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The front door opened, and Jason craned his neck around to get a look at who’d entered.
“Like her,” Jason said. “I bet she’s here for the same thing.”
Michael turned and looked just in time to catch a glimpse of a curvy brunette before she ducked into a booth. He only saw her for a second, but a second was enough. The flash of skin of her exposed leg and the curve of her hip caught Michael’s attention and refused to let go.
The tiger inside of him stirred from slumber, growling with excitement, and with it came the animalistic impulses to claim and to protect.
Michael swallowed hard and masked his discomfort by sipping at his pint.
“It’s going to be an interesting night,” Jason muttered, still looking in the direction of the booth. From their angle, they couldn’t see into it.
“It sure is,” Michael replied under his breath.
There was no doubt about it.
The woman who’d just slipped into the booth had woken his tiger, and that could only mean one thing.
Maybe tonight wouldn’t be as lost a cause as Michael had originally assumed.
Chapter Three
“Here’s how it’s going to work, ladies and gentlemen…” The MC for the evening was one of the bartenders, Abby noticed. He was pushing fifty but dressed sharply. Purple shirt, black tie, and black suit-jacket that was ill-fitted for his stature. Despite his garish-colored shirt, he had a young face and kind eyes. His voice was good, too. Deep and sonorous like one of those TV commercial voice-overs.
“One man will be assigned to each booth along the back wall, where each of the tables have been numbered. Our ladies will be the ones moving from table to table, and ladies, know that tonight, you’re the ones in control.”
“Hopefully not the case all night, though,” Tiffany whispered in Abby’s ear with a wicked tone. “If I find the right guy tonight, I’m not going to want to stay in control for long.”
“Tiffany!” Abby scolded her in a quiet voice. Both of them had had a few drinks, and while Abby could hold her liquor, she knew that Tiffany was much more of a lightweight. Her friend had one beer and she was already tipsy.
“What? Don’t tell me you don’t think the same thing,” Tiffany growled back. There was a twinkle in her eye and a cocky grin curved up one corner of her lip. “I saw how you sneaked into the bathroom and came out looking at least twice as sexy as you were when you came into the bar. You saw that guy with the white hair, didn’t you?”
Abby’s cheeks heated in embarrassment. Damn, she thought. She couldn’t hide anything from her. Tiffany read her like an open book.
The white-haired hunk who Tiffany was talking about was the one who’d caught her eye as soon as she’d walked into the bar. It had been too early then to tell who was there for speed-dating and who wasn’t, but Abby found herself hoping against hope that he’d be one of the ones who’d gather when the MC took the mic and started the event.
And he was.
Tall, muscular in just the right way, and with blue eyes whose color seemed too good to be true, he was a dream come to life. His hair was so pale it was almost white. If she had to guess, he was probably in his early thirties.
White hair or not, he was flawless, and she had sneaked into the bathroom so she could tease out her hair and try to make the dress she was wearing fit her just a bit better.
Tiffany knew her too well.
“So you caught me.” Abby harrumphed. “Guilty.”
Tiffany’s grin didn’t die. She finished off the last of her drink and turned her attention back to the announcer, but even as she did, she whispered to Abby, “It’s okay to live a little. That’s why we came here, right?”
Living was something Abby hadn’t been doing for a while. She’d been in survival mode since she found out her best friend, Kate, had slept with Tyler. After the storm was over, getting out there and cutting loose was draining and scary.
But for the blue eyes across the bar, it was so worth it.
The MC made a small joke that nobody laughed at and continued, “Each of our lovely ladies will be carryin
g a secret scorecard, with numbers corresponding to the bachelors at each table. After five minutes of flirting fun, a bell will ring and the ladies will move on from the booth and grade the bachelor inside with a score. At the end of the night, you’ll be able to choose which of the guys you want to get to know a little better by comparing your scores. With me so far?”
There weren’t all that many people gathered, Abby realized. And as she took inventory of who was in attendance, she realized there were at least twice as many women who’d shown up than men.
The one-dollar, ladies’-night drinks had worked their magic.
