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I raised a brow, not used to being teased, but also that she thought of this place much the way I did. I leaned close enough to catch a hint of her scent. For a moment, I was caught off guard. Jasmine, like outside the window of the house I’d grown up, conjuring long lost feelings that, if I allowed myself to settle on them, I’d become overwhelmingly sad. Instead, I dropped my glance to settle on her lush breasts and creamy skin, finally meeting her eyes, darker than ever now. God, I needed to touch her.
“Tell me you’re not used to getting constant attention in these places,” I said, trailing my finger across her knee, nudging her dress up an inch.
She sucked in a breath at my touch but didn’t move away. Our faces were inches apart. Her full lips parted, and I waited for our mouths to collide. I wanted her to make the next move, to feel that she wanted me every bit as much as I wanted her.
She leaned back, licking those lips and making my mouth water. “I wouldn’t know a thing about it,” she said, turning away from me and toward the bar.
She shouted for a drink. Scotch and soda, same as me. With a sassy, sideways look, she clinked her glass against mine and took a gulp. I hurried to follow suit, as eager as a schoolboy for what came next. I wanted to know everything about her, most of all why I’d never seen her around before. She was gorgeous, confident, and was making me actually work to get her in bed. I found I was happy to put in the hard labor, certain the reward would be that much sweeter.
I found myself grinning at her, and she returned my smile, revealing a dimple on her left cheek. Adorable on top of being a stunner.
“How have I never seen you here before?” I asked. “Are you new to Manhattan?”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s a step up from ‘what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this’. But no, I’ve lived here for a few years. I just don’t go out to dance clubs much.”
I inwardly cringed that she thought I was using a line on her. I leaned close again, narrowing my eyes appraisingly, wanting desperately to salvage my image and keep her from going back to her friends. The fact I cared so much when I could have snapped my fingers toward any other woman here made my mind reel, but maybe I needed the thrill of the chase. Marti was definitely worth chasing.
“Let me guess,” I said, searching her eyes that she kept boldly locked on mine. “Movie or art gallery on Fridays after dinner with your friends. Jazz clubs on Saturday night. Museums on Sunday afternoon.”
Her eyes widened. “You might be a little close. You got the jazz clubs completely wrong.”
“Karaoke?” I guessed, her smile lighting up my dark heart. “Trivia at a pub?”
She shook her head. “I’ll have to remain a mystery,” she said.
“I’ll have to unravel that mystery, then,” I said.
She snickered as she glanced back at her friends, who looked like they were getting ready to leave. “Oh really?”
I nodded. “Really. I want to know what you do every night of the week.”
She rolled her eyes again. “One thing you already know is I hardly ever go dancing on a Tuesday.”
I panicked. I couldn’t lose her. Putting my hand on her knee, I squeezed and gave her my most intent look. “Then it must mean something that we’re both here on this particular Tuesday.”
She started to slide off her barstool, but not without looking down wistfully at my hand. “What do you think it’s supposed to mean?” she asked. “I myself think it means you come here way too often.”
Her words were meant to sting, push me away, but I knew I wasn’t misreading the look in her eyes and the fact she was still close enough to me that another inch and our mouths would collide. The tension between us was enough to cause actual sparks to fly.
“I think it means you were meant to come home with me tonight,” I said, ready for her lips to meet mine, eager to part them with my tongue.
Chapter 2 - Violet
I couldn’t believe I let my friends talk me into coming to this loud, flashy place, and didn’t know why I finally agreed. Probably to get them off my back, since they thought they were keeping up my morale after finding myself out of a job for the first time in three years. They knew how much I loved working for Ashley, but I didn’t want to leave the city I’d scraped and saved to get to, in order to follow her down to South Carolina where she was relocating her business due to tax breaks or something above my pay grade. All I knew was that if I didn’t want to leave Manhattan, I had to find a new job.
I sipped my lemon soda and watched the crowd out on the dance floor. So many shiny people with too much money and time, preening and showing off for their newest conquest. I had gotten a few looks of interest and my friends kept encouraging me, but the longer I sat there with them, the more I knew this was a mistake.
“Come on, Vi, cheer up,” Ella said, shaking my shoulders as she tumbled her way off the dance floor. “Stop stressing about the job search. Soon you’ll be on to bigger and better things. Come out there with me.”
I’m not a coordinated person, and while I love music, I’ve been told I can’t keep a beat to save my life, but I let her drag me out anyway. After I got groped for the fourth time, I shook my head at her and made my way back to the relative safety of the bar where my other friend Norah saved our space. I wedged myself next to her and wiped the sweat off my brow.
“No luck?” she asked, sympathetically. She had a big, frothy-looking cocktail in front of her and when I gave it a quizzical look, she nodded down the bar to an older man in a suit. “Compliments of that nice gentleman. It tastes like cough syrup and cotton candy had a baby.”
“He looks nice,” I said.
She only shrugged. I knew we were supposed to be three single ladies out on the prowl, but I also knew none of our hearts were in it. I was frantically job searching, Norah was getting over a breakup, and Ella was in love with her graduate advisor.
Ella returned, sweaty and giggling. “Holy cow, it’s a madhouse out there. I should have done this kind of thing more in my undergrad days so I’d be more used to it.”
