My perusal continued, noting the muscles bunching with each step he took. The hard ridges were barely concealed beneath a tight-fitting T-shirt and jeans. Tattoos lined the length of his right arm, stopping right above an expensive-looking watch affixed to his wrist. From this distance, I could barely make out the symbols depicted in black ink, permanently placed beneath his skin, but they were definitely foreign.
Then there were his eyes. The most incredible ice blue—almost glacial in color—but they weren’t cold. Instead, they were full of warmth, with the skin around them crinkled in the corners. It was such a strange contradiction that I couldn’t look away.
He walked with such self-assurance, his long legs eating up the distance from the door to the seating area. His lips turned up in a brilliant smile, not directed at anyone or anything in particular, like he was simply happy to be alive.
I was mesmerized, intrigued more than I should have been by this stranger.
At least until I heard a soft ding signaling the numbers on the board had moved, and a voice called out, “Number seventy-three!”
Fucking finally.
Breathing out a sigh of relief that this morning’s misery would soon be forgotten, I stood, my focus switching from the big blond man to the desk clerk who had called my number.
Clutching my paper ticket, I waved it on approach. “I’ve got seventy-three.”
The man behind the desk gave me a bored look as I moved closer. But then something alighted in his eyes as his gaze shifted to my right and he held up a hand. “Hold on, ma’am.”
My eyes bulged, and I stopped dead in my tracks. “Excuse me?”
Unapologetically, he flicked his wrist. “If you could take a seat, I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”
Confused, I peeked down at the seventy-three on my ticket, matching the number on the electronic board. “But it’s my turn.”
Ignoring me, he waved to someone behind me. “I’ve got you right here.” Annoyed, he barely spared me another glance. “Step aside, ma’am. I said I would be with you in a bit.”
My jaw went slack, and I spun around to discover exactly why I was being shoved aside.
Him.
The blond giant with the overgrown hair and permanently affixed smile.
Trying to rein in my temper, I used my best service voice to address the man who was even more stunning close-up. “I’m sorry, sir, but I was here first, and they called my number.”
Those blue eyes scanned me from head to toe, and damn, if his undivided attention didn’t have a wave of heat rushing through me.
He let out the tiniest huff of a laugh. “Is that so?”
Fuck, he wasn’t just beautiful; his voice had a rich timbre that rolled over me like honey.
The stern voice of the desk clerk broke through whatever trance I was under. “Ma’am. After I help this gentleman, I’ll be right with you.”
My head whipped around. “Are you fucking serious?”
The clerk jumped at my harsh tone but didn’t back down. “Take a seat before I take your ticket and make you go back to the end of the line.”
When he gestured for the blond man to step forward, I snapped. After having spent far too long watching men pull strings for special favors, laughing as they shared secret handshakes, I was done.
“No! He can take a seat. He didn’t even pull a ticket!” I yelled, my blood threatening to boil over.
It was the chuckle from beside me that threw me over the top.
Glaring openly at the stranger who had invoked some kind of DMV special privileges, I shrieked, “Are you fuckinglaughing?!”
His smile was a mile wide, only serving to further piss me off. My breaths came in broken heaves as darkness crept into the corners of my vision due to not drawing in a sufficient amount of air.
“You-you can’t—” My words were choppy as my brain struggled to concentrate with the haze of rage surrounding everything I saw. “This isn’t how the world works. You don’t just get to waltz in here and skip the line while the rest of us are made to sit in purgatory for hours on end, putting our lives on hold for one tiny piece of laminated paper. What makes you so fucking special?”
A hand clamped down on my arm, and I wrenched it away. Being touched without consent was a cardinal sin in my book.
