Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Mateo
I sat the bar and nursed my second beer.
It had been two hours since my date was supposed to show up here for drinks before having dinner together.
Two hours wasted nursing two damn beers, when I could’ve nursed some at home, free of charge, in my comfy flannel pajama pants, while watching Sports Center and relaxing in my own space.
Malia owed me big time.
I finished off the last of my beer and settled up my tab. As I stood to leave, turning to slip on my jacket, a familiar scent and voice hit me all at once.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly to the bartender as she plopped onto the stool and crossed her legs. “A shot of tequila with lime and salt please and a glass of red to follow up.”
“You got it, Z.” The bartender said.
I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
No. I wasn’t.
It was really her.
Zola. The hairdresser from yesterday.
The bartender called her Z. Was she a regular here?
I shrugged my jacket back off and sat down. “Hey you.”
Zola turned her head, noticing me for the first time, and her eyes widened, her mouth forming a small o-shaped circle. “Mateo? Hi!” She breathed, a large smile crossing her face.
When she landed in the seat beside me, I thought I was dreaming. But there she was, as if it were fate. Kismet. A line up of the stars.
“Hi. Nice seeing you here.” I smiled back, my night suddenly looking up.
“When it’s been a long week, I stop in on Friday nights for a drink before heading home. Thankfully, my mom watches my daughter on Fridays as I always worked late, so she doesn’t mind when I stop.”
Okay, so not technically a regular.
“You’re lucky. It’s nice to have help when raising kids.
” Man, she was beautiful. Her blonde hair fell around her shoulders and her blue eyes shone under the dim bar lights.
She didn’t look older than her twenties, but her daughter was eight, leaving me to wonder if she was in her thirties or did she have a baby in her teens?
It didn’t matter.
Nothing did. Not when it came to her.
It never would.
She could tell me anything, and I’d accept it.
I wanted her.
“It sure is.” Her drinks arrived, and she thanked the bartender before pulling them closer to her. She licked the skin on the back of her hand and shook salt on it.
My dick twitched.
It was hot as fuck.
Her tongue darted out again, swiping the salt off the back of her hand, downing the shot with the other hand, and quickly slamming the glass down before grabbing the lime slice and shoving it in her mouth. Her face grimaced as she got the heavy liquor and tart fruit down.
“Impressive,” I teased. Inside, I was fucking turned on. Horny as fuck. Hornier than I’d felt in a really long, long time.
There’s no way I’d resist her for much longer.
I signaled to the bartender for another beer before turning towards Zola. “How about one more shot? With me?”
Zola laughed. “I wish. But I gotta drive myself home. A shot and a glass of wine is my limit.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’d love to take more shots with you if I could.”
Somehow, her words exploded through me like fireworks, and I shifted in my seat, hoping my cock wouldn’t stiffen too much. There wasn’t a cape to hide it under this time.
“Oh, I almost forgot to ask! How was your date?” Zola sipped her wine. When she saw the look on my face, she grimaced and slowly brought the glass down to the bar. “Uh oh. Your face tells me it wasn’t good.”
“She was supposed to be here almost two and half hours ago. She never showed.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I was about to leave when you sat down beside me.”
“Wow, that’s awful. I’m sorry, Mateo. I think standing someone up is so rude. It’s easy to send a text or a quick call. Anything.”
“I agree. But now that you’re here, my night has gotten considerably better.”
Zola’s cheeks flushed a deeper red, and she chewed on her bottom lip. The urge to kiss her was strong. So strong I could barely ignore it. “Is that so?”
“Yes.” My beer arrived, and I took a long pull before leaning closer to her. “I’m dying to kiss you.”
Zola gasped, and the sound made my dick harder.
“Since I saw your gorgeous face yesterday, I haven’t stopped thinking about you.
I’ve tried to ignore it, but it’s no use.
My date not showing and then you walking in the door- all of it means something.
That our bodies aren’t lying to us. What we feel is real.
And I’m pretty damn sure you want to kiss me, too.
” The words spilled out of me with no control.
I never paid a damn lick of attention to any woman, but Zola…
she was different. Special. Everything I could ever want.
I didn’t care if she was older or if she had a kid. All I cared about was tasting her.
Touching her.
Claiming her as mine in all the naughtiest ways.
“Mateo…” Zola breathed, and my blood pounded in my ears. “I’m thirty-five and I have an eight-year-old daughter. You don’t want me. You want someone young and without a kid and—”
“No. None of that matters. I want you. However old you are, whatever package deal you are, I want you. All of you.”
Zola said nothing as our gazes locked on each other.
The bar, the music, the chatter, all of it fell away, only the two of us, as time stopped.
“Do you want to get out of here?” I asked.
“Yes, please.” Zola bit on her lip again, and I choked back a groan.
This woman was about to be the death of me.
And I welcomed every second of it.