The door to the bar opens and I stumble out onto the sidewalk, walking four steps to the right and falling in a heap against the rough bricks of the building on a heavy exhale. “You have to be motherfucking kidding me.”
“Except I’m not,” comes out of nowhere.
My head flies to the side, my heart leaping up into my throat. “Brecken,” I whisper, relieved and not.
“Angel.” The endearment a vicious growl.
Shit. He totally remembers me.
“I thought you left because you have plans with a girl.”
He smirks and that naughty devil finds its way straight to my nipples. “I do. I’m looking right at her.”
3
brecken
I watched her walk in. Much like I did that night in New York. And for one pulse-racing moment, I thought, impossible.
Impossible that on my second night in this city I’m seeing her. Impossible that she walked into the same bar as me, in two different cities. I think there is a Casablanca joke in there somewhere, and I was all for that form of irony.
Then I thought, hey, maybe temporarily moving back to Boston won’t be so bad. Maybe it won’t be the punishment it’s intended to be. Maybe it’s fate that the one girl I’ve never been able to forget is here tonight.
I stuck to that whole fate thing for approximately five seconds while I watched as she searched around the bar, looking for someone I hoped wasn’t a guy, praying she would catch me staring at her instead. Right up until recognition lit her pretty eyes and she walked across the bar to join her friends.
My sister’s friends.
And just like that, my stomach dropped, filling with disappointment and maybe a touch of anger too.
I will admit, irony is a vindictive bastard. I mean, what are the odds I run into the angel I spent a night indulging in three years ago and she just so happens to be one of my sister’s best friends? Aria would string me up by the balls if she knew all the ways I’ve thought about her friend over the years. All the things I did to her that night.
She recognized me too. Instantly. I shouldn’t have derived so much enjoyment from that, from the way she struggled with the realization of who I am. Choking and blushing and staring so hard I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head.
But I did.
I also should not be skulking along the side of the bar like a goddamn creeper waiting on her. I should not be thinking about, replaying, every single dirty detail of our night together so long ago.
But I am.
Every. Single. Detail.
I woke up the next morning and she was gone. My bed was empty and cold. She had told me it was only one night, and I was determined to prove her wrong. I knew just by looking at her that one night wasn’t going to be enough. No names. No contact info. She refused to give me anything. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want it all.
The door of the bar flings open, shooting a burst of icy wind along with it. That’s when I see her walk in.
Honey-golden hair falls down her back, toying with her porcelain skin, and when she turns... Wow! Hers is a face that would tempt Jesus. She’s an angel. Her dress is white, short, but hippyish style as it hugs her curves without kissing them close. It’s a tease. A dare. And as she moves farther into the bar every guy in this entire place turns to stare at her, hoping she’ll leave with them.
Whether she’s aware of her appeal or not remains to be seen. At the very least, she’s oblivious to the attention she’s garnered. She’s laughing with her friend, rolling her eyes at the world as she goes straight to the center of the dance floor and starts dancing with abandon. As if that world she was just mocking doesn’t even exist for her.
Her confidence is captivating. Hypnotic.
To the point where I can’t pull my eyes away from her and my mind starts asking questions like, who the hell is that?
Her eyes close as her hips sway, her hands climbing into the air, and I’m entranced.
My jaw hits the floor as I watch her manipulate the fray around her, bending them to her presence as she is me. I can’t stop myself from scanning her body, taking in every perfect inch of her.
And that smile.
My god, that smile.
Her friend whispers something in her ear and then the Angel begins to laugh, smiling wider as she dances to the beat that continues to pick up steam as the song progresses. My cock stirs in my jeans just at the sight of her, my gut twisting and my chest clenching. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I do not like it. This sensation. This feeling I have while watching a complete stranger dance.
Sure, she’s intoxicating. Yes, she’s alluring as hell. Obviously, she’s beyond sexy or my dick wouldn’t be so in on the action. But how can I be so transfixed, unable to tear my gaze away from someone I’ve never met let alone spoken to?
I had no desire to come to this bar tonight, and now that I see her…
The door to the bar flings open, snapping me out of my reverie. And just like that night, here she is.
It didn’t take her long. Within minutes of my departure, she’s fleeing the bar, her steps quick in her high-high heels, the sharp sound echoing off the hard surfaces we’re surrounded by. She has yet to notice me though I’m nothing if not visible. Instead, she crumples against the building, shaking her head as she stares out into the street, cars zipping by left and right.
I don’t like that she’s out here by herself.
Doesn’t she realize how unsafe that can be at this hour?
“You have to be motherfucking kidding me,” Rina grumbles under her breath, and a smile hits my lips.
“Except I’m not,” I reply, watching as she swivels frantically in my direction, fear gracing her pretty features until she realizes it’s me.
We go back and forth a few rounds until her astonished gaze narrows into an accusing glare. “I thought you left because you have plans with a girl.”
I take a step in her direction. Then another. She lets me. She doesn’t so much as move an inch. “I do. I’m looking right at her.”
“I am not your plans,” she clips, her eyes scouring me from head to toe. I had the advantage of seeing her first. I was already able to determine that in the years since I’ve seen her, she’s even more beautiful. Arrestingly so. She still takes my breath away, that’s for damn sure.
“But you could be. You should be.”
“No,” she laughs the word without a hint of humor in it. “I absolutely should not be.” Then she sags once more. “Brecken…” My name is a curse and a sigh. I stare her down and it’s too much for her. Green eyes bounce around my face for a beat before quickly diverting out into the street, back over to the door of the bar, and then, almost as if she can’t help the temptation of it, back to me.
“How come?” This is not the question I should be asking. She’s right after all. I should not have any plans that involve her.
“Come off it. You already know the reason. The fact that we pretended not to know each other back there is answer enough.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. “What would you have liked me to do? Say, oh, don’t bother with introductions, Aria, because I already spent a night inside of your friend making her scream, though I never did catch her name?”