Chapter 5
The brewery was busy.
The sold-out event meant that not only was the dance floor packed, but every booth, table, and barstool was taken. Not to mention the walk to the bar felt like it was elbow to elbow.
But for the first time since the girls and I went to Disneyland a couple of years ago, the amount of people didn’t bother me. The crowd of people didn’t overwhelm me. Not when I was too busy thinking about a pick-up line.
Shit! Why hadn’t I googled something before I stupidly started moving?
Because if you had, you would have overthought yourself into a corner, a little voice in my head perked up.
My steps slowed, and I glanced over my shoulder towards my friends.
Yup! The girls were indeed watching me. Abby even put two thumbs up.
I tried not to cringe. This is what I get for trying to get out of my routine.
I had been perfectly fine with my twenties flying past me without any excitement.
I liked routine and knowing what to expect. Now, next thing I knew, I was playing truth or dare with fate, heading right towards a complete stranger. Why? Because my friends wanted to step out of their box? Because I’d felt something when I’d looked at a good-looking guy?
I adjusted my mask just before I reached the bar. Why hadn’t my feet stopped me? The sight of his muscular back was right there. God, he was bigger, taller, broader than I had expected.
Part of me was ready to turn and let the girls talk shit. Chicken out like I was sure they were betting I would do. But the other part of me? The one who had been drawn to him at the dress shop? She forced me to get closer.
Before I could raise my hand and tap him on his shoulder, he turned.
When our eyes met, it felt like everything in the brewery stopped.
Noise faded away to nothing as I stared at the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen.
Eyes so bright, I wondered if they were contacts.
They reminded me of Irish hillsides I’d only ever seen online.
They widened for a split second and then slowly appraised me.
His gaze running down and up my body felt like a liquid touch.
A sinfully predatorial grin grew on his handsome face.
“Hi.” His voice was deep and smooth.
“Hello.” I smiled, and we stared at one another. Time stopped. I wasn’t sure just how long I stood there. Staring. Letting myself fall and float in his emerald gaze.
“Truth or dare?” I found myself asking, breaking the silence that had fallen between us. A manly brow rose behind his mask, but I didn’t squirm. I had no idea where I found the confidence not to look away, but it was like I couldn’t.
“Truth,” he answered, his voice rich with curiosity.
“Do you think vampires and witches go well together?” The words slipped out, and I had no idea where they’d come from.
“I sure as fuck hope so,” he rasped, and I felt my lips quirk upward. “Please, take my seat.”
“Oh,” I breathed. My heart started to pick up speed. He hopped off his barstool and extended his hand for me. “Thank you,” I whispered, loving the roughness of his palm against mine.
I didn’t need to look behind me to hear the girls cheer and whoop for me. Not when it cut through the music and he looked behind me.
“Friends of yours?” he asked, leaning in close enough that his lips brushed the shell of my ear. I pulled away, not because I was uncomfortable with how close he was, but because I wanted to get a better look at him.
“Something like that.” I made a face, and he chuckled. “Can I buy you a drink?” I offered, still unsure where this confidence stemmed from but thankful for it.
“A drink?” He pointed at himself.
“Yeah.” I smiled. My eyes dropped to his lips.
With the mask on, they highlighted his features.
My mind drifted into dangerous territory.
I wondered what it would be like to kiss a man with lips like those.
Full and plump. What they’d feel on my skin.
My bare shoulder. My breast. Lower. I tried to shake the naughty thoughts away and realized he was staring at me in a way I wasn’t sure how to translate.
Amused?
Taken aback?
“I mean, unless you’re not drinking,” I nervously added. Oh god! I am making a fool of myself!
“Only if you order for me,” he replied easily, and something inside of me, this weight, was taken away.
“You want me to order for you?” I blinked. I’d never offered to buy a man a drink, but I was pretty sure they didn’t usually ask you to order for them. What if this is a test?
“Yeah.” He nodded. My hands itched to touch his jaw, to see what that scruff would feel like against my palm.
“What if you have an allergy?” I mumbled softly and felt myself swaying closer to him. Is he moving towards me, too?
