Fated Hearts (Southern Bride 8)

My eyes bounced from my nearly half-downed beer to Roger. Ugh. I wanted to punch him in the face.

“To answer your question, I already ran into Dylan and told him I would join y’all for dinner tonight,” he said.

“You said you didn’t want to go.”

He looked at me and grinned. “I changed my mind.”

“Because of Lynn?” I asked, hating that I voiced my thought out loud.

Roger simply grinned at me.

“Another beer, Annalise?” Roby asked.

“On a first-name basis, I see.” Roger extended his hand to Roby. “Roger. I hear you and my roomie are meeting up later at the club.”

Roby’s gaze turned to me. “This is the guy?”

Roger stared at me as I answered, “Yes, this is the guy.”

He gave Roger a look. “Is it cool that I asked her out?”

My mouth dropped open. “Wait a minute, Roger and I are not together. At all. I mean, please.”

“Hey, I take offense to that,” Roger said. “Would it be so wrong if we were together?”

“We’re not, so it doesn’t matter,” I countered.

“But what if we were…? Would that be so bad?”

Roby glanced back and forth between us as if watching a tennis match before he finally walked away.

I turned to face Roger. “Why are we even having this conversation?”

“Because you acted like being with me would be a bad thing. No, a disgusting thing.”

Laughing, I shook my head as I said, “Nonsense.”

Roby walked up with my replacement beer, and I smiled at him. I noticed he set one down for Roger, as well, before he headed off to help other patrons.

Roger leaned toward me on his barstool. “Then why did you have to throw a ‘please’ on the end as if the idea was insane?”

I swiveled on the barstool and stared up into his eyes. They were still the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen in my life. It was like looking at the sky on a perfectly clear day.

For a moment, I lost all train of thought. “You have the most stunning blue eyes.”

“I could say the same thing about you, Anna.”

Hearing him use my nickname made my heart thump against my chest.

“Thank you,” I whispered before clearing my throat. “I hardly know you, Roger, so how could I know what being with you is like?”

A slow, unbelievably sexy grin moved across his face. “We could go up to the room and I can show you right now.”

I raised a brow. “Are you asking me to sleep with you?”

He let out a soft laugh. “We did that last night, Anna. I’m asking if you want me to fuck you and show you just how good we could be together.”

An instant rush of wetness gathered between my legs, along with a throbbing I hadn’t felt in a very long time. Before Roger could read my face, I turned away from him and reached for my beer.

“Aren’t you the romantic,” I stated dryly. I took a drink, praying he wouldn’t notice the effect his words had on me.

He laughed, reached for his own beer, and took a drink. When he put it back down, I could feel his eyes on me, but he didn’t say anything else. Was he waiting for me to say something?

“Has anyone ever told you that you look like—”

I cut him off and asked, “Cinderella?” Sighing, I went on. “Yes. All the time. I actually played the part in a high school play. I’ve always wanted to go to Disney’s Magic Kingdom.”

“You’ve never been?” Roger asked.

“Nope,” I replied with a shake of my head. “Someday. This is probably silly, and I know I’ll regret telling you this, but I’ve always dreamed of having my honeymoon there.”

Roger smiled. “Why would I think it’s silly?”

With a half-shrug, I said, “I don’t know. I’m too old to believe in fairy tales anymore, but…” My voice trailed off before Roger bumped my arm. “I’ve always wanted to meet her…Cinderella.”

I felt my cheeks heat up, and I turned to look at him. He stared at me with the strangest expression. Probably thinking of how he could get rid of the crazy woman staying in his room.

He shook his head. “I’m going to head on back to the room and clean up.” He stood, leaned down, and pressed his mouth against my ear. “Enjoy your lunch, Annalise.”

Even if I wanted to say something in return, I couldn’t physically do it. My entire body was on fire from those four damn words. It was the smell of him. That outdoorsy, musky smell that I knew was simply a mix of his cologne and sweat. God, why did it turn me on so much? Or was it the way his hot breath tickled down my neck and seemed to spread throughout my entire body?

All I could do was nod and then watch as he walked out of the bar while I tried not to imagine what being with Roger Carter would feel like. No, as I tried to not imagine what being fucked by Roger Carter would feel like.