Page 14 of Burdens
A thousand questions swirled in my mind, but I dismissed them. I had to fight my instincts to go into interrogation mode because I wasn’t at work right now and doing so would probably make her run the other way.
Which was probably a better—smarter—option, but I didn’t want her to leave quite yet. So I placed my glass back on the countertop before I drank the whole thing and went in with a safe question.
“What brings you to town?”
Surprisingly, the innocent question caught her off guard. I could tell she didn’t expect me to lead with that line ofconversation with the way her eyes slightly widened and the hint of worry that flashed in them.
The signs might have been imperceptible to others, but reading people was an integral part of my job and this stunning creature was hiding something.
She schooled her features back and tilted her head to the side, giving me another one of her killer smiles. If I didn’t know any better, I would bet money that she had training.
“What makes you think I’m not a regular here?” She took a sip of her own drink and a droplet of whiskey spilled out, landing on her lip.
My eyes snapped to her mouth and the chatter around us fell to a quiet murmur. Her tongue swiped out to clear it away, sending desire coursing through my veins as I imagined how much better the liquor I’d savored a thousand times before would taste on her skin.
Before I realized what I was doing, I reached out for one of the legs on her stool and angled her to bring us face to face. Then I widened my stance and tugged her closer because for some reason I wanted to erase any space between us.
Something I’d never felt like doing before.
“I would have remembered you,” I whispered as I placed my elbow on the bar and leaned against my fist, my index finger resting on my temple. I watched her carefully, studying her reaction to my confession.
A visible shiver rolled through her body, but instead of my admission taking her aback, her gaze raked down my white long-sleeved shirt to my black pants I’d put on this morning before checking out of my hotel in Sibaya.
The outside of her knees pressed up against my inner thighs as she fit her legs between my own and propped her boots on the front leg of my chair. Then she placed her hands on my knees and leaned her body toward me.
A whiff of her scent carried my way, an amber and woody floral scent filling my senses. It was heady and alluring.
As I held her gaze, her smile dimmed to be taken over by a look filled with so much heat that it rivaled my own. So much fire that it set my firmly erected walls ablaze, threatening to crumble them into ashes.
“Care to make a wager?” she murmured, a hint of playfulness in her tone.
An amused smile tugged at my mouth, surprising me. People rarely stunned me, but she’d been doing just that since she walked in.
“What kind of wager?” I asked, arching a brow.
“Why don’t you come closer and find out?” she suggested, leaning her body closer and for a moment, I debated over her proposition.
The intensity of her gaze was intoxicating. It made the hand resting on my thigh itch with the need to touch her. All I wanted to do in that moment was grab her face and kiss the fuck out of her.
She was beautiful and I bet she tasted divine.
That’s when my logic set back in and I realized I needed to walk away. I started work tomorrow and had to stay focused. She was unpredictable and my life didn’t have space for that.
My reasoning might be faulty, but I couldn’t do this.
I broke eye contact and snapped our connection. I quickly glanced at the time on the register behind the bar and noticed it was almost one in the morning. I cleared my throat and said, “I have to go.”
She parted her lips to say something, but I had already grabbed my brown leather jacket that was resting on top of the backrest and left before I could hear what she had to say.
The front doors to Faro closed behind me with a thud and the moment the salty breeze of the Mediterranean Sea washed overme, I let out a frustrated sigh. Gravel crunched underneath my feet as I donned on my jacket and headed for my car.
I wasn’t proud of the way I’d just rushed out and left her, but this was the right thing to do.
Right?
I wasn’t planning on actually leaving the parking lot until I made sure she left the bar safely, but being near her blurred too many of the lines I’d carefully constructed around my life.
And I didn’t have enough strength in me to keep resisting her.
