Chapter 1 #2
Her lips pulled to the side. She’d finally enrolled in a business course.
It wasn’t the university degree she’d wanted, rather a technical college, but so what?
It was a small step towards reclaiming some part of the life that should have been hers, had she not fallen in love with Aaron and spent the better part of a decade propping up his dreams, over hers.
“Something like that,” she agreed. He lifted the scotch to his lips, eyes assessing her. She could have moved down the bar, but she didn’t. It was as though her feet had lead in them, all of a sudden. “I suppose you have your life all figured out?”
When his lips arranged themselves into something like a smirk, it felt like a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies had been launched into her belly.
“In some ways.”
The answer was cryptic, and drew her in deeper, even when she knew she should move back down the bar and serve someone else. “That’s interesting.”
“Is it? How so?”
“I don’t know. You just seem like someone whose life is in order.”
His smile was a tight flicker of his lips. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He threw back the rest of the scotch then slid the glass towards her.
“Another?”
He dipped his head once. “Join me.”
Those two words seemed to throb and hover in the air between them, a statement more than a question.
“I’m working.”
“Until when?”
She could easily have lied, and told him she was doing the late shift.
But a part of her fired to life, reminding her that it wasn’t illegal to enjoy talking to a handsome guy.
It wasn’t even unethical. She and Aaron had split three months earlier, and apart from the occasional message pertaining to the wedding’s cancellation, hadn’t spoken since.
Which made his earlier text message all the more galling.
“Ten minutes,” she blurted out, no doubt in some defiance of Aaron having a say in her life anymore.
“Will the world stop turning if you finish earlier?”
She tried to stave off her temptation, but the truth was, this man was hypnotically fascinating. Like a black hole she wanted to sink right into. “You’re impatient for company.”
“Your company.”
Her lips parted on a rushed breath. “Why?”
His eyes roamed her face again, sending little pin pricks of awareness through her whole body, rocking her in a way she’d never known.
Elodie and Aaron had been together a long time—since they were teenagers.
There’d been the usual rush of hormones, that had driven them into bed, but the whole experience had been clumsy and underwhelming at first. Over the years, they’d improved, but sex with them had never set the world on fire.
Another thing she’d been prepared to put up with because she ‘loved’ him.
Irritation flared just beneath her skin’s surface.
“Because you are beautiful, and I like to spend time with beautiful women.”
The compliment made her stomach feel all loopy, as he’d no doubt intended. “That’s quite a pick-up line.”
He arched a brow. “Did it work?”
“I’m still standing here, aren’t I?”
“Regrettably on the wrong side of the counter.”
Elodie glanced towards the clock on the wall, biting down on her lower lip. She had more like seven minutes of her shift remaining—so it was hardly the biggest deal to join him. The bar was also quiet. She could sit with this man, have a conversation, and get back up and help if needed.
She poured him another scotch, and a mineral water for herself, before she came around and perched on the edge of the seat beside him.
He moved quickly, swivelling to face her, his legs on either side of her stool, so she realised how much bigger he was than she’d first appreciated.
Big and strong, with a sturdy frame that could easily envelop hers.
The thought sent a shiver rioting down her spine.
“Water?”
“I don’t really drink.” Their budget had rarely extended to wine. On special occasions, they might have shared some fizz, but those nights were few and far between.
“Do you live near here?” The question had those same shivers running right back up her spine.
“Yes.”
“Nice area.”
“It is.” Part of the reason she’d taken this job, rather than keep looking for an admin or receptionist role was the proximity to her cousin’s flat. Literally a hundred metres walk, she could work late and not stress about getting home.
“You’re from London?”
She took a sip of her water. “I only moved here a few months ago.”
He arched a brow. “From?”
“The Cotswolds,” she murmured. “Or, the outskirts of it,” she amended, because the little village she’d called home was nothing like the Jilly Cooper-esque towns that tended to be filled with wealthy Londoners. “And you?” she prompted. “You’re not from the UK?”
He arched a brow sardonically. “Clearly.”
“Well, not necessarily,” she said, but a smile tugged at her lips. “Your English is excellent.”
“But accented.”
Yes, and at present, that accent was doing a very good job of driving her completely wild. He reached out then, surprising her by putting a hand on her thigh. It was slow. Slow enough to guess his intentions and move her leg, to shift away from him.
Elodie’s eyes flared wide but she didn’t brush it off, nor did she jerk her leg away.
She couldn’t. She was powerless to do anything, because of how damned much she liked the way it felt to have him touch her.
The shivers weren’t just rioting along her spine now, but rather through her entire body, so she felt trembly, hot and cold, all at once.
“I’m going to cut to the chase,” he said, voice low and raspy, so it made her nerve endings feel as though they’d been electrified. “I want you to come home with me.”
Her jaw dropped. She knew she hadn’t been imagining the chemistry between them, but she hadn’t expected him to be so overt.
She hadn’t been with anyone other than Aaron, and just the thought of doing what this stranger—no, not a stranger, for she knew his name at least—had suggested, made her body explode with a thousand and one feelings.
Contradictory feelings, like doubt, amusement, need, and rebellion.
But she’d be sleeping with him for all the wrong reasons.
To prove a point to herself, to prove a point to everyone. That wasn’t fair, was it?
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“So?”
She laughed at that. It was a fair question. Why did everything need to be a good idea? She’d thought the wedding was a great idea, had thought it was sensible and ‘right’. What needed to happen. And it had been a huge mistake.
“Let me be clear, cara. I am suggesting we spend one night together.” He leaned closer then, so his words were a whisper against her earlobe. “One very, very pleasurable night.”