“He’s hot,” she says, mouth dropping open exaggeratedly.
She’s right, though. He’s so hot I swear I was burning just standing beside him. He’s obviously older than me, but in a way that gives him an aura of success and control. He’s not intimidating even though I probably should be intimidated by someone like him. Instead, his strong presence makes me feel oddly…safe.
His short dark hair is meticulously styled, his suit cut perfectly to frame his muscular body. I don’t even want to imagine how much money his shirt cost, not when I destroyed it. I doubt the meager amount left in my savings would even cover half of it.
God, I’m so embarrassed that I contemplate bailing on my friends and leaving early. Besides, there’s no chance the hot stranger is going to want me now, not with Polly here. She’s far prettier than me, with her perfect slender body and narrow waist. She exudes confidence, and I’ve never seen a man manage to resist her.
I’ve humiliated myself enough tonight without having to deal with the rejection from the most desirable man I’ve ever met.
“Maybe I’ll spill my drink on him next,” Polly continues, wiggling her brows.
I laugh, but I’m not really paying attention. When they suggested coming out tonight to celebrate my new job, I agreed readily, thinking a drink would help settle my nerves. Instead, I’m already dreaming of the new fluffy blanket I have at home and scrolling Netflix for a rom-com to lose myself in.
I only met this group of friends a few weeks ago when I moved here, and they’re nice enough and easy to be with. But it’s clear I’m the outsider, even to me. The others are chatting about a party I wasn’t at, and I feel awkward sitting there with Chris’ arm around the back of my chair.
“I’m just gonna go freshen up,” I tell them, awkwardly shuffling my chair away from the table and grabbing my handbag.
The bathrooms are through a heavy wooden door, and I nearly slip in my heels as I shove my way through. I pause for a second in the hallway beyond, inhaling deeply. The thick door blocks out most of the noise from the bar, and I lean against the brick wall.
One hot stranger shouldn’t affect me so much, but I can feel the dampness between my legs. There’s no denying the fact that I want him. The attraction is physical, clearly, but somehow feels deeper than that.
The few minutes I spent with him made me feel something I’ve never felt before, something I don’t even know how to explain. I want to know him—in bed and out of it. But the fact is I can’t have him. What could someone like that—attractive, confident, and clearly wealthy—want with someone like me? A twenty-one-year-old college dropout who has no idea what she wants to do with her life.
“Get a grip, Savannah,” I tell myself, refusing to wallow in self-pity any longer. This is my new start. A new city, an apartment of my own, a job with a salary bigger than any other wage I’ve ever had. “You can do this.”
“Am I interrupting?”
I freeze at that voice. Smooth and dark as leather, as intoxicating as the whisky he’s drinking.
That burning embarrassment returns along with a heavy helping of lust that makes my thighs clench. The man from the bar is standing at the door to the hallway, somehow looking just as cool and collected as ever even with the pink stain covering his well-pressed shirt. And now he’s caught me standing in a random hallway talking to myself like a crazy person.Great first impressions, Savannah. Real smooth.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to block your path…” I say, trailing off when I realize I don’t know his name. “…Sir,” I tack on, cringing at myself as I do. His presence is so overwhelming I swear my brain is being fried. I shuffle so there’s more space for him to move past me towards the bathroom at the end of the hallway.
The man chuckles, and I shiver.
“My name’s Sean,” he tells me, stepping closer to me rather than taking advantage of the space I made for him. My heartbeat is so loud I’m worried he’ll hear it. God, what’s wrong with me? “But I must admit, I do like the way Sir sounds on your tongue.”
Holy shit. My nipples pebble beneath my tight dress, and I know he notices when his eyes darken and he presses even closer. My back is against the wall again, and I’m grateful to be able to lean against something steady.
“Sean,” I repeat, blinking up at him. I don’t understand what he’s doing or why he’s sought me out again.
“Savannah.”His hand is braced next to my head against the brick. I can see the strain of his biceps through his suit. He seems tense like he’s holding himself back. From what, I’m not sure.
Don’t you dare think about how he’d look without the suit on.
It’s too late because my mind has latched on to how those muscles would look anything obscuring them. The scent of whisky and spiced cologne clouds me, and I inhale greedily.
“I was just going to fix my lip gloss,” I mumble, needing to fill the weighted silence between us. It’s not a total lie—he smudged it when he stopped me from biting my lip and the rim of the glass took more off my lips.
“I like it like this,” Sean whispers. “Messy like you’ve been up to no good. Fuck, sorry, that was inappropriate of me to say. I didn’t mean to say it out loud.”
I can’t help the way I laugh at that. His charm and his efforts not to make me uncomfortable are endearing. I don’t tell him that I wouldn’t know whatno goodlooks like because the furthest I’ve ever gotten is a kiss on the cheek with a frat guy whose name I can’t even remember.
“I hate to disappoint,” I say slowly, channeling any scrap of confidence I can find as I try to make my voice sultry. Just because I’m inexperienced doesn’t mean he needs to know that. Plus, even if he didn’t mean to say it out loud, I’m pretty sure he’s flirting with me. “But I’ve been nothing but good. I imagine more than just my lip gloss would be ruined if I’d done anything…bad.”
I don’t recognize the words coming out of my mouth, but his presence has brought out a side of me I’ve never seen before. Nobody has ever made me feel this way, like if he doesn’t kiss me, I might die.
Sean groans like he’s in pain. “Christ, you’re like something out of a dream. Are you sure you’re real?”
