Page 1 of A Man After Midnight

Chapter One

Caroline hit the button on her phone to check the time. Just gone midnight and she sat all alone, sipping a banana-flavored martini in a darkened hotel bar. The muted music from the club next door filtered in as sharp staccato beats pulsed through the grey walls. The bar held the overflow of scantily clad women trying to cool down from the frenetic synthesized techno-music, so naturally there were many middle-aged men trying to find a bit of tail to seduce.

As much as she didn’t want to be there, the strange restlessness inside prevented Caroline from following her friend, Aldy, back to their shared hotel room. Aldy worked for a large cosmetics firm that had sent her to New York City for a weeklong convention. When her friend had invited her along, Caroline readily agreed. She had needed a fun weekend, but exploring the sights and pounding the pavements of the city hadn’t been as much fun as she had envisioned. Times Square was busy, noisy, and the crush of people almost overbearing. After her arrival she had taken a two-hour shuttle ride from La Guardia to her hotel right off Times Square, and by the time she had checked in, hunger was gnawing at her stomach. After a quick slice of cold, overcooked pizza, she tried finding David Letterman’s hangout, only to walk down the wrong street and about fourteen blocks out of her way. Finally, she had given up doing the ‘touristy’ thing and had returned to her hotel.

Aldy had an early meeting to attend, so she left to catch a few Z’s––her last words still rang in Caroline’s ears.

“I invited you along to relax,” Aldy admonished. “To forget your soon-to-be-ex-husband, whose name forever after shall be ‘Asshole’.”

“And I thank you,” Caroline replied, taking a quick sip of her fruity drink. “I’m hoping tomorrow’s excursion as a tourist in the Big Apple goes better than today.”

“Caro, you don’t need souvenirs and photographs of famously random buildings to have a good time! That’s not why you’re here. I think you should pick up a man and have a little fun.”

“Excuse me?”

Aldy swept her hand around the bar. “There are so many hot guys in here. Pick one. And don’t come back to the room tonight!”

Caroline arched a brow at her. “A one-night stand? Sex with a stranger is dangerous.”

“Oh, please.” Aldy harrumphed. “Like sleeping with a cheating husband was safe? At least with a stranger, you know protection is first and foremost.”

“You do have a point,” Caroline agreed reluctantly.

While it had been her husband Greg’s lack of fidelity that had broken their marriage up, for Caroline the biggest issue had been the respect and trust he had destroyed. She’d asked him point blank if he had been having an affair, and he had stared into her eyes and lied.

Looking around the room again, she wondered how many of these potential one-night stands were, to someone else, cheaters and liars.

The bartender placed another full martini glass in front of her, snapping her out of her mental musings. Liquid sloshed over the rim. She wiped her fingers off on a small napkin.

“I’m sorry,” Caroline said. “I didn’t order another.”

The bartender flashed a smile. “The gentleman in the back ordered it for you.”

When he walked away to answer another drink call, Caroline lifted her gaze to the mirror that lined the entire bar. Her own reflection stared back at her, surprising in detail even through low lighting. The new, brighter highlights in her short bob stood out among the dimness, making her a platinum blonde. The color paired perfectly with a strapless black dress that emphasized her pale shoulders. In the mirror she searched for her drink benefactor through the thick swell of patrons, and almost missed the small wave coming from a table stuck in the corner. He lifted his glass to her in a salute, but he didn’t move. He simply sat there, head cocked to one side as if waiting for her to join him. The darkness made it impossible to make out his features clearly, but his actions and clear expectations turned her off. Despite Aldy’s prompt to find a one-night stand, Caroline wasn’t interested in having sex with a stranger. Not to mention with a man who couldn’t even bother to approach her, using the bartender to deliver a drink. She looked away from the man in the corner and slid out a twenty from her clutch purse resting in front of her on the bar counter.

“This is for the drink,” she told the bartender when he came over to her. “Thank the gentleman––but I’ll pay for my own.”

It might have been her imagination, but she thought she saw approval in the barkeep’s eyes. He took the twenty, gave her a nod and rang her up.

Caroline eyed the new drink and debated whether or not she wanted to drink one more. She snuck a peek at her phone again. The numbers had just clicked over to half past twelve. Once again, restlessness snaked its way through her. Caroline wasn’t quite sure what to do about it, but she damn well wasn’t going to sit there and fend off unwanted advances.

Aldy had talked her into dressing up a little and relaxing with a drink. Or two. Maybe three.

She eyed the newly bought drink once more.

“Now, that wasn’t nice,” a smooth voice said toward her left.

Caroline turned quickly and saw the man from the corner table sliding into the seat next to her. She gave a mental groan. “Excuse me?”

“I said that wasn’t nice,” the man repeated. “Turning down my drink.”

He flashed her a smile that she had to assume he thought was charming, but the predatory glint in his eyes made him seem oily and pretentious. He had slicked back dark blond hair and strong handsome features, but instead of turning her on, his practiced seduction only turned her stomach.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not sitting here to be picked up,” Caroline said, her tone dismissive. She turned her head away and looked into the mirror, her gaze sweeping over everything in the reflection to make sure she didn’t look at the person next to her.

“My name is Gil,” the man continued, heedless of her cold shoulder. “Would you like to go dancing next door?”

“No, thank you,” Caroline replied firmly.

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