After another moment of debating if going in there was worth it, I took the first step in that direction. I stunk of cigarettes even though I didn’t smoke, and whiskey. That I did consume plenty of. I was sure I looked like I’d had a fifth.
“You really going in there looking like that?” The thick southern drawl that reminded me of fucking honey every time I heard it stopped me. I turned my gaze toward the voice. I had forgotten how she sounded until she’d spoken. The memory of the last time I’d seen her wasn’t clear, but it hadn’t faded either.
Ophelia Finlay stepped out of the shadows with a glass of something dark in her glass. The long blonde hair of hers appeared platinum under the moonlight and those eyes that could draw in any man twinkled up at me with mischief. She was stunning. Possibly the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Not that it mattered. Beauty was fleeting, it was evil, it was powerful. It could destroy a man. However, I was safe with this one. My destruction had already come.
“They’re all pissed at you. I thought it was the not being here thing, but I see now what Micah was referring to when he mentioned ‘tattoos.’ If I wasn’t seeing this with my own eyes, I don’t think I’d believe it.”
She wasn’t one of “them” . . . my family . . . my friends . . . someone I needed to hide from. I moved closer toward her. I could stall. Going inside was expected by everyone, except her. She wouldn’t care. “You think they’re pissed over my tattoos?” I asked her, not caring what her response was. Just that I had more seconds not to face the others.
She lifted a bare tanned shoulder. The top she was wearing was strapless. Her tits doing an excellent job of holding the top up on their own. A strand of her hair that looked like silk fell over her skin. “I’m sure your disappearing act today and no show tonight might play a big part,” she said then tilted her head to the side slightly. Her bluish-silver eyes slanting. “Eli Hardy, have you gone bad?” There was a teasing lilt to her voice but there was also an interest that I didn’t miss. She hadn’t been interested in the man I once was but the damaged one before her was appealing. What the fuck was wrong with women?
Showing her how “bad” I’d gone was so fucking tempting. The image of Ophelia Finlay naked pressed against me was a damn fantasy I had to stay clear of. She was attached to a life I no longer belonged to.
“Not the same guy,” I replied.
She took another step toward me and the way her hips swayed with the movement would tempt any man. Even one as disillusioned as me.
She reached out a hand and one bright pink nail barely grazed my ink covering my right bicep. “It’s beautiful,” she said breathlessly. “You chose a talented artist.”
This wasn’t something new for me. Women were drawn to the tattoos. I hadn’t realized it or cared when I’d walked into the shop to get my first one. I wondered if the man I had once been would have gotten ink if he’d known Ophelia Finlay would touch him this way. Flash her hypnotic gaze up at him and lower her already seductive voice as she spoke.
Yes. He would have. He’d have been owned by her so easily. The wildness in her eyes would have been exotic and fucking enticing. The man I was now, however, knew the games women played. He saw the lies in their eyes. He knew the manipulation they used as a weapon.
She tilted her head back to look up at me. Those eyes couldn’t fuck with me. I was sure she was used to using them to control men, to sink them. Ophelia had met her match. “Is there more under your shirt? It looks like it’s there.” She then moved her hand to touch my neck. The smell of coconut wafted close. She still smelled like the summer. Her scent made you instantly long for the beach. Ophelia wasn’t the kind of woman that should smell like something so warm and calming. Yet even with all I knew, how cold my blood ran, the scent of her drew me in for a moment. Made me want to taste her, feel her, explore her. All things better left alone.
Her finger ran under the collar of my t-shirt. “It looks like it covers your chest too.” Her voice was thick and soft all at once. As if she didn’t want anyone to hear us. She knew they were looking for me inside, but she was keeping me out here. To herself. I was in no hurry and although this would lead to nothing, I allowed it go on.