“What the hell is this?” I asked.
Cressida waggled her eyebrows. “Good ‘ol whiskey.”
“It tastes disgusting. And it burns.”
She cackled and grabbed me by the hand again, jerking me toward the dance floor. We slipped through the cracks in the gyrating bodies and made a home for ourselves a little closer to the middle. Cressida always liked to be the center of attention. I didn’t mind. She threw off whatever emotion she was feeling and I sucked it up. In no time at all, I was swinging my hips and shaking my head like the world depended on it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a still figure. Odd, since everybody here seemed to be moving.
I glanced over and suddenly everything around me quieted for a moment. My attention was fixated. Focused. I couldn’t even move.
“What is it?” Cressida yelled in my ear.
I jolted, my attention returning to the present.
“Sorry,” I replied, getting back into the groove. “I guess I zoned out for a minute.”
I chanced another look at the man across the dance floor. He smiled in amusement.
I hadn’t just zoned out, I’d had my mind completely wiped by the sheer attractiveness of him. He stood out in the fracas, tall and dark. But even from a distance, his eyes were piercing. And he had been looking right at me.
Cressida craned her neck to follow my gaze.
“Oh my!” Her breath blasted against my ear as she made herself heard over the music. “Were you and that guy just eye-fucking each other?”
A shiver went through me.
Were we?
I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “We exchanged a glance or two.”
Her grin ate up half her face. “Go talk to him!” she commanded. “He’s hot as hell.”
“Too hot,” I replied. “The kind of hot that gets you burned.”
Cressida rolled her eyes. “You’re always so dramatic.”
“I’m practical!”
She glanced over at my silent admirer again and her eyes bulged. I followed her gaze.
“He’s got a friend!” she exclaimed.
Tall, dark, and hot-as-a-blow-torch had been joined by another man. He was maybe an inch or two shorter, but still as tall and imposing as they came. His mid-length hair was sandy, and had clearly been styled to look like bedhead.
Thankfully, neither of them were looking at us anymore.
“Too bad,” I said. “Looks like their attention has strayed.”
Thinking that was the last of it, I resumed dancing. Cressida frowned but joined me. The next time I looked over, the men were gone.
I was hot, sweaty, and having one of the better nights of my life. Cressida and I landed at the bar with goofy grins and ordered two more cocktails and two more shots of whiskey.
It was still gross, but it was doing the trick.
My roommate elbowed me in the ribs, almost causing me to choke on my drink. “Look!” she hissed.
I glowered at her, rubbing my sore side, but swung my attention in the direction she was not so subtly jerking her head.
Across the bar, a pair of serpentine green eyes caught mine. It was the guy from the dance floor. My breath whooshed from my chest, heart beating at an even quicker pace than the high-powered beat of the pop music.
“Go talk to him!” Cressida urged, sliding my forgotten shot in front of me. “It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this.”
“I can’t go talk to him!” I insisted. “He looks like he took a wrong turn and ended up here instead of the cover of a magazine.”
Cressida nudged the shot even closer. “He’s probably thinking the same thing about you.”
“You know I don’t do one night stands, Cress.”
“How do you know that?” she asked. “You’ve never had one.” Cressida waggled her eyebrows at me. “Come on, babe. Who’s gonna know if you let loose for once in your life? What’s the worst that could happen?”
“And what are you gonna do?” I asked, trying not to let my bewilderment show on my face.
She grinned mischievously, her eyes darting to my admirer’s friend. “I think I can entertain myself.”
I groaned, but it was no use. I wanted to go talk to him so badly that my feet were tapping against the floor in their haste. I was just scared. Cressida could walk up to anybody and start a conversation. I, on the other hand, was a little more… reserved.
But what was I afraid of? Cressida was right—he wouldn’t be looking at me like this unless he was interested too. That or he was luring me into a timeshare opportunity, but if that was the case the joke was on him because I had no money.
Anyway, Cress was right. What was I afraid of, anyway? I was young, fairly attractive, and suddenly professionally successful. Didn’t I deserve a reward?
And he was one hell of a reward.
Was I really going to let my own stupid inhibitions keep me from enjoying myself, just this once?
“Fine.” I slammed the shot back and grimaced. “Let’s do this.”
I took one last look at the stranger, just to make sure he was still interested. He definitely was, and he seemed to know what was coming because he smiled seductively.
I gulped, but put one shaky foot in front of the other until I found myself in front of him. Cressida moved effortlessly beside me, slinking off to grab the guy’s friend by the elbow and talk in his ear.
Now that I was closer, I could see the faint trace of stubble on the man’s chin. I would have said he looked thirty to the day, with a jawline and cheekbones like a stone-carved statue.
My heart thumped again, the loud music the only thing keeping everyone around me from hearing it.
He’s even hotter up close.
“Hi,” I barked out.
The man turned away from the bar, facing me head on. He cocked his head to the side, studying me. “Hello.”
I barely heard his voice over the music but I could tell even then that it was silky as hell.
He leaned in and I gasped. His breath tickled my neck, sending a wave of goosebumps down my spine.
“I was hoping we’d get a chance to chat,” he said.
Get it together, Liz!
“I’m Elizabeth,” I said. It was an effort not to lean in further to his heat and heady scent. I inhaled the smell of pine, with a faint earthy undertone of musky heat.
“I’m Oliver.” He pulled back a little, spearing me with his gaze.
“What do you do, Oliver?”
He chuckled like I’d missed out on some sort of joke. Was I out of touch when it came to chatting up the opposite sex? I looked over at Cressida for reassurance, but she and Oliver’s friend were gone.
Oliver leaned in again, this time resting a hand on my waist. Heat flared in my core. How was that possible? He was barely even touching me.
“Elizabeth,” he said. “Come sit with me.”
I looked into his eyes, already dark with lust. Could I weather his brand of storm?
There was only one way to find out.
4
Oliver
She had curves that could call a sailor to his death, but that didn’t scare me. If anything, she should have been worried about crashing on my rocks. But it was too late for that now.