Casual Affair

Sure, she could get him on his back in two seconds flat if she wanted. He’d made it abundantly clear that he would do nothing to stop her. Encouraged her, even. But they worked together and her job was not done. Her rule of not getting involved with clients still stood.

Damn her principles.

But she wasn’t worrying about any of that tonight.

For the past two months, she’d found herself comparing every man she encountered to Zane. And they’d always fallen short.

Tonight, she was throwing all expectations out the window. Well…maybe not all. That was how diseases were contracted.

“I’m going to the bathroom!” Gwen yelled to her and Felicity over the loud music.

They had been friends with Gwen since college, and Bea loved her like a second sister. She had recently been having relationship problems, so the sisters were trying to cheer her up. By getting her drunk. Can’t hurt, right?

“I have to go, too!” Felicity shouted back and trailed after their friend.

Perfect timing.

Bea needed another drink if she was going to stay motivated. Up to that point, every guy who had approached her was either already drunk off his ass, or was a Sperry-wearing transplant from Alpha Chi blah blah blah who was out for a night with his “bros.” Neither of which appealed to her.

Which was why the tall, broad-shouldered man leaning against the bar, talking to the bartender, immediately caught her attention. She couldn’t see his face, but he had the best ass she’d seen all night, by far. Promising.

Finally feeling a spark of life in her nether regions, she started to walk in his direction.

And came to an abrupt halt.

He had barely turned his body around, but it was enough to see his face.

You have got to be kidding me.

Zane. Freaking. Price.

His eyes scoped the crowd, immediately stopping when they landed on her. She watched them widen a fraction before his entire face smoothed out, his mouth settling into a relaxed grin. Her stomach muscles clenched at how genuinely happy he looked to see her.

“Well, well, well,” he mused after walking over to her. “This is certainly a surprise. Though it’s always nice to see you, Beatrice.”

Sweet baby Jesus. He looked good in his dark jeans and black button-down shirt. Why couldn’t he have had a beer belly and a snaggletooth? It would have made things so much easier.

“What have I told you about calling me that?” He thought it was hilarious calling her by her full name, simply because he knew she hated it.

He grinned. “Pardon me. Bea.” His voice purred when he said her name like that. His gaze roamed over her body, pausing on her chest and bare legs before traveling back up to her face. “You look beautiful.”

The lust she saw in his expression made her breath quicken. And threw her off for a second. “Thanks,” she muttered. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

The corner of her mouth twitched. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it.”

His grin faltered slightly as he quickly scanned the space around them before turning back to her. “Are you here alone?”

Feeling devious, she shook her head. “No.” It wasn’t a lie.

His jaw hardened and he gave a curt nod. “Right. Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. Have a lovely night.”

Her hand shot out to grab his arm when he moved to walk away. “I’m here with two women,” she told him, smiling, “but I wouldn’t call them my dates. I don’t swing that way. Except for one drunken night in college, but that was mere curiosity.”

He blinked once, then twice. When he still didn’t say anything, she waved a hand in his face. He immediately shook his head, eyes hot and intent. “I’m sorry, was I not supposed to get a visual with that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Typical.”

He placed a hand on her lower back, guiding her toward the bar. “Come on. I’ll buy you a drink and you can tell me all about your experiment in curiosity.”

She snorted. “Dream on.”

He groaned in her ear, the sound sending vibrations down her spine. “Oh, I’ll do plenty of dreaming. Don’t you worry about that.”