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Great. Just great.
Plucking at her shirt, she struggled with the heavy, slippery door, pulling it with all her might. It finally budged, and she slid inside, letting out a sigh of relief that turned into a shiver when the air-conditioning swept over her wet skin. Rubbing her damp arms, she huddled into herself and carefully made her way to the elevator doors. The man inside saw her coming, gave her a once-over, locked eyes with her, and hit the close door button.
God, what was it with people in this city?
She’d been in Atlanta for two years now, and the more time she spent there, the more she hated it. She longed for the quaint quiet of a small town and was doing everything in her power to get into one. The city just wasn’t for her. Neither were men. Or romance.
Or anything.
She pushed the up button on the elevator. She’d moved to Atlanta for a man. That man had then cheated on her, broken her, and left her virtually homeless. It had taken every ounce of her strength not to give up then, when she’d had nothing and no one to lean on, but she had fought her way out from the bottom of the well where he’d tossed her, and now she was ready for the next step.
She wasn’t giving up or letting the city win.
She’d conquered it, and was ready to leave now.
The people in this city were different from her. The women were sophisticated. The prices were high. The stress was higher. And the men were…
Ugh.
Just thinking about men reminded her of Eric Hamilton, the lawyer who had decided to stare at her today for no apparent reason. The man had never taken notice of her before, but suddenly he couldn’t take his eyes off her?
It made no sense. And, quite frankly, it scared her.
Men like him ate women like her alive.
Still, she loved watching him in the courtroom. He was always so passionately determined to win. So assured. So confident. So frigging hot. When he argued, his arms moved to emphasize his words, and his voice rose in excitement as he sensed him impending victory. There was nothing hotter than a man on a mission. And Eric Hamilton was always on a mission.
He thrived on the fight.
More importantly, on winning.
Which terrified her. Guys like Eric Hamilton were fun to look at and all, but that was it. He was like a big fire inside a brick fireplace. It was cool to watch the flames lick at the logs and devour them whole, but if you got too close, you were bound to get burned. Normally, it was easy to keep her distance, because he literally had no idea she even existed. Until today…
Why had he seen her?
The elevator doors opened, and she moved inside with a grateful sigh. As she pushed the button for her floor, another tenant hurried toward the elevator. She pushed the door open button in so the new arrival wouldn’t have to wait like she did. But when she saw who she’d held the door for…she kind of wished she hadn’t.
Because it was him.
“Thank you,” he said distractedly, turning his back on her like usual.
He punched in the floor number and rolled his neck in
a circle. He’d somehow managed to remain dry, even though the sky was open outside. Knowing him, he had his driver drop him off at the door, rather than having to run in heels from the bus stop like she did. Guys like him always had drivers. And fancy suits that cost more than her rent. And cars. He poked at his iPhone screen, frowning. So, things were back to normal, then. He was ignoring her existen—
Slowly, he turned, with those piercing, grayish-blue eyes that never ceased to haunt her dreams. And those eyes… God, those eyes. Crap. Things weren’t normal.
He was looking at her.
Mayday, mayday.
She’d never seen a man with such beautiful frigging eyes before. They were a deep, royal blue, but they had flecks of dark gray in them as well. Gray. Who even had gray eyes?
Eric Hamilton. That’s who.
As if that weren’t enough, his brown hair was long on the top, swept to the side, and the rest was shaved close to his scalp. It looked soft to the touch and had a hint of curl at the edges. She always found herself wondering if it was as soft as it looked. He had a clean-shaven jaw, a chiseled chin, wide, kissable lips, and looked like he belonged on a magazine cover instead of in the courtroom. It was so unfair.
Why was he still looking at her?
