Only One Night (Only One 3)

I look down at our hands holding the door. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t even watching where I was going,” I say, and both our hands fall from the door. “My phone rang, and I should have been paying attention to where I was going.” I look up at him and notice not only how tall he is but also how he fills out his suit. His white button-down shirt isn’t buttoned all the way to the top, and you can see a bit of ink coming out from his collar.

“Please,” he says, putting out his hand, and I open the door. He grasps the top of the door to hold it open, and I feel him at my back.

“Thank you,” I say over my shoulder, and he just nods at me. I walk to the hostess, whose eyes light up as soon as she sees the guy behind me, and I want to roll my eyes. I get it, he’s hot and handsome, and he smells good from what I can tell.

“Mr. Stevenson,” the woman says before I even start to talk. “I have your key right here.” She hands him a white envelope, and he takes it from her, holding it in his hand.

“I don’t have a key,” I say to the hostess. “I’m not sure if I should or not.” I laugh, looking over to him and seeing him chuckle now. “At least I wasn’t told I needed a key.”

“I think only the cool kids get the keys,” he says, finally smiling at me.

“Is that it? I’m definitely not a part of that club.” I look from him to the woman still ogling him. “I’m here with the party under the name Stephanie,” I say before I’m forgotten while she takes care of the guy behind me. I look down at my phone. “They are in the back,” I say, looking over her to see if I see them. When I spot them, I hold up my hand when Jeanie looks over at me. “I found them.” I look over at the man. “Guess I can get in without the key.” I laugh. “Have a great night.”

“You, too,” he says. “Find me if you get stuck and need a key,” he jokes, and I walk away from the hostess stand, feeling his eyes on me the whole time.

Chapter 3

Manning

“Find me if you get stuck and need a key,” I try to joke with her, and she throws her head back and laughs. Looking toward the back and walking away from the hostess stand, I’m not even going to pretend that I’m not watching her.

My tongue almost hit the ground when I grabbed the door handle at the same time as she did. I saw her walking, but all I could see was her legs. Her tan legs in those shoes were suddenly the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen a woman wear. I thought she was going to stop, but she didn’t, and we both reached for the door at the same time. Then she looked up at me, and my feet were stuck on the ground as if I wore concrete boots. Her green eyes popped, and her auburn hair looked almost as if it were silk.

“Um, Mr. Stevenson,” the hostess says, blinking her eyes, and I look at her. “If you will follow me, I will show you to your table.” I nod, looking back at where I saw her disappear. She’s hugging girls now, and her smile lights up her whole face. I turn back and follow the hostess as she leads me past the busy bar area. The brown granite bar has glass shelves behind it lined with bottles and decorated with hanging lights. I see a couple of people look over at me, and some recognize me. The guys always nod, and the women stare. We walk past the glass wine cellar, containing bottles and bottles of wine stacked all the way to the top. She stops next to it and opens the glass door. “This is the private room,” the hostess says, and I nod as I walk in.

“Manning.” One of the guys gets up from the round table and walks over to me. “Good to see you.”

“Andrew.” I put my hand out to shake his. Andrew is the CEO of Hauer, a company he started ten years ago. “Nice to see you.”

“Thank you for coming,” he says. “I know you hate doing these things.”

With a laugh, I put my hands in my pockets and look out the glass door at all the tables being set up and taken. This is the place to be on a Saturday night. It helps that the tables are cleared off at ten to make way for the dance floor. There is another bar right outside our private area. “I don’t hate them.” I chuckle. “I just prefer not to do them.” It is no secret that I am super private. I don’t do Instagram, I don’t do Facebook, and I don’t do Snapchat. Basically, I don’t do anything on social media. I have a Facebook page that Candace, my social media girl, handles. If I have to be honest, the only reason I have it is for my sponsors. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t even be on there.