Notorious (Playing With Fire)

“You have kind eyes,” she said out of the blue, her cheeks flushing the moment the words slipped past her lips.

He was oddly touched at her compliment. “Trust me, I’m an asshole.”

“I don’t believe that.” She shook her head slowly, little flyaway blonde tendrils tickling her cheeks. He had the sudden urge to brush them away. “I think you put up a front.”

“It’s not a front.” He leaned back and held his arms out wide. “This is all me. Take it or leave it.”

“If I wasn’t so depressed, I’d take it.” She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes gone wide. “I can’t believe I just said that.”

“You don’t mean it anyway. You’re only saying that because you know you’re depressed, and you’d never do it.”

“Do what?”

“Do me.” He smiled and lifted his eyebrows. Two beers in and he was already acting cocky. He threw it out as a challenge. Didn’t believe she’d ever take him up on any sort of offer because she wasn’t that type of girl.

He could just tell.

“You think I’m pitiful, huh?” She scowled, her blue eyes blazed and even mad she was beautiful. Perhaps even more so. “Poor Stacy drowning her sorrows at a gay bar because her fiancé rejected her for another man.”

“Wait a minute, back up.” He shook his head as if he could clear it. “What do you mean he rejected you for another man?”

Stacy stared into Eric’s golden brown eyes, became momentarily lost in them. She really didn’t want to explain the dirty details of her breakup with Keith. It all started that one time she discovered him wearing her panties. Next thing she knew he was asking her to marry him, gave her a gorgeous diamond ring and made elaborate proclamations of love.

Then she discovered he had his own stash of lingerie. And he enjoyed dressing up in full drag and hanging out at bars that catered to that sort of clientele. Next thing she knew, he was getting calls from guys, one in particular.

He broke up with her after she confronted him about it. Said he was in love with the guy, that he didn’t want to marry her, he couldn’t because he wasn’t in love with her. He was pretending to be something else, someone else and it wasn’t fair to her.

Then he confessed he was also considering a sex change because deep down inside he always believed he should’ve been a woman.

She’d felt like a fool at his confession. She still did. How the hell had she missed that?

“I really don’t want to explain it.” She hopped off the barstool and grabbed her purse, hitching it onto her shoulder. “It was nice seeing you again and thanks for chatting with me. See you around.”

Without even giving him a chance to speak, she turned on her heel and headed toward the door. What a mistake. Why did she think it smart to go hang out at a gay bar? She could’ve run into Keith, for God’s sake. She’d lost her mind thinking going out in the first place all alone was a good idea.

She pushed through the crowded room, earning more than a few strange stares. They probably wondered what she was doing there, and she couldn’t blame them. She was wondering the same thing.

Strong fingers wrapped around her forearm, stopping her just before she reached out to push the entrance door open. Turning, she saw Eric standing before her, a grim expression on his gorgeous face as he glared at her.

And he really was gorgeous with those eyes and the high cheekbones. The sexy mouth and the messy, dirty blond hair. He was movie star handsome, the type Stacy never imagined herself with because she knew men who looked like him would never be interested in someone like her.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving.” She shrugged away from his touch, her skin still tingling from the press of his fingers. “I know I’m the last person you want to hang out with anyway, not that I blame you. Who wants to comfort the dumped chick when you could get drunk off your ass and find some cute guy to fool around with?”

He flinched as if she’d slapped him and she couldn’t believe she just said that. Couldn’t help but wonder just how close to the truth she really was. Oh, she’d heard the stories. Alexa had told her most of them. Her worry for Eric, how she knew he was going out constantly and picking up men and women. Looking for a quick sexual fix but never moving beyond the one-night stand.

Looked like Stacy had interrupted this evening’s search. She didn’t really feel bad about it either.

Though she did feel bad for Eric overall. What Alexa and Brad had done to him was…harsh. There were no other words for it. She knew they fell in love and there had been trouble in Brad’s and Eric’s relationship prior to Alexa becoming involved, but still.

Poor guy got left out in the cold. And she couldn’t help but sympathize.

“I don’t need your concern,” he muttered, his gaze boring into hers, his entire body vibrating with tension.

“I don’t need your concern either,” she returned.

He stared at her for a long, quiet moment, the air between them thick with tension. And something else—something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but it was there. Wrapping around them like a sort of protective bubble, so thick she didn’t even notice the crush of people around her, the noise of the bar, the music playing that faded to a low throbbing beat.