Page 4 of Spark

“Yes,” she said, voice shaky.

Had she really just admitted that? Yes, yes, she had. Dex’s knee brushed the outside of her thigh, and she quivered again. She wanted him, this stranger, in a way she’d never experienced with anyone else in her life. It was shocking, reckless, and impossible to ignore.

“I’m a Marine, recently moved here for a new job. Don’t know anyone in this bar. There’s no one here to vouch for me.” He ran his big palm over his hair. “Don’t expect you to trust me, but I’ll do whatever you need so you feel safe with me. Send a friend my photo, my hotel information, if that makes you feel better?”

Hattie blinked up at him. “Excuse me?”

His dark eyes seemed to get darker somehow. “I want to spend the night with you, Hattie. If you’re interested.”

Her mouth opened, closed. He’d surprised her again. The man certainly was direct. “You want to spend the night…with me?” she repeated like an idiot.

He dipped his square chin. “You say yes…promise I’ll take good care of you.”

She hadn’t been with a man in just over two years, and with all her focus on building her new business and proving her parents wrong, she had no room in her life for love or romance. For anything serious.

But one night, one crazy, reckless night with Dex, sounded kind of perfect.

The only expectations would be making each other feel good. After that, they’d walk away.

She could live with that.

Yes, it was madness. They’d only said a handful of sentences to each other, but she wanted to be with him. She wanted to go with this mountain of a man to his hotel room and let him take care of her. So badly she shook.

And why the hell not?

“Yes,” she said before she could chicken out. “Yes, I’ll spend the night with you.”

Chapter 2

Dex Colton stared down at the angel beside him and had to swallow several times. His mouth was bone dry, his hands were clammy, and his gut was knotted up so damn tight.

Hattie was the most exquisite woman he had ever seen in his life. He’d spotted her across the room, and it was fucking corny as shit, but everything else around him ceased to exist. Just her. She was all he could see.

She said yes.

Not snatching her up in his arms and covering that cherry red mouth with his right then and there was like ignoring the last chocolate pudding at the buffet table when you’d been eyeing it, craving it, had deprived yourself of it for the longest time—and for the last several hours you’d been hoping like fuck that no one else would take it before you could.

He hadn’t approached her because he didn’t think he had a hope in hell with a woman like her, with any woman. He wasn’t exactly a people person, never had been, but since he was no longer on active duty, the whole people and conversation thing had been even harder for some reason.

He’d also been celibate for thirteen months. After Chloe, his ex-girlfriend, dumped him during a deployment and then got engaged to his younger brother, Zane, he’d not really been feeling it. Honestly, he’d been kind of dead inside since. Then Hattie had walked into the bar and it was like all his shriveled organs had been shocked back to life.

He felt wobbly, off-balance, like his nerve endings were sparking and igniting, like his blood was heating and pumping through his veins again for the first time in over a year, filling the husk in the center of his chest.

Dex felt alive for the first time in such a long fucking time.

Words failed him when he looked down at her, so he stood, held out his hand, and waited. If Hattie changed her mind, he’d completely understand, but he hoped like hell she didn’t. Today had not been the best of days. The invitation that had shown up the day before to his brother and Chloe’s wedding had felt like a slap in the face, and he hadn’t been able to shake his bad mood.

He’d come to Woody’s to drown his sorrows.

Then he’d seen Hattie and he’d forgotten all about his troubles.

Every last one of them.

She smiled, hopped off her stool, and—fuck him—slid her small hand into his. Could he really be this lucky? He almost expected some guy to storm over, a boyfriend, husband—shit, a hidden camera to appear. The whole bar to bust out laughing at the idiot who thought he’d struck it lucky with the curvy beauty staring expectantly up at him.

He wasn’t risking it and started moving, leading her toward the door.

“Where do you live?” she said as they walked out onto the street.