“I guess.” I don’t feel all that enthused, but I know she’s right.
“Now, drink this,” she says, handing my glass back to me. “Then let the girls free, and we’re out of here.”
I tip my glass to my lips and swallow what’s left before doing as I’m told. I’m soon following Bailey out of the house toward the awaiting car. Despite my earlier disinterest, tingles of excitement start to ignite in my belly. I can’t deny that the dress looked good once I turned and got a proper look at myself in the mirror. I also can’t deny that I’m currently showing more boob than I have to anyone outside the bedroom in a lot of years.
Shaking thoughts of my past from my head, I climb in the car as Bailey begins flirting with the driver. Just because I’m dressed up and showing a little skin, it doesn’t mean I’m going back to a time in my life I’d rather forget. I’m just going out for a night of drinking and dancing with my best friend. It’s exactly what I should be doing. I’m young with no ties, a Friday night out for a colleague’s birthday should be a normal thing to do.
Pushing aside my worries, I look at Bailey, who flashes me a wide smile, and I try to relax.
“Tonight’s going to be great. Did I tell you that Rylee managed to secure the VIP section for us thanks to her… connections,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows. I groan as I think of her boss, Rylee and her famous boyfriend.
My heart starts to race. “A-are they going to be there?” I try to ask as casually as I can.
“Please don’t tell me you’re still scared of being in the same building as him?”
“I’m not scared, B,” I argue, although I’m not entirely sure that’s true. “I just always make myself look like an idiot every time I’m anywhere near him. I turn into a fumbling teenager with one glance in his direction.” My cheeks heat at my admission. I don’t need to tell Bailey this—she’s witnessed my mortifying behavior, time and time again when it comes to him. Colton Donavan. My teenage heartthrob, incredible Indy driver, and all-around nice guy. It should be illegal to be that good looking, kind and generous. I was obsessed with him in my former years, thanks to discovering a trashy magazine on the coffee table after school one day with him on the cover. No matter how many years have passed, it seems the second I’m in his vicinity, I return to that time in my life where I had no idea how to control my raging hormones or to keep a leash on my mouth.
“Oh, I know. Why do you think I demanded you come? You’re tonight’s entertainment,” she says with a laugh.
“B,” I squeal, swatting her shoulder playfully as she teases me. “I’ve no idea what’s wrong with me.”
“I get it. He’s… captivating.” Her eyes darken as she relives the one moment of her past that she’ll never let me forget. “And his kiss,” she says on a sigh.
“Oh, get over yourself,” I chuckle. “You know full well that you got passed up that night for Rylee and haven’t stood a chance since.”
“I know, and I still stand by the fact that I rocked his world so much that night that he lost his mind a little after. I mean, why wouldn’t he want more of this?” She gestures to herself with a pout.
“No idea, B. No idea.”
“Well, I’m over it.” I laugh; with the number of times she brings it up, I beg to differ, but I’m not going to point it out again. “I’ve got my sights set on a British banger tonight.”
I bark out a laugh. “Do you even know what this guy looks like?”
“Only in my imagination.”
“So he could be an old cockney with a beer belly and a bald head?”
“Yes and no. He’s still in his twenties, so I’d like to think he’s not bald.”
“Still leaves a lot to go wrong, don’t you think?”
“Nah, it’s all good. I can feel it in my blood.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the wine.”
“Meh, tonight is my night, H. Just you wait and see. I’m gonna snag me a Brit, and I’m not letting this one out of my sight.”
“If you say so,” I whisper, looking out the window and seeing the neon lights of the club coming into view.
After saying the right words in the bouncer’s ear, he stands aside and allows both Bailey and I to enter the club, although not before he gets his fill of her scantily-clad body.
“You offering up sexual favors again, B?”
“Not necessary this time. Come on, stop dawdling, the bar and the Brit are calling.”
She grabs my hand and together we make our way through the crowd and toward the roped-off stairs that lead to the VIP section.
As we move, the loud bass from the music vibrates through me, and even though being here tonight was the last thing I wanted to do after a long week at work, I can’t help a little excitement and the desire to get up on the dancefloor creeping in. It’s been a long time since I’ve let go with my best friend and forgotten about the world for a few hours.
After sweet-talking the second bouncer in as many minutes, we’re climbing the stairs and away from the masses of people.
We’re only three-quarters of the way up when I first see him. My nerves hit me like a sledgehammer and my body starts to tremble. It doesn’t matter how many times I see and talk to him. It doesn’t matter that I hear stories from Rylee about what a ‘normal’ guy he is. To me, he’s still the man I had pinned to my teenage bedroom walls and said goodnight to before falling asleep.
I focus on my feet as I climb the stairs, the gems on the front glinting in the spotlights above and giving me a distraction from the man I’m walking toward.
I’ve got one more step to climb. Thinking I’m safe, I look up, but the second I meet his piercing green eyes, my feet falter. The platform of my shoe connects with the step, and I go tumbling forward.
Closing my eyes, I reach my hand out in the hope that it connects with something to break my inevitably painful collision with the tiled floor. Thankfully the pain never comes. Instead, my hand hits something warm and soft.
Finding my feet, I drag my eyes open to see what stopped me.
The second I see what I used to stop my fall, I gasp in horror and stumble backward into someone else. Large hands grip onto my waist to steady me as I keep my eyes locked on the floor. My cheeks flame so hot I swear they’re going to catch fire any moment.
“Jesus, Harlow, that was some entrance,” Colton says with a laugh as I continue to die a thousand deaths at embarrassing myself once again.
“Are you okay?” A deep, smooth voice washes over me from behind, making me wish the ground would just swallow me up. I nod, but not before I hear the laughter of my best friend behind me.
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” I mutter, looking up but only so I can see which way the bar is so I can get a drink and hopefully wipe this disaster from my memory. “T-thank you,” I whisper to the man behind me who’s still holding me upright, probably thinking my legs don’t work correctly.
“Anytime.” I push to move away, but his voice makes me pause. It’s deep, rough, and his accent is… I don’t have time to try to figure it out. I just need to get away from him and Colton’s green eyes that turn me into a fumbling moron.