Twice as Sexy (The Sexy 2)

She rose to her feet, taking a second to steady herself in her heels, and pulled at the little black skirt Leigh had lent her because it tended to inch up around her thighs. She was feeling ditzy but not totally drunk, and she had to admit coming here tonight had been a good idea.

The club atmosphere was fun. The live singer was an up-and-coming pop star, or so she’d been told by the friendly bartender. And Leigh was flirting up a storm with a guy she’d met once before and had been texting with ever since. Scarlett didn’t think it was coincidence he was here tonight. She’d obviously planned to meet up with him.

“Can I get you something else?” the bartender, a sexy man with his hair buzzed on the sides and longer on top, asked, leaning over the bar to get closer to her.

Although she could admire his looks, he wasn’t her type. Too long, lean, and blond. She sighed because it just didn’t matter. She had no time for any man in her life right now. “I’ll have a pink lemonade on ice, please.”

“Gotcha.” He snatched up a tip from another customer and turned to work on her order, handing her a glass a few seconds later.

“It’s so warm in here,” Leigh said, waving her hand in front of her face.

“I think it’s all the alcohol you consumed. You’re flushed. Do you want to go outside for a few minutes?” Scarlett asked her friend.

She shook her head. “I don’t want to leave Cliff alone for some other woman to swoop in and grab him.” She tipped her head toward the tall, dark-haired man who was ordering himself a drink and Leigh a glass of water.

Good. Her friend needed a break from drinking.

Looking around, Scarlett studied the mirrored and dark wood bar, turning to check out the other sights just as an elevator door across the way opened. A well-built man dressed in a black suit, with thick jet-black hair and a scruff of beard covering a definitely handsome face stepped out. His imposing and commanding presence couldn’t be denied. Now he was her type.

“Who is that?” she asked Leigh.

Her friend followed her gaze. “Ooh, that’s one of the owners. They’re all freaking hot.” She waved a hand in front of her face again, this time for a different reason.

Cliff handed her the water glass and said, “Wait for me here? I’ll be right back.” After pausing to kiss her cheek, he strode away.

Scarlett raised an eyebrow. “Now that’s interesting.”

“Forget me. He’s staring at you.”

“Who?”

“The sexy owner, that’s who.”

Stunned into silence, Scarlett shifted her stare, and sure enough, hot guy had his eyes laser focused on her. Now that he’d moved closer and she got a better look, she realized words like hot or sexy just didn’t cover this man’s rougher, rugged looks. Not a pretty boy like the bartender but an Alpha male through and through. His shoulders were wide and broad, his expression dark as his eyes drank her in. His interest was stamped all over his face, interrupted only when an employee with a drink tray stopped to talk to him.

“Now that’s some serious lust at first sight,” Leigh said into her ear, talking over the din of the crowd.

Scarlett somehow managed a laugh, because her body was in heated overload due to that chemistry. “Yeah. Too bad I have no time in my life–”

“For a good fuck?” Leigh rolled her eyes. “Come on, Scarlett. Nobody’s asking you to date and marry the man. But when was the last time you indulged?” She didn’t have to explain what she meant.

“Brian,” Scarlett admitted. Her on-again, off-again boyfriend who’d become permanently off when her work schedule increased and was too much for him to handle.

“Well, that’s a pathetically long time. And he’s staring again.”

Scarlett met his gaze and her brain buzzed with hormones she’d packed away eight months ago. And she knew the thrill racing around inside her had nothing to do with the alcohol she’d consumed and everything to do with the sizzling promise in the stranger’s eyes.

“It’s your birthday,” her friend reminded her. “Why not treat yourself? Hmm?”

Scarlett drew a deep breath, the rational, smart part of her brain telling her she was an upstanding assistant district attorney with a huge caseload and a mountain of work. She couldn’t let herself be distracted. But the female part of her mind and body reminded her of exactly how long it had been since she’d indulged. And every instinct she possessed told her she’d never had the kind of dirty sex she’d wind up experiencing with this man.

As her inner good girl warred with the bad girl inside her, Leigh whispered, “Happy birthday,” in her ear.

“That’s it. I’m going for it,” Scarlett decided. Didn’t she deserve a night off? A selfish grab of time before she dove back into her crazy life?