Page 2 of His Valentine

I was two sips into my drink when a man walked in and took a seat two bar stools away from me. At first, I thought the heat of the day had done something screwy to my vision. Holy fuck, the man sitting near me washot. Between his chiseled features and his big, muscular frame, the sight of him was almost unbearable.

But as I blinked and stole another glance over at him, I realized there was absolutely nothing wrong with my vision.

This guy was a stone cold fox.

And when I heard him order a club soda and lime from the bartender, I could practically hear the wordkismetwhispered in the air.

“Drink twins,” I said idiotically, raising my glass.

He looked over at me. His face warmed. “That right?”

“Yep,” I said. Desperately, I tried to think of something better to say. It suddenly felt like I’d never spoken a full sentence before.

To my deep relief, he salvaged the conversation. He said something about the song that was playing softly above us in the room. And then suddenly we were having this long debate about which decade had the best music.

I can’t even remember what exactly our arguments were. All I remember is the thrilling feeling of talking to him. He was smart but not cocky; he was opinionated but also an attentive listener.

“Think we need to call it a tie,” he eventually said, offering me a conciliatory smile.

“Deal. Truce.”

“I’m Magnus, by the way,” he said.

Magnus? Yep, the namedefinitelyfit him. Oh, God, those mouthwatering muscles…

“Lena,” I said.

“That’s a pretty name.”

I gave him a playful smirk. “You tell every girl that?”

He looked genuinely taken aback. “No. I don’t.”

Immediately, I felt bad for making the assumption about him. I wondered what he would say if he knew my real name was Valentine. I even considered telling him right then. There was something about him that made me want to tell him everything about me.

Instead, I asked him if the rooms here were nice.

“They’re not shitholes,” he said.

I burst out with a laugh. “Okay. That’s good.”

“Mine even has a pretty spectacular view.”

“That sounds lovely.”

“You’re not staying here, then?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“Just here for a drink?”

I nodded, then said, “And, apparently, to meet a hot stranger.” As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I groaned. “Sorry. That was super cheesy.”

“No. I’m flattered.” A laugh bubbled up from his chest. “It was alittlecheesy, though.”

I laughed with him. And there was something about sharing that laugh that sent my attraction for him into overdrive. I wanted this man. I wanted him now. I wanted him to take me upstairs and pin me beneath him on his bed.

I looked over at him again and watched him take a sip from his glass. As he swallowed, my eyes traced his jawline, then drifted down to his broad chest. When my eyes lifted again to his face, I found him looking back at me.

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