‘Jagger,’ he says, the name on his lips so much sexier than when Penny purred it like some kind of wild animal.
‘Jagger.’ I’m unable to resist the feel of his name in my mouth.
He smiles when I say it.
‘American?’
‘Yeah.’ His grin’s completely disarming. He braces an arm on the edge of the booth behind me and, even though he’s not touching me, I kind of feel like he is. I feel enveloped by his warmth and nearness.
‘Whereabouts?’ I prompt, lifting my drink towards his in salute.
He chinks it back. ‘New York.’
‘Nice.’
‘You ever been?’
I tilt my head to the side a little, considering. ‘Once.’
‘Did you like it?’
‘What’s not to like?’
He lifts a brow. ‘The traffic. The weather. The noise. The pollution...’
‘Resident problems,’ I say, deliberately moving forward a little so our knees brush under the table. I’m thrilled by the sense of power that gives me—the idea that this is all on my terms. That I know what I’m doing, where we’re going.
‘Not tourists’?’ He doesn’t miss a beat.
‘Nope. Not this tourist. I love the snow.’
‘And you don’t get a lot of that here, right?’
‘Not for long, and not in Sydney.’ I sip my drink thoughtfully. ‘I would have loved to move to New York. I used to think I would.’
‘Why didn’t you?’
I pull a face. ‘It’s not that easy. Life...can get in the way sometimes.’
‘Sure it can.’
I appraise him, my heart racing, blood pounding through my body. ‘Penny says you’re only here for a night?’
He nods. ‘Yeah. Had meetings today and I fly out tomorrow.’
I nod slowly.
‘And you live here?’
‘I moved here for uni,’ I agree. ‘But I grew up farther north.’
‘How far north?’ he asks with curiosity.
‘A little town in Queensland. You know, the kind of place where everyone knows everything about one another, with one main street and not much to do at any time, even less when you’re a teenager.’
‘Sounds like heaven.’ He grins.
‘Yeah, it kind of does.’