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I smile and I wonder if she’s in the bathroom for natural purposes or for extracurricular purposes. I chuckle at my own joke as a looming presence overtakes me. I look behind me to see a guy that thinks way too highly of himself. How do I know? Well for one, he’s wearing a polo shirt, with the collar popped—what is this, 2002?—and second, he’s wearing a self-satisfied smirk that sends revulsion through me.
“Can I help you?” I ask as politely as I can, still feeling like eyes follow my every move.
“I was wondering if you’d like to dance.” Give him points for being polite. I smile up at him, taking in his shaggy mane of dirty-blond hair and the diamond earing in his left ear. If I were thirteen I would be all over this guy, but alas, I am twenty-seven and not at all interested.
“That’s really sweet. But I’m pretty danced out…I’m just waiting for my friend to come back,” I say, motioning to the washroom as I turn to head back to my table. A hand clamps around my arm and I’m jerked back.
“I saw the way you danced with that dude earlier,” he snarls, leaning in close. I can smell the rum on his breath. “You can’t wear something like that and not expect guys to want to dance with you.” He cannot be serious.
Okay, new plan.
“I don’t give a shit what I’m wearing,” I yell over the blaring music, pulling my arm out of his grip. “I could be wearing a bathing suit and it wouldn’t give you the right to manhandle me.” I turn around, trying to walk away as fast as I can before I say something stupid.
“It’s just as well. You’re a little too thick for my taste. You should try eating a salad once in a while. Might get you better dance partners.”
I don’t want the words to sting, but they do. I love my body, have for years, but that doesn’t stop all those bad memories from coming back. The bullying, the comments, and the laughter. It still haunts me all these years later.
As I turn toward my table, I know there is someone behind me and I hear a muffled roar. I turn to see what the commotion is about and stop dead in my tracks. Because standing over Polo Boy, who is down on the ground holding the side of his face, is Liam. And he’s staring directly at me.
All I wanted to do was go home, but my best friend Damon decided I needed a night out. According to him, he was sick of seeing me mope around the office like a lost puppy. I can’t say I blame him. It’s been one day since I lost sight of JJ, and I can’t seem to get a grip. All my thoughts are consumed with her, finding her, and taking her as my own.
“Dude, you seriously need this.” He pushes a whiskey on the rocks in front of me and I take a sip, feeling it burn on the way down. Damn, this place is cheap with their booze. “I know you’re all heartbroken about this chick, but loosen up! There are plenty of woman here that can take your mind off her.” That’s the problem. I don’t want a distraction. I just want to find her.
I spent the last twelve hours scouring the internet for anyone with the nickname JJ or even her full name and came up with nothing. I wish I knew what she did for a living. That way I could at least narrow my parameters. I even considered a private investigator but then deemed it too much and threw that idea in the trash. I was desperate, but that was heading into stalker territory and I wanted to keep her, not scare her away.
“Damon, you know that’s not gonna work,” I say, keeping my drink in my hand and periodically taking a sip and trying not to cringe each time the liquid hits my tongue. “You haven’t met her yet, man. She’s everything…” Damon rolls his eyes and I smile, knowing when this happens to him, karma will be oh so sweet for me.
“Well, damn, the great William Arthur Huntington is in love…” He trails off and I shake my head. It’s too early for that kind of talk, but the way my heart beats three times its normal rate when she enters my mind, I know it’s not far off.
“Hardly,” I mutter and tap on the bar, motioning for the bartender to come over. I order a beer and hope it’s better than the whiskey. Once it’s in front of me I take a swig and feel Damon still. I look over and his eyes are trained on the dance floor. “What are you looking at?” I ask, and follow his line of vision, but there is just a sea of people. He never answers me as he walks through the crowd and straight toward a woman with long blonde hair and a dress that would give a priest a heart attack. Once he’s occupied, my eyes scan the room and then the floor drops out from under me.
Because standing across the room is the woman I have spent the last 24 hours searching for.
She’s here.
She’s here and she looks absolutely mouthwatering in her black dress that hugs every curve of her beautiful body. The sight of her shifting hips has my cock hardening and my hands fisting at my sides. My need to touch her is so strong, it’s coursing through every vein in my body, but I hold back and just watch her.
Her eyes dart around the room as if she’s searching for someone, almost as if she can sense my eyes following her, and that makes me smirk into my beer. I love that her body’s attuned to me already, and it makes me wonder what else that body desires from me.
Her head shakes slightly when she doesn’t find the source of the gaze and I lean against the bar, content with just watching as she takes out her phone and texts someone. Then an Abercrombie fucker comes up behind her and my back straightens.
Nope. Not happening.
I make my way to her and when I’m within hearing distance, and that scumbag calls her fat, I don’t hesitate before my fist finds his face.
“Don’t you fucking touch her…” I growl as he cowers on the floor, holding the sides of his face. My eyes lift and meet those emerald gems that have captivated me for the last day and a half. I hear the guy groaning on the floor, but my eyes don’t leave hers as I step over him and make my way toward her.
“You okay?” I whisper, taking her face in my hands and sighing at the contact. Damn, does she feel amazing. She says nothing, her mouth opening then closing. I smirk as my fingers trace the sides of her face and down her jaw. She shivers and I know I need to get her away from prying eyes before I fuck her right here on the dance floor. “Come with me,” I say, motioning to the hallway across the room. I take her hand in mine and we navigate through the throngs of people until we’re blissfully alone at the end of the hallway.
“Liam?” she whispers as I spin her and push her up against the wall. My nose trails along her neck, and I breathe her in, loving the scent of her perfume mixed with the sweat from her dancing.
“You were sexy as fuck on that dance floor,” I mutter, trailing kisses up the same path my nose took earlier. She lifts her hips as if she needs relief and I can’t take it anymore. I push her against the wall and flatten her body against mine. My hands tangle in her loose strands as I bring her face inches from mine, her eyes searching mine.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, as if she can’t believe I found her. I can’t believe I did either. Now that she’s here in front of me, in my arms, she won’t be getting away.
“I don’t know. Buddy of mine wanted me to go out for drinks because I was moping all day about this amazing girl I was trying to find.” My forehead dips to meet hers, feeling her breath on my lips. I groan internally at the memory of what those lips feel like as they mold to mine. I can’t wait to feel them again and again…and again.
“You were trying to find me?” she asks as I nod slightly, smiling down at her. Did she really think I would let her go that easily?
