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I shake my head, then I take a sip of my lime margarita. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?”
She dips her chip into the ranch dip and pops it in her mouth. “I’m so glad you got the job.”
A Billie Holiday song massages my eardrums, relaxing my soul, calming my nerves. I love blues music. My mom used to listen to it while dancing in the kitchen, cooking dinner.
Sometimes, I feel as if I’m a failure because I worked hard for my fashion degree, and I don’t want to waste it. It is so hard to break into the industry, and I know about the consequences. My father warned me before I began to pursue this career.
I angle my chin down. “I wasn’t hired for the job I wanted.”
She smiles and strokes my back. “It’s cool. Take it one step at a time, ya know? A job is a job. It’s still a big milestone to celebrate.”
She has a point. My checks are going to be fat, and most people don’t even get paid as much as I will. I can do a lot with the money. How hard will it be to be an executive assistant? Sure, my life will intertwine with my boss’s, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.
“You’re right.” I hold up my glass and clink it against hers. “To new beginnings.” I take a gigantic gulp of the fruity drink.
“To new beginnings.” She downs her drink and slaps the glass onto the bartop. “Dance with me.”
She yanks me from the stool. We squeeze between other people with their backs facing us. Once Poppy finds us a spot, I move my hips, and Poppy follows suit, dancing next to me. Excitement swallows me whole, and I’ve never felt this good since the car accident. I really need to live my life instead of locking myself away in my own home. Not giving myself a chance to live, and not living life to the fullest like I always wanted. Guilt eats at me like a disease because my mother is in a nursing home while I can live my life. It’s not fair. Life is not fair. Shaking my head, I bump into a woman, knocking her brown liquor onto her white dress.
She balls up her fist. “You bitch.”
I hold out my palm, but she smacks it away.
“Sorry, let me help you,” I offer.
Her face turns beet red. “Move, girl.”
I head in another direction to find another spot for me to dance in. I love dancing. Sometimes, I’ll dance when no one is watching or with any music blasting. When I’m finished moving my body, my eyes roam the dance floor, and I spot Poppy on her phone. No doubt, she’s probably speaking to her fiancé right now. She has to check in every two hours with him. Honestly, it’s bizarre for someone to control another person. Relationships are too complicated for me.
A pair of hands land on my hips, and my body tingles all over. As I twist around, I glance up to find Atlas standing behind me. When our eyes connect, I suck in the breath that catches in my throat. He has a bad habit of sneaking up on me.
As he peers down at me, a smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth.
“Imagine my surprise when I saw you across the dance floor.” His gaze matches mine, and I can get lost in the depths of his eyes. Shaking my head, I push his hands away and pretend not to like his warmth.
“What are you doing here?”I snap.
His citrus and woodsy cologne assaults my nostrils. I love it when a man smells good.
There is something about him that drives me bonkers, and my heart beats faster than rain on a tin can.
He tucks a fine lock of my hair behind my ear, exposing part of my scar, and my pulse thumps hard in my ears as I inhale sharply. “Same as you. I’m here to have fun. Don’t stop on my account, keep going.”
My gaze lingers on his gorgeous face, and I feel my cheeks heating, so I drop my eyes to his outfit. His gray dress shirt hugs his delicious muscles, and his slacks are dark, and I notice the outline of his dick print. I wonder how big hi—
My mind doesn’t need to go there, so I revert my eyes to the pale floor.
I need to break the sexual tension between us, so I stroll back to the bar. Lord behold the devil follows so close behind me I feel his body heat on my back. Once we make it to the bar, I slide onto the leather stool, and he sits down next to me.
I cross my arms and rest them on the wooden bartop. “Don’t you have anything else to do with your time instead of following me around like a puppy?” My words come out harsher than I intended.
He laughs. I’ve never heard him laugh so hard before. Whatever. I’m not funny.
He quirks his eyebrow and flashes me his pearly whites. “I’ve been watching you the entire time I was here.”
I don’t know why I’m excited to hear that. Inhaling deeply, I try to hold back my smile.
“Stalker,” I shoot back.
