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“Excuse me?” was all Alina could muster. The sudden change in the man’s attitude caught her by surprise.
“You heard me.” He threw the words at Alina like venom. “Let’s see if you remain this smug after I…” An equally powerful voice interrupted the man’s words.
“Let’s not see.”
Alina turned her head to where the superior male stood and, to her surprise, she recognized the figure as Dereck Johnson, the obnoxious doctor with the entitled demeanor.
Alina’s antagonist eyes also diverted to Dereck, and she noticed the moment they bulged. But Dereck’s own remained fixed on the man, his chest pushed out and his fingers folded into a fist.
“I think it’s best if you leave now,” Dereck ordered.
“Who the hell are you?” The man pushed out his chest, ready to defend his honor.
“I’m the boyfriend with a very short fuse for married bastards like you insulting my girlfriend,” Dereck roared, his eyes expressing as much fury as his words. “So, I suggest you leave before I really get angry.”
The man did as Dereck instructed without another word.
Alina couldn’t keep her eyes off her savior now. Not only did he help her, a woman who he openly detests, but he looked even more handsome under the lighting. Dereck wore a long-sleeved white shirt that gripped him tight, displaying the tones of his arms and chest. His dark-colored denim was also fitted, and his ass looked spectacular in it. His face was indifferent now, but it was impossible to ignore the handsomeness of his features, as the gray eyes that she had been painting all day pierced hers.
“Thanks for that,” Alina said, still taken aback by his manly presence.
Dereck pulled out the stool next to her and placed his massive body on it. “I’m not the bad guy you make me out to be.”
Alina placed her hand in the air. “One good deed does not exempt you from the bracket. Even bad guys do good things every once in a while.”
That comment earned Alina a scoffing sound. She growled angrily at Dereck then, as his rustic scent floated to her nose.
“Still,” Alina continued. “You rescued me. So, allow me to buy you a drink.”
Dereck looked at her, the intensity in her eyes sending sensations to her lower body.
“It’s the least you can do,” he said and ordered a whisky from the bartender.
Both Alina and Dereck remained silent until Dereck finally asked. “Drinking alone tonight?” His head remained on the stocked shelf, but his words awakened Alina’s insides.
“No. I’m waiting on Taylor, who is…” Alina looked at her watch. “… late as usual.”
Dereck’s drink came, and he quickly grabbed hold of it as a means of distraction. “It seems as if Lee is also late.”
“Ok,” Alina said and put her lips to her drink, an act that quickened Dereck’s heart.
He needed a means of keeping his mind busy and what better way than verbal interaction with Alina. Whenever her mouth was running, it seemed to aggravate his soul. It would be perfect if he could replace lust with aggression.
Dereck was certain his attraction to this woman was simply lust. He hadn’t been with a woman in a while and the effects of it were compromising his senses.
“So you know what I do for a living,” he began. “But what do you do?”
Alina looked at him, her stare blank. Was he actually attempting to converse with her?
Dereck raised his glass in her direction before taking a drink. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I was just creating conversation while we wait.”
“I’m an artist,” she said after ordering another round of drinks. “I paint portraits.”
“Nice,” Dereck nodded his head. “Somehow I was expecting…” He paused. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.”
He looked at her, the corner of his mouth raised to a slight smile, one that Alina noted.
“I’ve always been interested in that career.” Then he added. “I used to draw.”
