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I sat back down for a moment, bumping into the booth I’d just vacated. My paperwork was still on the table, so it wasn’t like I’d packed up to leave yet. And I could probably afford the time for one more drink.
One more drink…with that woman there at the bar.
Right?
Right.
But I didn’t do dating anymore. I was a “just me” kinda guy. History had taught me that was the only way.
Just me. All alone. And happy to be that way.
Except for now.
My wolf strained again, an almost physical pull now, as if he could lead me across Clover’s to where she was sitting.
I needed to meet her, to talk to her.
I wanted her to look at me, to see only me.
I collected the paperwork from the table in front of me, giving it an extra tap to shuffle it back into good order, then pushed it back into the manila file and tucked it safely into my bag. No need to bore a beautiful woman with work stuff, after all.
I just had to go over there now.
I rested my chin in my hand, my elbow on the table as I watched her for a moment. She was looking at someone — a second woman — who was walking away. But the other woman was shrouded in the gloom cast by the low light at Clover’s, and I wasn’t interested in her, anyway.
So, if her companion had just left…that created an opening.
An opening for me.
The thoughts in my head were driving me crazy. It never used to be this hard to approach woman. Where the hell had my game gone?
I was pretty sure I used to have game. Way the hell back before Saundra entered my life on a mission to destroy it completely. She’d nearly succeeded as well, although I still didn’t tell those closest to me exactly what had gone down.
I pushed Saundra out of my head. She wasn’t going to do anything for my confidence right now. And she didn’t deserve my brain space. That bitch was gone, and good riddance. She was the worst kind of trash.
I looked back at the woman. Was she getting ready to leave as well? Sudden panic tightened my chest. She couldn’t leave. I couldn’t let her. I needed to talk to her. Get her a drink. Something.
But even as I walked toward her, Jackson’s earlier words haunted me. No matter how much he was just teasing me, he’d been right. I never had company or guests. I didn’t even indulge in one-night stands. But maybe they weren’t so bad for an occasional hit of self-esteem, or just to feelwantedagain?
Hell, yeah, I nodded, agreeing with myself. One-night stands weren’t so bad. And for the touch of a woman who looked like that?
She was definitely enough to push the last of my misgivings to the side.
I was halfway across the bar before I’d even figured out what to say, and I stood awkwardly at her side, waiting for her notice me, like that would be what gave me permission to speak.
When she finally looked in my direction, her eyes widened and she gasped.
Well, shit, wasn’t I just the biggest dumbass? Thank fuck Jackson wasn’t here to see me scare the woman I wanted in my bed.
I took a deep breath to start talking, and a beautiful jasmine scent, rain-dampened and verdant with life, hit me. I breathed in again, drawing it deep into my chest as my words died in my throat.
“Let me buy you a drink.” There wasn’t really room for disagreement there, but I was an alpha in every aspect of my life. I got what I wanted.
And I wanted a drink with this woman.
“I’m Patrick.”
That was her opening, right?
