Killian Jones takes a sip of his beer and looks up at the TV above the bar. He and his friend Will have come to The Rusty Anchor tonight to have a drink and watch the football (soccer) match. His team is competing against Will's. Killian tries not to laugh as Will groans when his team misses another goal. "Better luck next time, mate." He says clapping his friend on the back. Out of the corner of his eye Killian sees someone behind him. Assuming it is just someone trying to pass by he scoots his chair in some. "Well, hello. How can we help you ladies?" He hears his friend say.
Turning his head he sees two beautiful women. One blonde who looks like she wishes she was anywhere else and a brunette who is giving him a big smile. She sticks out her hand to Killian. "Hi, I'm Ruby and this is my friend Emma." Ruby elbows Emma in the side. The blonde huffs. "Do you mind if we join you?" She says obviously being forced by her friend to do so. It looks like it pains the woman to even say the words. The brunette sends her friend a slight glare before she turns back to smile at him. Will of course jumps at the chance to have two beautiful women sit with them. Killian does not. He has not done much dating since the death of his girlfriend a couple of years ago.
It's not that he isn't interested in a night with a beautiful woman, he just wanted a night of football with his mate. But he is to much of a gentleman to say no. "Of course. I'm Will and this my mate Killian." Especially after Will already said yes. They are sitting at a high top table. The brunette Ruby sits on Killian's left and the blonde Emma sits on Will's right were she is almost across from Killian. He for the first time gets a good look at her. Her blonde hair comes down to right under her breast and is more golden then blonde. She has what looks to Killian like green eyes. It is hard to tell in the dim lighting of a bar, but he could swear she has freckles.
Ruby puts her hand over his and he turns to look at her. Don't get him wrong Ruby is a beautiful woman, but Killian can already tell she is not his type. "So, Killian where you guys from? I love a man with an accent." She gives a flirty little head tilt and a smile. Out of the corner of his eye he can see her friend Emma roll her eyes. Killian tries not to snicker at that. "We are both from England, but I'm from Derby and Killian here is from London. Are you originally from Boston?" Will jumps in. Killian could swear he heard Emma groan as she looks away towards the bar. "We are both transplants, but have been here a long time." Ruby answers. She kicks Emma under the table. Emma sighs. "Ruby owns a bakery downtown. It's a pretty great place. You guys should stop by sometime." Killian bites his lip so as no to laugh. Emma sounds like a second grader reciting her lines in the school play. He looks over at Ruby and plays a long. "Oh really? What is the name of your bakery? Will and I both love sweets." Will nods in agreement. "It's called Little Red's bakery." Emma can't help noticing the cute way Killian's eyebrow shoots up at the name. "Why Little Red's?" He asks. "Oh, my nickname it Red. Because it's my favorite color and you know how little red riding hood was bringing sweets to her grandma. And my Grandmother is part owner. It's cute." She gives him a big smile. "Clever." Ruby slides a little closer. She runs a finger along his arm. "If you stop by I will give you a free cookie." Killian shifts in his seat. "What is your favorite color, Killian?" He clears his throat and pulls his arm away in which he hopes is a subtle way.
"Green and Will's blue. Emma what is your favorite color?" Emma and Ruby give each other a look. "Um, yellow." He nods. "What do you do for a living?" Emma looks to Ruby again and answers. "I'm a bail bonds person." Again his eyebrow shoots up. Emma has never met anyone with such expressive eyebrows. "What does a bail bonds person do? I've seen the TV shows, but I'm sure a lot of that is for dramatic effect." Emma smiles. "You're right it is. Most days it's kind of boring. Doing the research to find them and the stake outs. A lot of the time they don't even put up a fight. Sometimes I have to chase them down, but not as often as those shows make you think we do. So, what do you guys do?" She asks them both, but she is looking at Killian.
Will tries his best to be part of this conversation. "I'm a locksmith. I can pick any lock they make." He winks at Emma. Killian laughs at his mate and slaps him on the back. "I'm not sure that is something to brag about mate. Sounds a little sketchy. I have a boring job where I sit at a desk and wear a suit." Killian really doesn't like to tell people he works for his brother's shipping company. He is in charge of the division in the United States while his brother is in charge of the European side of the business. It makes him a lot of money, but he doesn't like people to know that.
"Emma, how does one get into the bail bonds business? Was it something you have wanted to do since you were a child?" She laughs and he loves her laugh. His mind starts trying to think of other things he can say to make her laugh. "Oh, yeah. When I was six and other girls were having their Barbie's get married I was having mine chase down scum who skipped bail." Killian laughs. "Was sitting behind a desk wearing a suit what you dreamed of as a child? I can see it. Little Killian wearing his Dad's tie walking around with a little brief case." They both laugh. "Do you know my brother? Did he show you those pictures?" Emma laughs so hard she snorts a little.
The four of them sit and talk for about an hour. Mostly it is Emma and Killian that do the talking. Will started watching the game again and Ruby was playing on her phone. A text tone sounds from Emma's pocket. She pulls the phone out to take a look. "Sorry." Killian becomes concerned by the look on her face. It doesn't seem to be good news. "Em, what's wrong?" Her friend asks, which he is glad of because he wasn't certain it was his place to ask. "It's the babysitter. Henry got sick to his stomach. I'm sorry Ruby I have to go." Ruby reaches out and gives her friend a hug. "That's okay. You are a horrible wingman anyway." Emma's mouth drops open to protest. "You have been flirting with guy I was trying catch the whole time." Killian and Will laugh. "Not the whole time. She did some eye rolling and groaning the first five minutes." Will says. They all laugh. "It was nice to meet you both. I hope your son feels better soon Emma." Smiling Emma thanks Killian and waves at Will as she leaves.
That night as Emma lay in bed with her sick ten year curled up snoring beside her, she couldn't stop thinking about Killian. She knows Ruby had her eyes on him, but when she went over to him she had no idea they would click like that. He really made her laugh. Emma can't remember the last time someone made her laugh like that. He seemed really nice as well. She never detected a lie. There was the time he tried to brush off what he did for a living, but he did say it was boring. There are two things about Emma that normally make men lose interest the moment they find out. One is her job. Being a bail bonds person takes a strong person. A lot of men don't find strong women a turn on. Killian really seemed fascinated by her job. He asked a lot of questions and laughed at her jokes. Second is that she has kid. Henry is the most important person in her life. Any man who can't handle that can walk away. Killian seemed okay with it. He even said he hoped Henry felt better soon.
When Ruby first pointed him out Emma could see the attraction. But when she was sitting across from him chatting and laughing she was blown away at how handsome he was. His eyes were so blue and they lit up when he laughed. He when he laughed he would get little crinkles in the corner of his eyes. His smile made her feel warm all over. His dark hair looked so soft. Once when he turned his head and the light hit him just right she could his sideburns were two different colors. The top part was dark like his hair and the bottom the same ginger as his scruffy little beard. Emma feels like she did in middle school when she had her first crush.