I rounded the corner and saw him just ahead. He was walking fast but not running. He didn’t look concerned or upset, like he had just knocked out two assholes in a street fight. As I got closer, he looked over his shoulder, probably alerted by my crazy loud shoes. Inwardly, I cursed, and wished I had been able to get closer before he saw me.
Instead of running, he stopped and turned. That took me by surprise, and I crashed directly into his broad chest. He caught me in his arms and absorbed my momentum, stopping me short. I looked up, my heels bent at an angle, hair a mess, to see his handsome face smirking down at me. I could feel the muscles in his chest straining against his shirt, and his whole body rippled with strength and solidity. I felt something rush into me in that moment, and excitement spiked up my stomach. I felt embarrassed to be basically hugging some strange guy, but it felt good, and I was reluctant to let go. He was really not my type, not by a long shot, but I found myself wanting to know him anyway.
“Didn’t have to catch up just to thank me,” he growled down at me.
“I’m not here to thank you,” I said. What a presumptuous asshole.
“Why are you chasing me, then?”
I didn’t have a good answer for that. “Uh, I uh, I wanted to know your name, I guess.” I sounded really lame, but it was partly true.
He laughed and gently moved my face from his chest. I stood up straight and adjusted myself. I got a better view of him: muscles, tattoos, tattered cutoff shorts, beat up old converse sneakers, more tattoos. He looked beautiful and wild, completely unlike any man I had been with before.
“My name’s Rex,” he said. “If you want to keep staring, stare while walking.”
Before I could reply, he turned and started off again at a brisk pace. I hustled to keep up.
“My name’s Darcy,” I said.
He grunted in return and kept walking.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Away from here.”
Thanks, dick. I knew that. “But where?” I asked.
He looked at me, but didn’t answer. I changed the subject.
“Why did you do that?”
He turned right at the next block and crossed the street. I had to work hard to keep up with his long, purposeful strides.
“Didn’t like the dude that knocked you over. I thought he deserved a little punishment for being an asshole.”
How chivalrous. He actually beat the crap out of two guys to protect my honor? I thought I would be confused and upset, but I actually found a spike of excitement run through my stomach.
“You did that for me?”
He gave me another look and laughed. “Not for you. Just didn’t like how he treated you.”
“Is Rex your real name?”
He laughed again, but didn’t answer.
“What do you do, Rex?” It was like interrogating a statue.
“I work at a bar in South Philly called Drake’s.”
“Oh yeah? Do you like your job?”
“No, not really.”
“Maybe I should stop by sometime.”
“You’re too hot for Drake’s.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I felt a little flattered, but also annoyed.
He gave me a weird look, but didn’t answer. He made a left at the corner ahead, and cut across traffic. I had to stop and wait for the cars to pass, or else risk getting run over. I was shocked by how confidently he dodged the bikes and the late night traffic, like he was convinced he couldn’t get hit. By the time the cars cleared, he was gone.
I hurried to the next cross street, but couldn’t find him anywhere. I checked the next few blocks, even looked into a bar or two, but he was nowhere. I had no idea how, but he vanished. He couldn’t have been out of my sight for more than a minute, and yet he managed to completely lose me.
Frustrated, I walked slowly back to the bar. I couldn’t get his face and his body out of my mind, and the thought that he had knocked those guys out for my sake was driving me insane. I had met many guys in my life, and been with a few of them too, but I had never met a man like Rex, whoever he was.
Chapter Two
“Darcy! Where have you been?”
A few days after meeting Rex, I was sitting in a small conference room in the overly bright Adstringo office building with my best friend Amy. We hadn’t seen each other for a few days, and even though she was going to act like I’d been the one MIA, the truth was she barely got out anymore. She was too busy with her then-fiancé billionaire Shane Green, who also happened to be everyone’s boss. She was something of a legend in the office, though she had no clue. That was my Amy, absolutely oblivious.