I would have shrank away if I hadn’t been one-hundred percent sure I’d never seen him before.
Apparently, there really was something in the water.
He was ridiculously attractive. Clearly, he’d discarded the jacket of his dark gray suit, the sleeves of his button-down rolled up his forearms. His stance was so casual and confident as he looked expectantly at me.
“I just noticed you sitting over here, and I thought I could buy you a drink,” he said, his attention fully trained on me. “Name’s Tim.”
Nikki cleared her throat, the words ripe with mock offense. “I do hope that drink buying includes the rest of us.”
He glanced at her. “If that’s what it takes.”
Tim was a little cocky for my taste.
And he wasn’t Rex Gunner.
I lifted my margarita toward him, the green yummy goodness swishing in the salt-rimmed bowl. “I think I’m just fine. But thank you.”
“You sure about that? You look awful lonely over here by yourself.”
Irritation bristled beneath my skin. I was sitting there with my friends. How the hell could I appear lonely? But I was used to these kinds of pick-up lines in San Francisco when Macy dragged me out with her.
So I pasted on a fake smile and said, “I’m sure.”
The guy shrugged. “Whatever. Your loss.”
He turned on his heel and sauntered away.
“What an asshole,” I mumbled under my breath, my eyes trailing him with a special kind of disgust.
Nikki jerked my attention back to her by swatting me on the knee and lifting her spent glass. “Speak for yourself, Ryn-Ryn. I totally could have used another drink.”
I laughed. “At what expense?”
She widened her blue eyes. “Oh, come on. Take one for the team.”
Giggling, I dabbed at the trickle of margarita clinging to the edge of my lip. “He might not be bad to look at, but he was kind of a jerk. No thank you.”
Nikki nudged Lillith with her elbow. “Yet, she likes Rex Gunner.”
Lillith grinned before her expression shifted, swelling with soft affection. “I guess we like what we like. Broderick was definitely an asshole of the worst kind when I first met him.”
I made the mistake of letting my attention wander back to Rex. Ollie was back at his table, and he and the other guy were engaged in their own conversation.
Rex seemed totally removed from it.
Just sitting there.
Glaring at me.
Unabashedly with intense, heated hatred.
“Maybe there’s hope for everyone,” I mumbled.
Tearing my gaze from him, I pushed to my feet, cleared my throat, and pasted a smile on my face. “I need to use the restroom.”
Lillith gestured toward the hall to the right of the stairs. “Down the hall and on the left.”
“Thanks.”
I wound through the crowds huddled around the high-top tables. Voices were lifted to be heard above the hum of the band, laughter loud as people let go of the stresses of the week, embracing the chance they had to unwind.
I took the hall and ducked into the restroom, used it, and then washed my hands. I let a small smile lift the corner of my mouth.
Being there felt so right, even if Rex Gunner was messing with my head.
I dried my hands, swung open the door, and stepped out into the haze of the dimly lit hall. I gasped when the same guy who’d approached me at the bar stepped out in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.
“Hey,” I said uneasily, peering behind him at the people loitering at the far end of the hall. The noise level had escalated to a dull roar, the mood becoming rowdy, increasing with every second that passed.
I shifted anxiously on my feet, wondering if anyone would even hear me if I called for help.
Okay.
So maybe I was getting ahead of myself.
But getting backed into a corner by a guy I didn’t know wasn’t high on my list of safest situations. Not when a shiver of apprehension skated down my spine. A cold warning.
“Finally got you alone,” he said.
I took a single step back and to the side, trying to put space between us. “If you’ll excuse me, I was actually headed back to my friends.”
He reached out, running the tip of his index finger down the side of my cheek. “You should ditch them and spend a little time with me.”
Nausea turned my stomach. “I’m really not interested.”
He inched forward. “No?”
“No.” The word shot from my mouth.
I was so absolutely not interested. But this guy didn’t seem to be able to take a hint.
“I think you’re lying. I think you’re really interested and you just don’t want to look like a slut in front of your friends. Let’s get out of here. I won’t tell anyone.”
What the fuck?
This guy was ridiculous. I took it all back. Any appeal he had was obliterated by his foul, offensive character.
I scoffed out a laugh. “And I think you’re a total prick who can’t seem to comprehend the fact I’d rather gouge my eye out with a fork than spend the night with you.”