CHAPTER TWO
SARA
“Lia, we’re officially in the same building – can’t this wait till I meet you up on the roof?” I pleaded, my phone pressed between my shoulder and my ear as I handed the bouncer my ID. Once I slipped past him, I found myself in the sleek and seductive lobby of the hotel’s quieter side entrance, waiting alone for perhaps the slowest elevator known to man.
“No, Sara, it cannot wait, because you strung me along all night with your cryptic-ass texts and now that I finally know what the heck is going on, I’m drunk and I’m excited and I’m ready to butter up some hotties for you so they’re nice and warm by the time you get up here!”
“Oh, that just sounds… so creepy, Lia.”
“Did it?” She made a sad little sound. “I guess so. Lukas is giving me the weirdest look right now. But whatever, it’s not your night, Lukas – I’m talking to Lukas right now – it’s Sara’s night. Right, Sara? I’m talking to you right now.”
I had to laugh at what an adorable shitshow my best friend turned into after just a few glasses of wine. “Sure, drunkie, it is.”
“Exactly. So listen. I was talking to this guy just now who is a solid nine – don’t look at me like that, Lukas – and he is a total sweetheart. Like, such a nice person.”
“Uh-huh.”
Lia’s voice faded out as I opted to check my reflection in the mirrored doors of the elevator.
All things considered, not bad.
Despite the fact that I’d been ugly crying in the women’s bathroom at work two hours ago, my mascara was still fairly intact, as was the light blush I’d applied early this morning. Tilting my face to the side, I admired the natural sheen on the cheekbones I’d inherited from my mother – sky-high and eager to reflect any shred of light in the room. Lia fondly called them dirty attention whores. My cheekbones and my “ass that won’t quit,” apparently, were the guiltiest parts of my body.
Oh, Lia. I had to interrupt her when she got to the part about this super nice guy’s three rescue cats.
“Lia – listen,” I started carefully. “I appreciate your tip, and I love you very much, but I don’t think a cat dad sweetheart is what I’m looking for tonight.”
“W
hat? Why?”
“Is this a serious question?” I jabbed the elevator button again out of pure restlessness. “And do we really need to be having this conversation right now?”
“Yes, Sara, it’s a serious question, because I’m drunk, and when I’m drunk, I have comprehension issues, which makes every question a serious question,” Lia explained with frustration, simultaneously charming and annoying the shit out of me like only she could do. “Now explain to me why you don’t want the nice guy I picked for you when I already told him all about you, and please tell me why you keep trying to get off the phone with me all night!”
“Because,” I hissed. “For starters, I just spent the past however many years having a bunch of okay sex with a guy I was the bare minimum of attracted to, so tonight I specifically don’t want that kind of sex. I want good, sweaty… kind of mean sex with a man who’ll just pin me down and… fuck me so hard he breaks the headboard. And to answer your second question, I want to get off the phone because I don’t want to talk about the mind-blowing sex I’m going to have tonight, I just want to have it. Thinking about it is turning me on to the point of torture right now and being on the phone with you while I’m this insane level of horny actually feels kind of weird, so will you please just let me get in the elevator, Li?” I asked, exasperated as I dragged my feet inside. “Because it’s here, I’m in, and I – ”
Fuck.
My heart seized as I turned around to see the world’s most stunning fucking force of a man stride in behind me, wearing a ridiculously expensive-looking suit, an incredibly crisp white shirt, and just enough of a smirk on that perfect mouth to let me know that he’d heard.
Everything.
“Um.” I raked my awkward smile between my teeth as we made two seconds of eye contact so scorching hot I could have ripped my clothes off right then and there. Swiftly hanging up on Lia, I peered over at the stranger.
Good Lord.
He was a walking statue – tall, stoic, and carved from stone. His thick brown hair was slicked back just enough to give me an unspoiled view of sculpted cheekbones and a jaw so razor sharp I wanted to run my finger on its perfect edge. I cleared my throat.
“Hi.”
He glanced over, hitting me with the piercing blue of his eyes just as he leaned in to hit the button to his floor.
“Hi.”
That voice. I could taste it. It was low and sexy, smoky but smooth, and it matched perfectly with the rest of his unreal gorgeousness. One flick of my gaze over his body and I could already see that he was long and lean, several inches over six feet tall with a solid, muscled build. Even under that tailored jacket, I made out the strength of his broad shoulders, the tapered V of his chest. He was power and sex wrapped in an Italian suit, and it had me picturing him in some shiny Manhattan office, conducting business as usual while getting sucked off under his desk.
Okay, Sara.