Page 6 of You, Me, and Forever

“Who the fuck are you?” the drunk asshole said, his words slurring as he wobbled on his feet.

I leaned close to his ear. “I’m the guy you don’t want to piss off. The only way this ends well for you is if you walk the fuck away from her right now and don’t come back.”

He blinked a few times and then held his hands up. “Yeah, yeah, fine, dude. I wasn’t that interested anyway.”

I didn’t speak another word. I just stared at him till he tucked tail and got the fuck out of there.

I moved back to my seat and took a sip of my drink without saying a word to her. She walked toward me, martini in hand, pink lips parted as her gaze locked with mine.

“Thank you,” she said as she stood in front of me.

“Not a problem.”

“Is this seat taken?” she asked, and I didn’t miss the way her hand shook the slightest bit, and she held her chin up as if she was trying to appear confident. The type of business that I did required me to read people.

Read their body language.

Find obvious tells that let me know if they are nervous.

She’s definitely nervous.

I shook my glass, moving the ice from side to side, before taking the last sip and motioning for her to sit. “I take it you didn’t appreciate that asshole hanging all over you.”

“Yeah. He wasn’t taking the hint. I think he was pretty loaded.”

“Not an excuse to push himself on a woman,” I said. I held up my glass when Benji made eye contact with me to let him know that I’d like another. “Get one for the lady as well, please.”

Her eyes widened, and she smiled. “Oh. I just got one, but thank you. I don’t think my friends will be ready to go anytime soon, so I can sit in here and enjoy these cocktails. What’s your name? I’m guessing you’re from out of town?”

She acted like she wasn’t used to getting hit on, which seemed impossible to believe, especially considering I’d just had to get involved with the last dude who’d taken his shot.

“Yes. I’m Myles, and just visiting. How about you? Are you a local?”

She smiled, and it was clear she was thinking her answer over as Benji walked over with our drinks.

“I’m Dominique Venezuela,” she said, quirking a brow as if she was proud of her answer, which was clearly bullshit because no one said their name with that kind of thought or excitement. “I’m just here visiting as well.”

Benji was smiling at her, making it even more obvious that she was bullshitting me.

I picked up my glass as she held hers in her hand. “Nice to meet you, Dominique Venezuela.”

“Nice to meet you, Myles.” She clinked her glass to mine and took a sip. “What do you do for a living?”

“I do a whole lot of things. How about you?”

“I’m a ...” She paused to clear her throat. “I’m a diamond dealer.”

I chuckled, because she’d piqued my interest, which was rare. She was clearly full of shit, but undeniably charming.

“Nice. That’s a solid business. So what exactly is involved in that?”

She finished off her martini and set the glass down. “You know, imports and exports. We’re very busy with all the ports, Myles.”

“I’m sure you are. And you’re just visiting Blushing as well?”

“Yes. I’m here on a girls’ trip with my two best friends. I head back to Chicago tomorrow. So I’m just here for the night.”

“Then I guess I’m lucky that you’re just here for the one night, and I happen to be in the seat next to you at this bar.”

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