“I don’t.” His green eyes sparkled with humor.
“What if I order something that doesn’t sit well with what you’ve been drinking?”
“You’re the kindest witch I’ve ever met, gorgeous.” I bit down on my lip. “If it gives me a headache tomorrow, I would be more than happy to pay the consequences because it means I get to spend more time with you.”
“You’re smooth.”
“And you’re beautiful,” he said just as a bartender approached us.
“What can I get you two?” he asked. All the bartenders at the brewery were hot, but at that moment, it could have been Brad Pitt back there, and I wouldn’t have noticed. Not when I was staring at the man I was ready to say I’d marry one day.
Marry one day? I shook the thought away. I was getting way too ahead of myself. But who could blame me? The energy between us flowed easily. The air felt electric. Like it could literally start to snap, crackle, and pop at any moment.
“Two vampire kisses, please.” My voice sounded raspy in my ears, my attention on my tall dark and handsome stranger.
His green eyes darkened with a heat that penetrated throughout me when his hand settled on the small of my back.
I couldn’t make out the sensation of the rough, calloused palm against my skin, but I still gasped softly.
“Good choice,” he praised, and I felt myself blush.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Is it my turn now?” His eyes raked down to my mouth.
“What? Turn for…”
“Truth or dare,” he reminded me, and I smiled.
“Oh, sure, I can do that.”
“Truth or dare?” he asked. His thumb started to stroke my back slowly. The light, barely-there back and forth of his touch made me feel dizzier than any drink I’d ever consumed in my almost thirty years.
“Truth.”
“Do you think witches would match well with vampires?” I giggled like a schoolgirl with a crush at the way he’d tossed my own question back at me.
“I sure hope so,” I whispered, breathier than I’d intended, before subconsciously licking my bottom lip.
“Truth or dare?” I smiled, sitting straighter and maybe a little closer to him.
“Truth,” he chose. I breathed deeply. My lungs filled with his scent, something musky and woody, with a touch of spice, completely alluring. Something that made me feel bolder while a need grew inside of me to get closer.
“Have you ever kissed someone without knowing their name?”
“Not yet,” he answered with a wickedly devilish smile. The touch on my back became firmer. Almost possessive.
“Truth or dare?” Unsure of how I was going to answer as I opened my mouth, I was saved by the bartender, who cleared his throat as he stood behind us, but I couldn’t get myself to look away. Or even move, for that matter. I wasn’t sure if I was breathing.
“Here are your vampire kisses,” the bartender announced. Without breaking eye contact, my sexy vampire I had no actual claim on reached out for the drinks, handing me one and then taking his.
“Put it on my tab,” he murmured.
“You don’t have to do that. I offered—“
“Please?” That word, rough and deep, tumbled from his lips. I couldn’t imagine he was the kind of man who said please on a regular basis, so I pressed my lips together and nodded.
“Got it. I’ll put it on your tab, Count Dracula,” the bartender said with an almost amused tone, not that either of us bothered to look at him before he went to help someone else.
“What should we cheer to?” I asked, and I watched his gaze drop to my lips. The way he looked at them made my mouth tingle with awareness.
“How about to making new friends and vampire kisses?” he suggested, green eyes smoldering.
“I like that.”
“Good. Cheers.” He tipped his drink. The steam rising from just above the bright red liquid added to the magic of the moment.
I lifted mine and our glasses clinked before we slowly took that first sip.
My eyes widened as flavor hit my tongue.
There was a tartness of the cranberry but sweetness from strawberries that combined beautifully.
“Good?” he asked, and I smiled.
“Dangerously good.”
“Hmm, seems to be the theme tonight,” he murmured. My nipples tightened so hard they ached beneath my lacy bra. “Where were we?” he asked. “Right, truth or dare?”
“Dare,” I found myself replying. Maybe from the liquid courage of the pretty drink or maybe from the animal magnetism that seemed to radiate from him.
“Kiss me,” he ordered, with stern demand. My sex tightened with need.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t hesitate.
I leaned in and kissed a man whose name I didn’t know but knew deep Iin my bones, beyond reason, would mean something to me for the rest of my life.