Drowning in Fire (49 page)

She watched him go. In her mind she was holding one of those giant cartoon mallets and was racking herself on the head, but she watched him anyway.

He had a long stride, masculine but oddly graceful. A leisurely confidence to his gait. He also had ridiculous legs, and she was annoyed with herself for noticing. They were tanned and thick and strong, with a distinct pronunciation of his quads. Might as well have
rugby player
tattooed down the side of them.

God
damn
it.

Outside, she watched him wiggle off the yellow wristband in a way that might have the organizers rethinking their purchase next year. But instead of rejoining his team, Byrne went over to a group of middle-aged adults spreading out a blanket next to the flag rope surrounding the athletic field. Out in the grass, the sheaf toss was starting. Byrne tapped a woman on the shoulder, said something to her, then when she smiled and nodded enthusiastically, he offered her his hundred-dollar wristband.

Then he pulled three more brand-new bands out of his shorts pocket and passed them out to the others. As one of the men reached for his wallet, Byrne waved off any sort of compensation.

The four recipients of the new wristbands slapped them on, and Byrne went over to his team.

As he passed by the roped-off outdoor seating of the whiskey tent, he turned his head and immediately, instantly found Shea. Found her staring.

She quickly ducked her head and wiped off an already-clean section of her makeshift bar. But not before she caught a final glimpse of that crooked smile, far too bright in the sunshine.

That smile promised a lot. Things she hadn’t allowed herself—or been afforded—to think about in a long, long time. Things that hit her right where she hadn’t been touched in an embarrassing number of months.

It disturbed her, to be disarmed while in uniform, so to speak. It disturbed her even more that the man who’d done it was a taster, and quite possibly a Brown Vein. An absolute no-no.

He wouldn’t win, though.

He had to know that even though he’d caught her staring, and even though she’d looked away like a shy virgin at a bachelor auction, it didn’t mean he’d won, or that he’d gained any sort of ground with her. She had rules to uphold, a hard-won reputation to maintain, and a business to keep at the top of the New York scene.

But when she looked up to tell him all that with her cool, disinterested expression and Stay Back eyes, Byrne was gone.