When I looked back up, he was suddenly next to me—standing a bit too close. He brushed his fingers against my slim wrist. “What’s a pretty, little angel like you doing in a bar like this?” His voice was deep and melodic, and his eyes… I swear they really were black.
That same easy feeling I got with Eros filled me, and I found myself leaning closer to him. He smelt so good, like the beach, a salty aroma of shore and sea. Even his hair was a sandy brown.
“I’m… uh…” I moved my lips, failing to form words. “Waiting for someone.”
He was so mesmerizing that I almost missed a woman storming straight toward us with a bitter look on her face. She grabbed the man’s wrists and pulled it away from me. “I leave you alone for one minute and you’re already flirting with—” She looked me up and down in pure disgust, green eyes glistening. “—someone like her.”
She pointed a slender finger at me. “Don’t you ever look at him like that again, or I’ll take you right to Satan’s kingdom and watch you burn.” And, without another word, she dragged the handsome man right to one of the dark back doorways.
I sat there, staring at the almost glistening door that they disappeared behind and raised my brows. The bartender placed a drink on the bar in front of me, and I looked away. “White sangria.”
Well, that guy was definitely not the man Kasey set me up with. I drew my finger across the wooden bar, thinking about how my first date I had after Trevon was already going to shit. A handsome, taken guy flirting with me. His girlfriend threatening to take me to Hell herself. The night was bound to get worse.
I was going to stumble over my words, spill my drink on myself. Maybe even spill it on whoever my lucky date was. He’d say it was alright, but it wouldn’t really be alright. Then he’d tell me that he was going to wipe it off in the bathroom and would just never come back out.
I fiddled with my necklace as the heat crawled up my neck. Calm down, Dani. It’s just a date.
Why did I agree to this again? Why was I even here?
“Kasey, this is the last time I’m doing this for you. I told you last time I didn’t want to go on any more dates,” someone said.
My eyes widened, and I stared down at my sangria. He was here.
Someone leaned over the bar next to me, shirt sleeves rolled up with forearms. “Apple cider with Fireball,” he said to the bartender. He sounded familiar, but I didn’t dare look over. “I told you that I’m done dating dem—”
Oh, God. He didn’t even want to be here.
“Kase, I have to go.” He shut off his phone and paused for too long. “Dani.”
My heart nearly stopped. Just by the way he said my name—so slow and sensual—I knew who he was. And when I lifted my gaze to meet Eros’s dark one, I was more nervous than I was a few minutes ago.
He stared down at me, brows creased. “What’re you doing here?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared at him, wide-eyed. “Um…” I took another sip of my drink. Kasey set me up with Eros. My hot next-door neighbor Eros.
But Eros didn’t even want to be here. That’s why he was probably avoiding me these past few days and didn't want any kind of relationship right now. I shook my head. This was a huge mistake. I shouldn’t have come. “Just… drinking some sangria.”
The bartender gave him his drink. He rested a forearm on the bar and gave me a light smile. “You only drink when you’re nervous about something.” He sat on the stool next to me, and all I could remember was sitting at Trevon’s bar with him, our knees grazing against each other, him taking in every inch of me, his breath on my face. “Did Kasey send you here on a date?” he asked.
I pressed my lips together and stood. “Uhm, yes.” I grabbed my coat from the back of the stool. “But I was just doing it to make her happy, not because I actually wanted to go out on a date.” My palms were sweating; I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
This was the only guy that I wanted to go on a date with but having him sit next to me with that sultry look in his eye terrified me. So, I continued to fumble with the zipper of my coat, hands shaking.
I didn’t know why I was letting this rush right by me. This was what I wanted. He was what I wanted. He just didn’t want to be here. It wasn’t the right time. This—
He grabbed my wrist, stopping me. “You’re not going to have a drink with me?”
When I gazed up at him in this dim light, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “Eros…” I said. There was no point in lying. “I heard your conversation with Kasey. We don’t have to do this. I don’t mind.”
“I want to have a drink with you. I just didn’t want to date another one of Kasey’s friends.”
“I am one of her friends.”
“Yeah, but…” He gazed down at his drink, lips softening into a smile. “You’re you.” His fingers grazed against my palm and curled around it. “Now, unzip your coat, sit back down, and have a drink with me.”
When I sat, he tapped his finger with his ring against his glass. “I’m sorry about Trevon.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. You don’t deserve to be treated like that.”
“I know.”
He gave me a boyish smile. His lips were set in a soft curve, and there was a lightness in his eyes. “Good.” He grabbed my hand on top of the bar. “Zane and I kicked Javier out.”
“You didn’t need to do that. It was Trevon’s decision to cheat on me, not Javier’s.”
Eros’s jaw clenched for a split second, like he knew something that I didn’t. “It doesn’t matter. He’s not coming back.”
I didn’t want to talk about Trevon or Javier. This wasn’t the time or place to wallow in misery over him. I was on a date with Eros. A rush of heat warmed my body at the thought, and my cheeks tingled.
“Thinking about me in those horns again?” He placed his elbow on the bar top and leaned closer to me, finger curling around my hair.
My face flushed. “Oh, God.” I couldn’t believe that I told him about that. Liquor really did give me the courage to tell my deepest, darkest secrets. “I-no. I wasn’t.” But I was now.
Eros smirked and brushed his thumb against my cheek. “You know, I never got that kiss.” His breath smelt like a mix of cinnamon and apple.
“What kiss?” I smiled, my gaze flickering to his lips. Of course, I remembered that night in the kitchen when he was so close, when our lips were hovering next to each other, when he told me that all he wanted was to kiss me. “I never said that I wanted you to kiss me.”
He raised his brows and pulled his hand away, leaning back in his seat. “Dani, I really don’t think you want to tease me.”
I tilted my head, feeling confident in myself for the first time tonight. “I’m not trying to tease you.”
His eyes darkened. “If you want to play this little game, then I’ll play it with you. But just know that you’re not going to win.” He grasped my chin in his hand, thumb brushing against my lips. “You won’t be able to resist me.”
When he leaned back in his seat, he crossed his arms over his chest, making his biceps bulge. I already knew that I wouldn’t be able to resist him, but it’d be fun to try. Maybe I’d even get him to break before I did.
The thought of it excited me, and this was the first thing that I was looking forward to in the past week.