I snorted in a very unladylike manner. ‘What? No! We’ll be in a pub, you dumbass.’
Still with a disbelieving expression, Alec insisted, ‘You call me if he tries anything. You hear me, Twinkle?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Alec, I don’t need a big brother. I’m an adult.’
He raised his eyebrows again. ‘Really?’
I slapped his arm playfully. ‘Eff off, Al.’
‘Be good. And if you can’t be good, use a condom.’
‘Yes, Dad.’ I saluted him before turning and making my way back to Mr McYummy.I really need to ask his name...
As I approached Mr McYummy again, he smiled at me and my stomach flipped.You will not sleep with him. You will not sleep with him. I repeated the mantra over and over in my head. Who was I trying to convince?
He stood and held his elbow out to me. ‘Shall we?’
As I linked my arm through his, the butterflies took flight in my stomach, and I began to wonder what the hell I was doing. Just because he was handsome and had a sexy accent, didn’t mean he was in any way sane. I assessed him once again, trying to ascertain if I could take him in a fight. The immediate answer that sprang to mind washell no. He must have been around six two, and if his biceps and the thickness of his thighs were anything to go by, he was pretty damn toned under his clothes.
Nope. I’m doomed.
As we stepped outside the club, the cool evening air battered my overheated skin and I shivered.
‘Hey you’re freezing and you don’t have a jacket. Here, have mine.’ He began to pull it from his body.
How sweet. Still not sleeping with him.I held up my hand to halt him.‘Oh, that’s okay. It’s nice to finally cool down. It was way hot in there.’
‘Yes, I suppose it was.’ After a pause, he stopped and turned to me. ‘I should introduce myself.’
I giggled and regretted it immediately. He’d think I was one of those silly girls who flick their hair and say oh em gee.
I nodded and smiled. ‘We probably both should.’
He held out a long-fingered hand towards me. ‘I’m Fin. Finlay Campbell Hunter.’
I took his hand in mine. ‘I’m Star Anahi Mendoza. Nice to meet you...officially.’
We began walking and he turned to me with a smile. ‘So, you’re clearly not a local, what brings you to this fine city?’
I grinned. ‘To cut a very long story short it was a love affair that began when I was eight but I was actually born here too.’
‘Oh? So you have dual nationality, eh?’
‘Sure do. I came to live with my grandma a few years ago when I graduated college and I couldn’t bring myself to leave.’
‘So how did you end up with such an exotic sounding name? None of it’s Scottish.’
I chewed my lip, trying not to grin like an idiot. ‘Star because my grandpa called me his little star. Anahi and Mendoza because my pop is Spanish and had great dreams of me being some kind of leader I think.’
‘Ah. I know what that’s like.’ His expression turned serious for a moment until he nudged me and stopped. ‘Star, eh? It’s a beautiful name. Hell, you’ve been serving me coffee for months now and I never even asked before. How rude am I?’
I waved my hand dismissively. ‘Oh, that’s okay.’ We began walking again, and I felt drops of rain fall onto my bare arms. ‘You always seemed quite shy and you were always on your way to work.’
When I tilted my face to look at him again, his expression was once more serious. ‘Yeah.’
I cringed. ‘Did I say something wrong?’
He shook his head and smiled. ‘No, no. Nothing like that.’
