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“Aster!” She giggles. “It’s been so long.” She holds her friend away from her and groans. “You look so good. I swear it’s been forever since I saw you.”
“I’m glad you got here early. I know Max has been looking forward to working with you.”
I can’t stop my grin when she looks over at me. She smirks.
There’s a lot going on behind those deep midnight eyes and I want to know every last bit of it. I know it’s too soon. I know I’ve never believed in love at first sight.
But just the sight of this woman is blowing all my preconceived ideas right out the window.
I have a feeling that she’ll be doing this to me for the next fifty or so years. Or maybe forever.
ASTER
Anger and something else, something stronger and more primal, buzzes in my body. The man in front of me with wide, dark eyes and black eyelashes framing the smoky, whiskey color has me rethinking my plans. Should I be moving to this place?
I don’t know. I feel more right this second than I’ve felt in years. I can feel my blood whooshing through my veins. Feel my heartbeat pounding in my chest, echoing in my ears like thunderclaps. My fingertips buzz with the need to touch him.
Yanking at my fraying self-control, I glare at the bastard. “Who the hell do you think you are? You think you know me?” My eyes glide up and down his body, trying to keep from letting him know how much he’s affecting me. I snort.
“You don’t know me at all! Maybe you could stop being such a judgmental dickhead.”
I hear Fern snort with barely-concealed laughter behind me. All of my focus is on the jerk standing there with his mouth hanging open. A perfect mouth surrounded by the sexiest scruff of a beard that my fingers want to run through and I want to feel how it feels. My belly clenches when I wonder what it would do to my sensitive skin. Would it be soft or rough? Would it leave ragged tracks of red on my thighs as he tore into me like a man possessed?
I jerk myself up short. What the hell? I know it’s been awhile since I’ve been with a man but I’ve never been so needy and wanton for a total stranger!
“You are Fern’s friend?” he asks me.
I nod my head sharply, once. “I am.”
His dark eyes trail up and down my body and it feels like fire singes my skin wherever they land. “You’re not what I expected,” he says lamely.
“Shocking. Since you don’t know a damn thing about me. Or my life or my wants and needs.” I flush when I say the words. If he knew what I was thinking….oh my god!
A smirk tilts his lips and my stomach free-falls.
“I’d love to know all about your needs and wants! Can I take you to lunch and we’ll talk about it?”
My mouth drops open and his dark eyes heat to molten lava. “You’re a cocky bastard, aren’t you?”
Fern giggles behind me and I hear a deep voice chuckle. “You have no idea.”
I turn to face Fern and she rushes at me, throwing herself into my body. My arms wrap around her and I giggle.
“It is so good to see you, Aster! God, I’ve missed you. What’s going on with you? How have you been? Why are you taking a break? Did something happen?”
My breath huffs out. “I can’t answer all those questions at once. And you’re starting to sound like one of those voices on helium!” I laugh when she groans.
“Fine, fine. So talk. What’s going on?”
My eyes slide over to the man watching us. “Do you mind if we talk about this later?” I don’t want to broadcast my uneasy thoughts about my own life in front of perfect strangers.
“Sure.” She leans back and looks at me. “You look good, girl. I can’t believe you’re really here. And you’re staying, right?”
I nod my head. “I am.”
“Fantastic! The guys here are about to get their pictures taken so I’d go if you don’t want to see these two in their birthday suits!”
My eyes immediately dart to the other man in the room and he grins as he begins to unbutton his red flannel shirt.
