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Kennedy continued to explain her new plan while remaining completely unfazed by Laura’s response, “I am going to write a list of everything I want in a partner and put it out into the universe."
"That’s good. It’s always good to know exactly what you want. How would you know if you arrived at your destination if you don’t know where you’re going?" Laura couldn’t remember what self-help book she’d read that nugget in, but it had stuck with her. "And you said speed dating?"
"I was running the numbers, and it has the best ROI."
Laura knew that ROI stood for return on investment, but she wasn’t clear on how that related to speed dating. "It does?"
"Yeah. Instead of getting ready and wasting an entire evening meeting one guy, you can get ready and—"
"Waste an entire evening meeting forty," Laura finished, only half-kidding.
"Exactly!" Kennedy’s eyes shot over Laura’s shoulder as she lifted her martini to her lips and said, "Incoming. Three o’clock."
Laura glanced over her right shoulder and saw that the man she’d been drooling over the entire wedding while simultaneously avoiding and hiding from was walking straight toward them. The last glass of champagne she’d drank had caused her to drop her guard. When he’d gone out on the dance floor with Chrissy, she’d figured she could relax. She was wrong.
The entire reception she’d made sure that she was on the other side of the room from Knox Savage. She’d watched as he danced with at least a dozen women from the ages of four to ninety. He’d chatted up most of the attendees, seeming engaged in each and every conversation he had. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was running for office.
Taylor Swift’sTroubleplayed in her mind as she listened to his long strides.
Knox Savage was all wrong for her. That wasn’t a guess or even a premonition; it was a fact. Her first clue was that the moment she’d laid eyes on him, her hormones did a backflip off the high jump into the drool pool of lust. Her body always lit up like Times Square whenever it came within a mile radius of a bad boy.
But that was just red-flag numero uno. Flags number two through fifty were witnessing him, and she’d seen him flirt with every woman at the wedding. He’d flashed his dimples to everyone, from Mrs. Weathersby to Tonya Anderson’s one-year-old baby girl, Mya. It seemed that his charm didn’t discriminate.
As badly as she wanted to hear whatever sweet words the silver-tongued devil was about to say, she knew that she needed to get the hell away from him. The thing was, she didn’t trust herself. Plain and simple. If she spoke to him, she was scared she’d get caught in his web of charm and end up as his prey.
The wedding was over. The reception was in full swing. She’d done her bestie duty as a plus-one. She was going to leave.
She turned to Kennedy and set her champagne glass down with a little more force than she’d meant to. "I’m going to head out."
Her friend’s eyes widened to a comical size. "What?"
Laura could feel the bad boy closing in on her. Adrenaline raced through her veins as she gave her friend a quick nod and turned to leave. Her getaway would have been a clean one if not for Mrs. D standing in front of her.
"Laura, dear, don’t you look pretty."
They’d already exchanged compliments earlier in the evening, but Laura indulged her as she tried to step around her. "Thanks, Mrs. D. So do you."
"Excuse me, ladies." The deep, gravelly voice caused Laura’s eyes to lift and lock with chocolate pools of heaven. "Knox Savage, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure."
The wordpleasurefell from perfect lips, jumped across the space between them, and skittered down her spine. A shiver ran through her as she stared up at perhaps the sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life.
Seeing the man from a safe distance was one thing. Being up close and personal was downright dangerous. Just like objects in a side mirror were closer than they appeared, Knox Savage was sexier than he appeared. He was taller and had a commanding presence that had to be experienced within a one-foot radius. His face was even better-looking. The scruff on his square jaw had a peppering of white hairs that added a grown-man edge to an already bad-boy face. She noticed a scar above his right brow, and his nose had a tiny bump. It was infuriating that somehow gray hairs and imperfections on men made them even sexier, while on women they were just flaws.
All of her internal warning bells were going off. The man might as well have "Player" tattooed across his forehead. Speaking of tattoos, he had quite a few. His crisp white button-down was rolled up, and both his forearms seemed to be covered.
Damn.Tattoos had always been Laura’s Achilles’ heel. This man was a walking Warning: Danger Ahead sign.
"Oh, well, I’m Mrs. Dobrinski, and these lovely ladies are Kennedy Dawes and Laura Lopez."
Laura felt the world spinning and realized that she had been holding her breath since she’d seen him walking toward her. She did her best to remember how to inhale and exhale as she watched Knox Savage lift Mrs. D’s hand to his mouth and press a kiss to her knuckles. He repeated the gesture with Kennedy, who seemed more than a little flustered at the attention. Who could blame her?
When he reached out to do the same to her, Laura dodged the contact by swiftly moving her arms behind her back.
"Nice to meet you," she said with a dip of her chin in a nod.
The corners of his lips curled in what she could only assume was amusement at her avoiding touching him.
Go. Leave now. She told her feet to move, to turn and walk away, but his dark whiskey stare was holding her hostage.
