She had the power to steal my breath on any given day, but seeing her now, all that sunshine hair of hers hanging down her back, her bee stung lips slicked with a tantalizing rosy color, and that goddamn dress, my brain had short-circuited.
Even from this distance I could see the pink hew on the apples of her cheeks and couldn’t help but wonder if it was her makeup or a flush from something the jackass sitting across from her had said.
There was a part of me that wanted to be the one to make her blush like that, but more specifically, to be the one to inspect just how far down that kiss of pink went.
Running into her in the hallway earlier had been a happy coincidence. The moment she crashed into me, I was overcome by the intoxicating fragrance of something that smelled floral and a bit sweet, something so uniquely Marin. The scent was faint, not overwhelming in the slightest, and I’d found myself breathing deeper with her standing so close, trying to pull as much of her smell into my lungs as possible.
When she’d said the word date, my muscles had gone tense and a red film had coated my vision. At first it was the thought of her with Frank, knowing she could do so much better, that had tipped me toward my boiling point, but when she confirmed it was with another man, the anger bubbling up inside of me hadn’t lessened in the slightest.
I hadn’t meant to sound so cold, I just couldn’t control my fucking emotions whenever she was around. It was getting ridiculous. I was thirty-seven, for Christ’s sake. I should have learned some goddamn self-control by now.
I was grateful when the dinner ended a short while later. I managed to get through several handshakes and back slaps, but while everyone else headed out of the restaurant, I made my way over to the bar, taking up residence on a stool that gave me a perfect line of sight to Marin’s table.
Ordering a double scotch, I rested my elbows on the bar top and leaned in, sipping casually at my drink as I tried to discern how Marin’s date was going by watching their—most specifically, her—body language.
Damn, I would kill to be able to read lips at a time like this, I thought to myself while another part of my brain yelled at me to get the hell out of there. I shouldn’t stay, I knew that. It was like walking a tightrope over a flaming pit. For some reason, this woman was my kryptonite. I should stay as far away as possible, but something about her kept pulling me in. So I stayed where I was, like a creeper, watching a woman I barely knew in a way that would surely get any man out there slapped with a restraining order.
Being a lawyer, I had an affinity when it came to reading people, and judging by the way Marin was holding herself and the look on her face, it didn’t take a genius to realize the date wasn’t going all that well.
Words were exchanged, then whatever she said made the guy across from her turn tomato-red. He replied with something I couldn’t make out, but the head shake she gave him in response was firm, no nonsense. Seconds later, he shoved back from the table and shot to his feet. Marin looked almost bored as she sipped her cocktail while he stormed out of the restaurant.
I wasn’t sure what it was that made me act, but before the door of the restaurant could close on her date’s ass, I was waving the bartender over, asking him to make a gin and tonic. It was just a guess, but that was what the drink she’d just finished sucking back looked like.
As soon as he slid it across the bar, I was on my feet, moving across the room without a single thought as to whether or not what I was doing was a terrible idea.
She dropped her face into her hands when I was only a few feet away, so I was able to hear her frustrated groan loud and clear by the time I reached her table.
“I take it the date didn’t go well?”
Marin’s head shot up, her gorgeous amber eyes narrowing into unhappy slits. “No,” she replied flatly. “It really didn’t.”
Holding out the glass, I gave it a little shake so the ice inside would rattle. “Gin and tonic, right? I took a shot and guessed.”
The annoyance melted from her delicate features, replaced with surprise and a large dose of curiosity. “Yeah. Um, thank you.”
“No problem.” I pointed to the chair her date had abandoned, asking, “Is it alright if I sit?”
She blinked slowly, the long fan of her lashes kissing the tops of her cheekbones. “What about your client dinner?”
“Ended already. I was at the bar when I saw your date leave.”
She looked to the empty chair and back to me with trepidation before giving me a nod. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, sure.” She didn’t sound all that comfortable with the idea of me joining her, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
Before she had a chance to change her mind, I pulled out the chair and sat, lifting my scotch to my lips and taking a fortifying drink. “You want to talk about it? Or would you rather just sit here in silence and finish your dinner?”
She let out a small laugh and gave her head a shake. “There’s really not much to talk about. Just the tragic tale of a blind date gone bad.”
I felt one corner of my mouth curl up ever so slightly. “So, not a love connection, I take it?”
The megawatt grin that tugged at her plump lips hit me like a fist to the gut, making my dick start to swell behind my fly. “Definitely not. I was holding out hope, but I just couldn’t get past the creepy, this-dude’s-gonna-tape-me-up-in-his-basement vibe he was putting off.”
I snorted mid-sip, causing scotch to go right up my nose and burn like hell. My eyes began to water and I coughed violently.
“Oh, God!” She lifted her hands to cover her mouth as she began to giggle hysterically. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“Jesus,” I croaked once I was able to speak against the fire in my sinuses. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Her giggles had tapered off, but it was still one of the best sounds I’d ever heard now that I could actually focus on it. “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I said, clearing my throat just as the waiter stopped at our table.
He looked over at me and did a double take before his gaze bounced to Marin. “Is there anything else I can get you? Maybe the dessert menu?”
Her shoulders sank as she glanced over at me. It was most likely wishful thinking on my part, but I wondered if maybe she didn’t want the evening to end just yet. If that was the case, the feeling was absolutely mutual. She finally sighed and turned her focus back to the waiter. “Actually, I think I’ll just take the check.”
The guy pulled a small black folio from his apron pocket and placed it on the table with a smile before taking off.
“I’ve got this,” I said, quickly reaching across the table to grab the check before she could.
“Oh, no. You don’t have to do that,” she insisted as I leaned to the side to grab my wallet from my back pocket. “Really. I can—”
“I insist,” I said as I flipped through my wallet and pulled out my credit card. “Even if the date was a complete shitshow, that asshole still should have paid for dinner. On the behalf of all men, let me make it right.”
Marin’s sharp inhale pulled my attention back to her just in time to see her eyes drift down to my lips, and I realized the smile I was giving her just then didn’t feel forced or plastic.