I openly give him a quick, appreciative once-over despite the current situation. He’s at least four inches taller than me, and considering I’m five foot ten, that’s a good height. He has sandy blonde hair with well-trimmed facial hair. There’s a deep churning in his bright blue eyes the longer he stares. I can’t help but notice the arm he placed in front of me, artfully covered in a pretty floral design.
Finally, his eyes move to me and soften the slightest bit. “Sorry, I’m late.”
I almost snort at the cliché, but now that I’ve had a second to breathe, I want to avoid the scene I was about to make.
“Figured I’d meet you in our room,” I go along with it.
His brow flicks up and he licks his lips. From my angle, I can see him biting back a smile, but I wonder what it looks like from the creep’s perspective. If it looks as heated as my skin suddenly feels.
The annoying stranger raises his hands in a surrender motion. “She didn’t say she had a man. Sorry, dude.” He shrugs as if to say,women.
“A woman’s disinterest should be enough,” the hot stranger says, making me fold my lips between my teeth to hide a smile.
The whole damsel in distress thing isn’t usually my forte, but I’d be damned if I wasn’t enjoying the show a little.
Before anyone can say anything else, one of the hotel’s security guards comes up and slaps a hand on the creep’s shoulder.
“I’m going to need you to leave, sir,” he says calmly but firmly.
The stranger scoffs, “There’s no problem here, and I’m a guest.”
“The front desk got a call about someone harassing other guests. I need you to leave the bar area.” The security guard pushes his shoulder after a second, silently telling him to move.
The guy finally says, “Fuck this,” and walks out without another look back.
“What a prick,” the new stranger says, falling into the now empty seat. He pushes the chair a couple inches back, giving me my personal space back. I tentatively take mine again, sitting on the edge in case I decide to make a quick exit.
Crossing my arms, I tilt my chin up. “I didn’t need you tosaveme or something stupid like that.”
“Oh, trust me,” he says and chuckles. “I have four sisters. I know the difference between ‘in need of help’ and ‘less than a minute away from being arrested.’ And let’s be honest,” he says with a charming smirk and lets his eyes rove down my body before meeting my gaze. “No one in that jail deserves to see you in that pretty red dress.”
I twist my lips to the side.
He’s right.
I look way too hot in this red mini dress to spend the night waiting for one of my siblings to bail me out—most likely my younger brother, Asher.
“And,” I slowly draw out, “You thinkyoudo?”
He licks his lips again and the temperature jumps up at least ten degrees in response. Instead of answering, he shrugs with a teasing grin.
“I’m so sorry about that,” the bartender calls as she walks up. I swallow and reluctantly look away from him. “I figured I’d call security before bringing the check.”
“That’s okay, Val.” I know most of the kitchen and bar staff. “It’s better he was escorted out, or it would have been someone else.”
“Next one on the house?” she asks, her eyes glancing at the man next to me. “Or next time?”
I feel his head turn toward me and try to hide a snort at how that sounds, like I’m a regular alone at the bar.
“I’ll take it now,” I say with a small smile and sit back.
She grabs a rocks glass and eyes the man.
“Just an Old Fashioned, please…” he trails off and grabs the menu as Val is inputting his order into the tablet. “And a lemon posset. May as well after the day I’ve had.”
The young bartender offers him a polite, sympathetic smile before walking away.
She’s just out of earshot when I let out a low scoff. I don’tmeanto but it’s basically criminal to order the lemon posset with an Old Fashioned. Especially when the menu he was holding includes the correct pairing.
