Chapter 1
I caught sight of him from across the room. It was impossible not to, because he was the kind of man who made everything around him look like it was standing still.
The room was dimly lit with the kind of dusky lounge ambiance meant to remove imperfections and paint everyone in their best light. Nevertheless, there was a strange kind of glow about him, as if he’d been cut out and photo-shopped into the picture from some other place—someplace where the sun was still shining and all the people could breathe a little easier.
When he caught me staring, much to my blushing chagrin, he stared back for a moment, then rolled his eyes over me, looking me up and down. His fingers tightened around the drink in his hand, and his lips curved up into a bored smile that seemed to ask, “This kind of sucks, huh?” It was the type of grin that turned me into a coconspirator, whether I wanted to be or not, disarming and incriminating all at once.
I smiled back, but it took every bit of focus and determination I had in me to do it, because I really just wanted to keep staring. Something about that guy made a silent, sexy demand that I be instantly released from all other responsibilities in my life. I wanted to freeze him where he stood, whip out my phone, and take a million pictures just to immortalize the moment. I wished I could strike a bargain with the heavens or wherever that angel came from, to request at least a dozen years to take him all in. I wanted the powers-that-be to just suspend everything for a long, long time, till I could work up the courage to actually talk to the gorgeous creature without falling down, stuttering, or making a complete idiot of myself.
He has to be used to that, right? I mean... Just look at him! You might not be so bad, comparatively speaking. I’m sure he’s encountered more than his fair share of babbling idiots, dumbstruck by how hot he is.
The handsome man couldn’t tear his gaze from me. He seemed to appreciate the dress I’d chosen for the occasion, and it was one of my favorites as well. The simple black halter made the most out of my curves, and as if that wasn’t enough to catch the eye, the front dipped down to my navel, and there was a giant slit running up the side.
A man standing beside him leaned down to mutter something quickly and excitedly into his ear. Then, a spatter of high-pitched, outrageous laughter came from the woman standing on the other side of him.
In spite of his buddy’s words and the exaggerated chuckles from the woman, he never lost focus, never took his eyes off me, and just held me captive in his gaze.
The bronze light fixtures dangling from the ceiling sent shimmering light across the tresses and waves of his dark hair as he tilted his head ever so slightly to the side, toward the exit. I followed the gesture with my eyes as wide as saucers, entirely unable to grasp that the moment was real or, even more, that he was actually directing that gesture at me.
When he smiled again, my entire body sprang to life, and that, ladies and gentlemen, was the moment when all the craziness began.
The next second, he was off, leaving his friends without a word of goodbye and weaving his way through the crowd as they parted before him like Moses’s Red Sea; abrupt as it was, his exit was as smooth as a choreographed dance.
I, on the other hand, was not so graceful or lucky with mine. “Excuse me,” I muttered, elbowing people out of my way. “Excuse me. Sorry. Sorry. Oops! Excuse me...”
Eventually, I did make it to the back door. I stopped there for a moment, a sudden wave of nerves prickling uneasily in my stomach.
Is this really happening? Did that guy really just invite me to leave with him, without a word of introduction? Just a casual nod from across the room? Is that really all it takes for me to run off with a stranger?
To be honest, I wasn’t sure things like that could ever happen in real life. It seemed a little too much like some silly romantic comedy or maybe some corny scene ripped out of the pages of a romance novel. In a ritzy Market Street pub, it was a bit difficult to believe.
The reality smacked me when I saw his drink, abandoned on a table by the door, the condensation from the frosty beverage forming a puddle all around it.
Without another thought—and before I had a chance to talk myself out of it—I gave the door a shove, pushing it open with way too much force, so much that it banged against the brick wall. Out there, I spotted the beautiful one leaning casually against a fire escape on the far side of the alley.
His own reaction to my rather dramatic entrance was a nonchalant, “Hi,” as he simply tilted his head to the side, wearing that same enticing smile.
Wow! Even his voice is perfect, so hypnotic and smooth. Not only that, but it harbored an irresistible English accent I was already coming to secretly adore.
“Hi back,” I answered, not nearly as sexy. To make matters worse, my skin flushed bright pink the second I opened my mouth. I dropped my eyes quickly to the wet cobblestone, prepared to just shrivel up and die, when a sudden breeze tossed my hair away from my face. I glanced up and saw him standing right in front of me, mere inches away.
“I hate this bar,” he blurted, his voice soft and compelling. “It’s not exactly my top choice. It’s just too clean, too...scripted, ya know?”