Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Bentley
I couldn’t believe I’d almost fucking kissed her.
The whiskey I’d had tonight made me weak.
I’d been so close to her I could smell her sweet skin.
When she bent just enough for me to see her ample cleavage, I wanted nothing more than to bury my face in her chest, to take her right here in the bar, let her know I wanted her to be mine.
To make matters worse, when I met her eyes, she was so close I could feel her breath and I was even able to taste the subtle hint of the whiskey she’d been drinking on my lips. Those gorgeous, pouty, full lips.
I had to stop thinking of her. I was thankful for the distraction when one of the last remaining customers came up to pay their bill.
We made small talk; I listened while he suggested where I could put the new pool table once it arrived.
I didn’t care. I’d put it where I damn well wanted, but I needed the distraction, so he could go on and on all he wanted.
Yet even as I listened, I’d look at her out of the corner of my eye.
I was drawn to her, like a moth to a flame, and I knew that once the last couple left, it would be just her and me.
As they left, I turned to see her sitting there. She leaned against the back of the barstool, her legs crossed, her glass nestled snuggly in her lap as she stared at me.
“So, Noelle, who’s coming to pick you up?” I questioned, wanting to figure out how to put an end to my torment.
She looked at me and shrugged. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
Getting rid of her was the last thing I wanted, but I couldn’t let her know that. I had to be a good guy. I’d known this girl her entire life. Hell, she used to sit on my lap when she was little. Wished she still did.
“No, I just don’t think you should drive in this weather.”
“I can’t. Don’t you remember? I have a flat tire,” she answered, twirling her dark chestnut hair around her finger.
“What about your boyfriend? Surely, he could come pick you up.”
She gave me a gentle smile, still twirling that strand of hair. I prayed she gave me the answer I wanted to hear.
“No boyfriend.” She shrugged, looking up at me with those sexy eyes.
Had she ever had a boyfriend, I wondered. It wasn’t a question I could ask, but my cock instantly hardened when she ran her forefinger across her bottom lip and looked at me, telling me exactly what I wanted to know.
“Never had a boyfriend, no one I’m that interested in. Plus, I like my men…older.” She looked right at me as she said the word older.
“Bentley, I’ll settle up now,” I heard the last customer say.
I tore my eyes from her and went over and took care of them, all the while wishing she had someone coming to pick her up.
It would be too dangerous for us to be here alone, and too dangerous for me to drive her home.
While she hadn’t come out and said what was on her mind, I knew what she was trying to tell me.
Perhaps she was too shy to come right out and say it, but she had given me the only hint I needed.
The last two patrons left the bar, and I made my way over to the door, locking it before any late-night stragglers came in. I made my way back around the bar and turned the music down.
“I’ll call you a cab,” I bit out, loading the last few glasses into the washer.
“I’m okay,” she murmured, still sipping on her whiskey. “No need to baby me.”
Those eyes said it all. I rubbed the back of my neck. I needed to get her out of here before I crossed a line I couldn’t uncross.
“Trust me Noelle, there is nothing about you that’s a baby. Still, it’s closing time, and I think it’s time for you to go.”
This time when I met her eyes, I saw the disappointment in them. I hated myself for doing that, but it had to be done. I had to convince myself that I shouldn’t go after her, that perhaps I’d not helped the situation by providing her with a couple of birthday drinks.
She placed her glass down on the bar and slid off the stool, grabbing her clutch purse from the back of the chair. She gave me a weak smile, then turned to head toward the coat rack that held her coat.
I looked out the front window, the snow coming down so hard I could barely see across the street.
Where the hell did she think she was going to go with it snowing like that, and without a car to drive in?
Even if she had a car to drive in, I wouldn’t have felt right letting her go out there.
It was too dangerous for an inexperienced driver with the snow falling so hard, the roads no doubt slick with ice.
“I guess this is good night then,” she said as she slipped into her coat.
A flash of lightning lit up the front window.
“Where are you going?” I questioned.
“Home. It’s only a few blocks.” She shrugged.
Another flash of lightning and a clash of thunder made me realize what I was about to let her do: walk home because I didn’t think I was strong enough to be here alone with her until I could take her home. I was a retired Navy SEAL; I had willpower; I was a man of great discipline.
I made my way around the bar, determined to make her stay here, only she was already out the door by the time I got there.
I stepped outside onto the snowy walkway and watched her walking away, slipping every third or fourth step she took.
There was no way I was letting her leave, so I called out to her, only to have her wave me off.