And Then There Was Her (And then There Was 1)

It was her aroma that had memories moving at a rapid pace through my brain, had my synapses firing as if they were on speed. I swore time stood still as I slowly lifted my head and looked into the big, dark-brown eyes of the woman I’d been searching for, for the last three months. The woman I was madly in love with and she didn’t even know it.

I couldn’t hear anything but the rush of blood through my veins, the hard beat of my heart.

The world stopped on its axis, everyone stilling, freezing. There was only her and me. There was only Adele.

I had my hands wrapped loosely around her bare arms, her skin warm like silk. The dress she wore was reminiscent of what she’d worn on that night I met her all those months ago. All I could smell, see, feel was her.

Her eyes were so big, so wide as surprise covered her expression, as she stared up at me. Her lips were red, glossy from the lipstick she wore. I wanted to kiss her until we were breathless, until all there was were the sensations we gave each other.

Her skin was just as smooth as I remembered, just as flawless. The dark tone so damn gorgeous, so fucking perfect. All I wanted to do was pull her close, bury my face in the crook of her neck, and just inhale deeply, revel in the fact that she was here with me, that I’d finally found her.

“Adele,” I said softly, or maybe I didn’t say it out loud at all. Maybe I said it in my head over and over again. Maybe I was dreaming.

What I knew for certain was I didn’t want to let her go.

I’d never let her go.

6

Adele

I was Alice, and I’d fallen down the rabbit hole as I stared up into the blue eyes that had haunted me every night since we’d been together.

Three months.

Twelve weeks.

Ninety days.

Not that I was counting or anything.

Nothing else mattered in the moment but finally feeling him touch me again. This was fate, both of us running into the other in this darkened, smoky hallway. He’d been looking for me. I’d been searching for him.

And here we were.

I ran away that night, left him sleeping without so much as my number scribbled on a sheet of paper.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but words failed me, became lodged in my throat, desperate to escape.

Oliver stared at me as if he’d just found the one thing he’d been frantically searching for.

I’d assumed he’d be here tonight after finding out he’d come to Lyrics just last night. I hoped, prayed, begged to whomever would listen that destiny would have its way with us again and draw us together.

And here we were.

“Adele, girl, you’re up.”

I heard the words but couldn’t process them, not until someone was pulling me away from Oliver, from the light I desperately needed in this darkened world. I actually found myself stumbling, reaching out, my mouth opening as if I were about to call out to him. God, this was like a scene in a movie, a chapter in a book. Not real, fiction, but emotions and chemistry wrapped up in the moment, it felt like nothing else could be reality.

And then we were being swallowed by the bodies, the crowd. Why were there so many people here? Had there always been this many patrons at Lyrics at an open mic night? Maybe it just seemed like I was suffocating because Oliver was the only air I needed to breathe, because I was being pulled away from my source of life.

God, I was sounding insane, but I couldn’t help it.

And just before I was completely swallowed by the sea, I watched as Oliver started moving forward, pushing people out of the way, this fierce, feral, determined look on his face. He was a predator charging forward for his prey, starving, not about to let that meal go.

And I was that meal.

I pulled out of the grasp that held me, heard someone talking to me, asking what I was doing, yet all I could focus on was Oliver and getting to him.

And then I was the one pushing people out of my way. It was like this tether was between us, pulling us together, and the closer I got to Oliver, the more alive I felt.

And when I was only a foot from him, everything slowed as I watched him reach out to me. His hand cupped one side of my face, his palm big and warm, slightly calloused. He pulled me forward, and I braced my hands on his chest, feeling how hard and fast his heart beat under my palms. I curled my nails into the fabric of his shirt, rose up on my toes at the same time I watched him lean in close.