1. Prologue #3
"Oh, I see. You're avoiding the question. I like it." She leans in, elbow on the table, chin in her palm. "Let me guess. You work with your hands. You've got that look."
"What look?"
"The 'I break things and people pay me for it' look."
I laugh, surprised at her honesty. Nobody talks to me like that. "And here I thought I was being charming."
"You are. That's the problem."
I watch her for a second, and see there's a flicker of holy shit am I really doing this behind those green eyes before she buries it. She's nervous. Putting on a show of being someone she's not.
Good. So am I.
"And you? Let me guess. You're running from something. Ex-boyfriend? Annoying family?"
Her smile falters for half a second, like I've hit the jackpot, then sharpens. "Let's just say, I came to be somewhere where nobody knows my name."
Oh, sweetheart.
"So you came to a town full of strangers," I say slowly, "to be a stranger."
"Sort of. I came to do one reckless thing before my life gets very, very serious."
I chuckle and tip my head. "Well, from what I hear… I'm the most reckless thing this entire town has ever seen."
"Yeah." She holds my gaze, steady as hell. "You do feel like a reckless thing."
She tips her glass toward mine and I have to bite back a groan. This woman. I want to fuck her brains out and pick her brain. All at the same time.
The combination is dangerously intoxicating.
We keep talking, and soon, we’re three drinks in when she leans closer, the scent of her washing over me.
“So,” she murmurs, her voice a little tipsy. “What’s the plan after this?”
I let my gaze drop to her mouth, then back to her eyes. My blood heats.
“Well, that depends on you."
She hums, tapping a finger against her empty glass. "Why me?"
“Because.” I lean in, letting my warm breath coast over her neck. A flush spreads across her chest, visible above her neckline. “Lucky for you, I have a very strict policy against letting beautiful strangers wander Beachside alone after dark.”
Her breath hitches. “Is it dangerous here?”
“Mmhmm. Very.” I let my knuckles brush against hers on the tabletop. “So if you're done with that drink, how about I walk you back to your hotel?”
She leans back, perhaps contemplating whether I'm a serial killer or not. She doesn't look like the kind of girl who does this for fun, but then again, there's this… edginess to her that I can't quite put my finger on.
Like she's giving herself permission to make a very bad decision tonight.
“Well. We can’t have me being unsafe, can we?”
The smile she gives me is slow, and so fucking hot it makes my cock ache. I toss a stack of bills on the table, and as I lead her out of Breakers, the cool ocean breeze hitting us, I catch Beck’s raised eyebrows and Mason’s smirk from across the bar.
I ignore them and lead the way up the wooden boardwalk, past the late-night street vendors and a scattering of teenagers who all glance twice at me.
I know they recognize me, and of course, I could be the player Colin Holden wants me to be right now. I could stop with the local fans, have a chat, and sign some autographs for them.
But tonight, I'm not stopping.
Because all my focus is getting the woman beside me to scream my name.
"We're nearly there," I say, letting my shoulder brush against hers.
She leans in closer, letting me wrap my arm around her. Christ, she's soft. "Great."
Her flip-flops click on the wooden boardwalk as we practically run toward the Beachside Hotel. But just as we reach the thick green grass, leading the way towards the oceanview rooms I've been in one too many times, she pauses, turning to look up at me.
“I'm, um… I'm starting a new—” she pauses and studies my face, watching me closely.
The moonlight catches the green in her eyes and it takes all my strength not to fuck her right here, right now.
"You okay? If you don't want to—" I slide my hand over her arm, letting her feel the warmth of my palm. "If you've changed your mind, that's okay."
It's like she has something important to say, something she needs to get off her chest. Hell, I know the feeling. I've spent my entire life trying to hold an entire family's worth of shit together.
Maybe she's the same.
But maybe I don't give a fuck. Not tonight.
"No, no." She shakes her head, eyes growing wide as a wave crashes behind us. "You know what? I told myself I could do this. I need to do this. But maybe, just for tonight, I don't want any names. Is that okay? Or is that too weird for you?"
I consider it for a second.
Colin’s voice echoes in my head. Engage with the community, be a face, build a brand.
This? This is the exact fucking thing I need before I clean up my act. One more night of no strings. Just heat and the ocean and a beautiful stranger who doesn’t want to know who I am.
A slow grin spreads across my face. “No names is perfect.”
Her shoulders relax, a quiet exhale escaping those perfect lips.
“Good,” she whispers, her gaze dropping to my mouth.
I lean in, capture her mouth with mine, and from the very first taste, I know…
I am going to ruin this woman.
And I am going to enjoy every fucking second of it.