What sorcery is this?!
Sweet Lord... theory confirmed. Instant lust isvalid.
After eighteen months of celibacy, not being touched, kissed, or fucked, my libido is through the roof, peaking at its all-time high, but despite interacting with dozens of men on the golf course during the past two days, I remained unaffected.
Until... now.
My cheeks burn hotter, and I hope he can’t smell my arousal as if I’m an animal in heat, desperate for a mate. My ovaries play tug-of-war, my mouth turns dry, and my mind fills with stark, erotic redness. I can already picture him kneeling before me, his mouth on my clit, big, calloused hands holding my hips.
He’s intriguing, and unfortunately, that’s a red flag if I ever saw one. Men like him approach women at bars with one goal in mind—sex. Granted, my body is starved for a real man, not the silicone substitute hidden in my suitcase, but I need more than a drink, a handsome face, and the undeniable craving rushing through my body to give up the goodies. I need a basic-level connection. First name. An hour to check if he’s not dull, married, or a psychopath.
“Thank you.” I cheer internally, pleased that my voice doesn’t betray the amorous agony prickling my center. “I’ll try it,” I tell the bartender, leaning my hip against the bar.
Instead of my drink, he slides two Budweiser’s and a Corona toward the man standing beside me, even though he hadn’t ordered yet. He must be a regular, which means he’s not a tourist... he’s a local.
“I haven’t seen you here before,” he says, tugging a hefty sip of his Budweiser. “I’m Theo, and you are...?”
“I’m new around here.”
Yeah, I’m not the most approachable person.
A suggestion of a smile pulls at his mouth. “That’s an interesting accent. Spanish? Italian?”
The bartender sets a tall glass on a napkin, tucks in two swirly straws, and slides it across the counter as I hold out a twenty-dollar bill, ignoring Theo’s question. Let’s see how persistent he is.
“My treat.” Theo moves my hand away; the touch of his skin as electrifying as a live wire. “Put it on my tab, Gary.”
A certain sharpness in his posture tells me I’ve lost the battle over who’ll pay before it began.
“Thank you.” I tuck the twenty back into my purse.
His designer clothes and the general smell of money he exudes mean he can probably afford to waste a few bucks on a drink for a girl who won’t put out.
At least, I hope I won’t.
“Thalia! Damn, you look hot, girl!” Cassidy booms behind me. A second later, she stops on my right, pecks my cheek, and moves her attention to Theo, a cunning, fake smile twisting her rosebud lips. “Run along, Hayes,” she spouts, every word tinged with venom.
“Ah,Greek,” Theo says, ignoring Cassidy’s obvious irritation. “Thalia.One of the nine Muses.Kalós orísate[1].”
“Den písteva poté óti tha ákouga elliniká stin Kalifórnia[2].”
Theo’s smile widens, highlighting the scar on his cheek, but I don’t think he understood what I said. “Yeah, don’t get too excited,omorfiá[3]. I only know a few words.”
Omorfiácoming from his lips has my senses igniting like sparklers. It meansbeautyin a very whole, all-encompassing way.
“Come on, the girls will be here soon.” Cass clutches my arm, leaving half-moon marks of her pink nails behind. “Choke on your beer, Hayes,” she adds sweetly, eyelashes fluttering, white teeth peeking between her lips as she hauls me away toward a table across the room.
She hops on the barstool, readjusting her baby-blue dress. She’s dressed to impress with blonde locks tucked into a sleek, low bun and a perfectly winged eyeliner. She’s pretty in a modern, flawless, toned, size-zero kind of way. I bet she spends her mornings on a treadmill, wearing skin-tight leggings, a workout bra, and earphones. She probably sips a protein cocktail, and her ponytail swings, brushing her shoulders... I’m jealous if that’s true.
I envy people who take care of their bodies and health by exercising and watching their food intake. I make big plans ten times a year, promising myself I’ll cut back on junk food, count the calories, and work out, but it always ends the same—I wash down pizza with beer.
“I guess there’s a story there?” I ask, taking the first sip of my drink. My eyes roll back, and I almost moan out loud. It’s delicious. Zesty, not too sweet, and the alcohol is untraceable. Which, come to think of it, might be lethal. “Ex-boyfriend?”
“Absolutely not!” She purses her lips, pinning me with a glare as if I insulted her. “He’s a Hayes, babe. Hayes brothers don’t do girlfriends. You’ll be better off staying away from allseven of them, Thalia. You’ll know a Hayes when you see one. They’re not hard to spot in a crowd—dark hair, tall, toned lookalikes. The three youngest ones are identical triplets.” She casts a forceful glance behind my back, her head twitching as she urges me to peek over my shoulder.
Theo sits at a table across the room with two other men, one of which I know—Jared, Country Club’s general manager. The other must be Theo’s brother. Cass is right. Their kinship is unmistakable.
“That’s Nico,” she says in a hushed tone as if she’s afraid they’ll hear us from thirty yards away. There’s also Shawn and Lo—” she clears her throat, features pinched as if she’s struggling to get the word out. “Logan.”