured at him with her drink. “America’s Golden Boy, or some such like that.”
    A brow twitched, teasing to arch, but he glanced away and retrieved his own drink. “Something like that.”
    “So go make friends.”
    He gestured at the chair. “That’s what we’re doing here.”
    “I mean with someone else.”
    He laughed. “I like you.”
    She pushed bangs away from her face. “Since my wonderful first impression was me drunk as a skunk and passing out on you, I can see how you like me and want to know more.”
    “That night really bothers you, doesn’t it?”
    Why was he so calm and collected about this? Maybe because he wasn’t the one who’d made a complete ass of himself. He wasn’t the one who’d passed out and fled barefoot the next morning. “Of course it does.”
    “I’m okay with it. I’m not judging you and I’m not bothered by it.”
    “Are you so used to having drunk girls in your hotel room that you don’t even