What If

“No,” he repeats, and confusion and annoyance start to rise as he follows me the two steps toward the table. “Come with me.”

He takes his other arm and places a hand at the small of my back, turning me with him and walking through the tables and people before we get to the end of the bar. For a second, I hold my breath as the image of him naked suddenly bursts into my brain.

I’ve had my share of dates. Never, not once, have I ever imagined any of them naked.

Which reminds me, I haven’t even officially met him.

As if on cue, he spins me around at the end of the bar to face him.

“I’m Torin.”

My eyes are wide. There’s something about his presence that has me trapped in awe. I must look scared because he takes his hand from my back and places it against my cheek.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll never do anything to hurt you. Never.”

His statement hits me as odd.

Never?

He’s talking like we have a future and I don’t even know his last name.

“I’m Jessie,” I reply, that image of him naked turning to an image of him lifting me up and pressing me against the wall.

Again, a first for me. Maybe hitting someone does something to your brain, because I don’t feel like myself. I feel like I’m melting. Not only is he hot, there’s this protectiveness about him. Like he’s my bodyguard.

I let my eyes drift down, thinking of how he looks under that white shirt. Does he have that sexy ‘V’ thing that runs from a guys hips down to his—

What the hell is that called anyway? Those muscles that form that arrow pointing downward, just inside a guy’s hips? It needs a name.

“Jessie.” Hearing him say my name breaks my thoughts. “Follow me. I’m going to show you something.”

“You’re sort of bossy, you know that?” I grouse as he looks over his shoulder and tips his head down another hallway behind the bar.

“Yep. I can be,” he agrees without an iota of apology.

Of all the dates I’ve been on, I’ve never had actual butterflies around a guy. But I do now. They feel more like bats, honestly. Flapping and running into the walls of my stomach, making me feel dizzy and off balance.

I stay on his heels, unsure of where we are going but for the life of me unable to not be drawn into his orbit.

Chapter 4

Torin

In downtown Detroit, you don’t really expect to come across a whole lot of beautiful things. The city has taken so many hits and although there are cracks of light coming through these days, they are few and far between.

Two things that are beautiful…the girl that just walked through the door of the bar and gave me the hard-on of a lifetime.

The second is something only a few people in my life know about and I have the uncontrollable urge to make sure these two beautiful things come together.

I lead Jessie behind the bar to the stairway. This building is bigger than it looks on the outside and the upper two floors I’ve converted into both my living space and my sanctuary.

As we get to the stairs, I look down to see her cocking a single eyebrow up as she looks around. “This is a little spooky. If this were a movie, the audience would be screaming for me to not follow you, ya know.”

A smile hitches on my lips hearing the lightness in her voice. “And yet, you still follow. My devious plan is working.”

The walls that border the stairs are worn brick and the lighting isn’t the best. Something I keep meaning to redesign but haven’t made it a priority.

“Do you live here?” she asks.

“I do. It’s quiet, there’s no neighbors to get in my business. I bought the place with a friend of mine, the guy I was with downstairs.”

“You own the bar?”

I rock my head back and forth before answering. “Sort of. He and I own the building. The bar leases the space from us—Sandra, the gal behind the bar, runs the place, owns the actual business. She worked with Lou who owned it before for thirty-six years. He died last year from a sudden heart attack and we worked out a deal to keep the place alive, letting Sandra buy the business for next to nothing. Cops have been coming here since it opened, was a shame to see it close.”

“That’s great. I think old buildings like this have a heart. It’s too bad the city is in such disarray.”

“I agree. But you never know. Things can always turn around. Life can surprise you sometimes. There’s always the ‘what if’s’ in life, you know?” I look over my shoulder with a smile to see her smiling back and my heart swells, even if there’s a little twinkle there of something I only half recognize…like fate has just thrown her a curve ball.