Page 58 of The Arrangement

Sarah had still driven; I hadn’t told her about the new car, and I parked down in a neighborhood just so no one would see me getting out of it. I had no way to explain my new ride and until I did, it was a secret. A very expensive secret with all-leather interior and seat warmers.

"He's almost here! I can't wait for you to meet him!" Sarah shouted, her eyes sparkling with excitement, and I hoped to god this guy was as good as she claimed because I would hate to have to hit a man with my car when it's tires hadn’t even hit a curb yet. Big emphasis onyet. "He's bringing a friend; Chloe is coming too, and so is Andrew!" I vaguely remembered Chloe, a sweet girl whom Sarah had met working at The Grind. Andrew ran the flower shop across the street, so I was instantly excited to catch up. We ended up being the only ones at dinner, which was fine with both of us; there was more sushi to share between us, and the birthday dessert they brought out came with an extra fork.

It was Andrew who showed up first on the arm of a ridiculously tall, attractive, bearded man who looked like he was a lumberjack in his spare time. Chloe and Sarah screamed when they saw each other; the shorter woman enveloped her in a hug.

"I'm going to grab another drink!" I cried over the music, my empty glass cold in my hand, and Sarah waved me on. I wove through the crowd; Sarah wasn't wrong, this club was popular. Shiny new floors and the faint smell of fresh paint in the old warehouse had turned it into the hottest spot in the city.

I knew I only wanted a few drinks in me; even with the promise of hotel rooms, I hated waking up with a hangover. The cocktails here tasted great, but all that sugar really did a number on me in the morning, so I was pacing myself.

"I'll have another, please," I tried not to yell at the frazzled bartender, but it was so loud, and a headache had already begun topound behind my eyes. A nod of acknowledgment had me leaning on the new marble bar top, cooling my overheated skin.

"What are you drinking gorgeous?" A deep male voice whispered in my ear, so close that I jumped in surprise. The owner of said voice was a tall, blond man taking up the space next to me. I immediately noticed how he leaned on the bar, showing off his muscular biceps that his black shirt barely contained, and it took all of my self-control not to giggle at the obvious peacocking.

"Just a cosmo," I replied politely, a smile pasted on my face.

"Can I pay for it?" He asked just as politely, blue eyes trailing up my body with an intensity that sent a blush creeping up my neck. "I'm Justin."

As I shook the offered hand, the bartender returned with my drink, and I replied, "I have a tab open, but thank you for the offer; it was nice to meet you!"

I quickly escaped back to our small bar table, though I could feel the heat of Justin's stare following me. Why didn't I let him buy me the stupid drink?

When was the last time I had a date? Well, of course, this wasn't a date, and guys you meet at bars aren't usually looking to take you out to dinner.

"Who's that guy? He's cute!" gushed Chloe, nudging me a bit with her elbow while tossing her attention back at the man at the bar. "And he's still watching you."

I shook my head, knowing that the flush was creeping up to my cheeks at this point. "Yeah, super nice." I took a sip to give myself an out from the conversation while the others seemed to pick up on it.

Sarah looked over the crowd from her phone suddenly, a smile breaking out over her beautiful face as she scanned the crowd.

"He's here!" she cried as she waved her hand; at the same time, my purse slipped off my shoulder. Cursing, I barely picked up the vintage leather bag before another club-goer could step on it with a nine-inch heel. When I rose, Sarah was gone, assumedly throwing her arms around her date, whom she would not stop talking about.

"Georgia!" I turned quickly toward the sound of my name to seeSarah leading a Viking-esque man who seemed to tower over the other men in the club who hadn't taken his eyes off of her. I swallowed hard, gripping my glass so I wouldn't drop it. "Georgia, this is Thomas Fletcher. We call him Fletcher, though."

Thomas's smile faltered a bit as he finally tore his eyes away from his date, but he quickly recovered and offered his hand. "Yeah, Thomas is my dad's name. It's nice to meet you!"

I was nodding, probably too quickly to seem normal. "Georgia. Nice to meet you, Fletcher." The man's smile didn't waver.

"Let's go dance!" Sarah cried, breaking the awkward tension she obviously didn't feel as she dragged Fletcher onto the floor. I watched as the tall man spun my best friend before grabbing her around the hips and pulling her close to him.

The slight blond had to stand on her tiptoes to be able to wrap her arms around his neck. Chloe tugged my hand with an imploring smile, and my nervous energy just needed a place to escape, so I followed.

It was nearly instantly that Chloe caught the eye of a man whom she immediately began dancing with. So I swayed to the music, the bouncing and gyrating of bodies around me making me feel instantly claustrophobic, but I swallowed it down as I tried to focus on the beat instead of the crawling of my skin.

A touch on my waist had me turning quickly, my eyes quickly drawing up to the tall blond that was at the bar. Justin? Justin.

"Can we dance?" he all but shouted, which was fair because the walls were vibrating with the force of the bass at this point.

Justin leaned down for me to whisper-yell in his ear, "I don't really know how!" Right when that sentence left my mouth, I realized what an invitation that sounded like. Fuck.

A smile broke out over his face as he took my hands and put them around his neck as I swallowed hard. "Just follow my lead!"

I was at war with myself; this guy seemed nice, and we were supposed to be having fun. There was no reason not to dance with this very appropriate man or even sleep with him. Because I could also do that—he had a nice face as far as faces go, his eyes weren't too closetogether, and his nose was…nice? Everything seemed off: his skin was too pale, his eyes too blue.

Justin's hands began to stray to my lower back as the song switched to something much more sexual. My gaze darted over to Sarah, but she was too involved with Fletcher, her eyes practically emoting hearts as she swayed her hips in time with the pumping of the music.

His hands ran down the back of my dress, settling on the curve of my ass as he pulled me even closer, close enough that I could smell the far-too-musky cologne he wore. My mind flickered back to the smell of bergamot and cedar, the clear, clean scent that immediately got my pulse racing.

Justin buried his nose in my hair and whispered/yelled in my ear, "You smell good." I didn't respond because, honestly, I didn't even know how to. "You want to get out of here?"

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