Some girl standing next to me ordered beers. While she was turned around talking to her girlfriend, the bartender put two of the beers down behind her. As if it happened in slow motion, she turned back around, knocked her elbow into the beers, and sent it flying right at me. Before I had time to react, my blouse was drenched. I tried to move as fast as I could to catch the now-empty glass before it fell and shattered. Quickly leaning over the bar, I caught it.
“Hey!” was all I heard as I stood back up.
I looked up just in time to come face to face with a black t-shirt stretched across a very impressive chest. My gaze traveled up from there. From his chest to his broad shoulders, to his hard jaw with the sexiest amount of black stubble spread around his sensual lips. The kind of lips that made all my forgotten girl parts clench. His jaw was all masculine angles and squared, and his wavy, jet-black hair reached the nape of his neck, curling slightly.
My fingers itched with the need to run through that hair.Is it as soft as it looks?I finally made it up to his emerald-green eyes, and my breath caught in my throat. It took me a beat or two to realize he was scowling at me.
He scolded me, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
I flinched and looked around to see if he was talking to someone behind me. When I concluded that he was indeed talking to me, I stumbled over my words. “Wh–What do you mean?”
“If you can’t wait like everyone else here, then you need to get the fuck out of my bar,” he said behind clenched teeth. Someone had definitely pissed in this man’s Cheerios this morning.
“What?” I was only getting more confused by the second. That was the moment he pointed to my outstretched hand. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding the glass, and it did look like I was trying to reach across the bar to get my own drink.
“Oh, I—”
“Save it! I know what you’re doing. You can’t wait a couple of minutes for someone to help you, so you decide to help yourself. If you haven’t noticed, we are a little swamped right now. From the looks of you, you’ve had enough anyway,” he said with an exasperated huff. “I think it’s best if you pack it in for the night. I’ll call you a cab right after I have security to escort you out.” Aggravated, he turned his back to me and reached for the phone.
I felt my face going cherry red from not only embarrassment but also anger. “Excuse me, asshole!” I waited for him to turn and look at me. Satisfied at the surprise I saw on his face, I continued. “If you would stop trying to talk over me for two seconds, you will see that I’m not trying to get a free drink.”
Pointing to my right, I said, “She spilled her drink, and I was trying to catch it. You would have known that if you bothered to ask the other bartender who gave her the drinks.”
Said bartender came jogging through the kitchen door with fresh towels in hand. He abruptly stopped, seeming a little confused about the heated argument he’d just walked in on.
“But no, you jumped to conclusions and assumed I was trying to steal.” At this point, his scowl seemed to be softening in realization, but I didn’t care. I was so fed up with self-righteous pricks. “Don’t bother calling security. I’ll find my own way out of your precious bar.”
I slammed the glass down on the bar and took off toward the nearestexitsign. I could feel everyone who had been huddled around the bar area staring at me now. Embarrassment flooded me again as I picked up my speed to get away from the looks. I needed to get Jill, but I had to get some fresh air before I completely fell apart.
How pathetic must I look right now? I was probably one of the oldest women in this place, covered in beer, and to top it all off, I just got yelled at by the most gorgeous man I had ever seen.
I came to the door that would lead me to my freedom and pushed it open. As the door closed behind me, I was left with the muffled sounds of music from the bar. In my rush to get outside, I must have gone out one of the side doors because I stood in a dark alleyway.
It had cooled off quite a bit since the sun went down, but the crisp air felt good on my overheated skin. I leaned against the cool brick wall of the building and shook my head.
“What a jerk,” I mumbled. I was so done with this night. All I wanted to do was go home and take a hot shower to get the smell of beer out of my hair. I would bet if I checked a mirror, I would look just as miserable as I felt.
I reached into my bag and dug to find my phone so I could give Jill a brief rundown of what happened and tell her I was headed home. Suddenly, I saw a flame from a lighter spark.
“Did you decide you wanted to play after all?”
Chapter Two
Creepy Charlie stood ten feet away, sneering at me behind his cigarette.
“Look, dude, I’m really not in the mood for more bullshit tonight. Just leave me alone.”
He took a long drag off his cigarette and blew the smoke out as he prowled toward me. “You weren’t being very nice in there while I was just trying to let you know how sexy you look. Why don’t you come over here and make it up to me?” He grabbed himself in a vulgar display.
My drinks of the night were about to make another appearance. From the look in his eyes, this man had to be on some kind of drug. Getting a little nervous, I backed away. “I think I’ll pass.”
I turned around and walked away. Before I could get more than a few steps, he rushed up and grabbed me from behind. “Now, now that’s not very nice either.” He chuckled next to my cheek before inhaling deeply. Then he ran his nose up the side of my neck, making my adrenaline spike and a shiver run down my spine.
Panic now squeezing my throat, I tried to squirm away from him, but that seemed to make him more excited. Before I could do anything else, he had a fist full of my hair and cranked my neck back so there was no room for escape. Pain crackled along my scalp. His other arm had snaked around my waist and held me so tight it was hard to get a full breath.
“You need to learn some manners. I think we will start with my cock in your mouth. I’ll teach you how to accept a compliment when given one.” The smell of his breath invaded my senses, and I gagged. Panic settled in as I wildly searched for a way out of his grasp.
I was about to scream when there was a grunt behind me. All of a sudden, Charlie was gone. I turned around in time to see my attacker on his back with the Greek god of a bartender sitting on top of him and slamming his fist into his face. He was so vicious in his attack that it should have frightened me. It should have, but it didn’t scare me in the least.