Page 5 of Married Into Love

ChapterThree

Alessia

On any otherday in my life, the guy standing in front of me never would have noticed me. In my normal clothes, with my hair pulled back in a ponytail, and without much makeup, I would have faded into the background of all the beautiful girls surrounding us. But with my sister treating me like her very own dress-up doll before we’d left the apartment, I looked like I belonged in the nightclub she’d draggedmeto.

My discomfort at wearing the tiny scrap of material Ariana had insisted was a dress had turned to irritation when the Uber driver had gotten all skeevy with us during the ride over. It had amped up to annoyance when one of the bouncers had stared at my boobs while Ariana had talked to the bigger guy who she was friends with. Then it’d morphed into outright anger when a smelly drunk guy wouldn’t take no for an answer. But all of my frustration was worth it when I laid eyes on the super-hot guy who came to myrescue.

He put the phrase “tall, dark, and handsome” to shame. Sure, he was tall. But not to the point where he towered over me in an intimidating way. Instead, his height made me feel almost dainty...and protected. His athletic build had me wondering what he looked like under his expensive clothing. He also had the requisite dark hair, overdue for a haircut but rumpled in a just-rolled-out-of-bed way that made me want to run my fingers through the almost-black locks. And then there were his gorgeous blue eyes, framed by thick lashes any woman would kill to have. All of that added up to a guy who was way out of my league, but he didn’t seem to agree since his attention was squarely focused on me. Which was completely insane, considering how my sister was making me sound completely lame...while being completely honest about me. I fully expected him to lose interest in me before our drinks were poured, but I was proven wrong when the bartender slid a vodka tonic in front of him while Ariana and I sipped on ourcocktails.

“To my sister’s white knight.” Ariana lifted her glass to tap it against mine and then the hot guy’s. When she jabbed a finger in my lower back, Ifollowedsuit.

“As much as I like it, being called white knight is going to get old quickly. How about you call me Alec instead?” hesuggested.

“Alec,” I repeatedsoftly.

His blue eyes heated as his gaze dropped to my lips. “Alec Rourke.” He reached out a hand, and I slid my palm against his. “And you’reAlessia?”

“Yes.” I took another sip of my drink to cover my nervousness. “AlessiaValenti.”

“And I’m her sister,Ariana.”

“Nice to meet you.” Alec’s reply was directed at me, as though he hadn’t heard mysister.

“Yeah. You, too.” My voice was all breathy because he traced my palm with his thumb before letting go of my hand. The rough glide of his skin against mine sent goosebumps upmyarm.

“Thanks for breaking your rule and letting me buy you adrink.”

I swiveled on my stool and glared at my sister. Fat lot of good it did for me since she didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it as she smiled and waggled her brows. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Alec. “I wouldn’t say it’s a rule, exactly. Clubs are more my sister’s thing. I’m usually too busy to come with her, but I was having a bad day and she wouldn’t take no for an answer. So hereIam.”

“That earned your sister as many vodka sodas as she candrink.”

I snorted. Yes, actually snorted. I would have been mortified, except my sister’s delighted laughter covered the sound up for me. “You’re going to regret that offer. Ariana is an expert clubber, and she’s got the drinking skills to showforit.”

“Drinking skills?” Ariana laughed. “You make it sound like I’m going to do tricks, like I’m going to pop a handstand and finish my drink while I’m upside down orsomething.”

I swiveled around again. “It’s been at least ten years since you tried to do a handstand.” I looked down at the hem of her dress where it rested on her upper thighs. “And there’s no way I’d ever let you try to do one in that outfit. You’d flash your underwear at everyone in thisplace.”

“Panties,” shecorrectedme.

My face heated with embarrassment, something I should have been used to happening around my sister. I jerked around and found Alec coughing into his fist, trying to cover his bark of laughter. He lost the battle when my sister continued, “And it’s not like I need that kind of attention since Alec already volunteered to buy all my drinks tonight. I don’t need to worry about flirting my way through the club and can just sit here and relax while I watch you two inaction.”

“Please tell me she did not just say that,” I groaned. I took another swing of my drink, in desperate need of the alcohol if I was going to have to put up with my sister’s antics allnight.

Alec’s gaze dropped to my now-empty glass, and his blue eyes twinkled with humor. “How about I buy another round, and you can tell me why your day wassobad?”

“Umm,” Imumbled.

“Sounds like a brilliant idea to me,” Ariana chimed in. Out of the corner of my vision, I saw her lift an arm and signal the bartender over to us. Before I could object, she ordered more drinks and told him to make mine adouble.

Since my tolerance for alcohol sucked, I told myself I’d drink it more slowly. But when I met Alec’s eyes again and found them locked squarely on me, I yanked my new cocktail out of the bartender’s hand before he could set it down in front of me and took several gulpsfromit.

Warm fingers wrapped around my hand and tugged the glass out of my grasp. Once he’d placed it just out of my reach, Alec threaded his fingers through mine and squeezed gently. “There’s no need to be nervous,beautiful.”

“I’m not—” I paused since I was about to lie, and I wasn’t going to do a good job of it. “What I meant to say is that I’m reallythirsty.”

“Bring her a glass of water, too,” Alec told the bartender when he brought over his vodkatonic.

I narrowed my eyes at him in irritation. “Who said I wantedwater?”

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