“I am.”

“So now we find you the perfect candidate.” She leaned forward over the small wooden two-person bar table.

I scanned the crowd with her, admittedly feeling overwhelmed. It had been quite a while since I’d been on a first date or slept with anyone other than Craig. It was easy enough for Misty to say ‘all I had to do’ was fuck a few guys to get my ex out of my system, but I didn’t really know if I could.

Continuing to scan the crowd, I saw everything from the classic tall, dark, and handsome to men who were built like linebackers, no doubt spending most of their free time in the gym and everything else in between. Then, of course, there were the men who I wouldn’t touch if my life depended on it.

“What about that one?” Misty pointed to a blonde-haired man of average height standing at the bar. He was lean with a nice profile, and he certainly had potential. “Or that one.” She pointed to a dark-haired man with a bodybuilder stature.

I shook my head. “Too much muscle. He’d crush me in the sack.”

“Besides, you know what they say about men with too much muscle,” a deep male voice said from behind me.

“No, what?” I replied without thinking, then groaned inwardly, hating that some dude was going to try and butt into our discussion as a way to strike up a conversation. I didn’t bother to turn to face him, hoping he’d just go away.

“Over compensating,” he replied, undeterred.

Rolling my eyes, I looked over my shoulder, half-way turning. I wasn’t even going to give him the privilege of a full turn. My lips parted as I was about to tell him that this was a girls’ only conversation and he wasn’t included, when my eyes locked with a pair of the most stunning dark blue eyes I’d ever seen. When my eyes finished their visual feast of his, my gaze lowered to his lips, which had turned into a cocky little grin as he began to speak again. I watched his lips move as if in a trance.

“By the look you just gave me, I’m going to assume this is a girls’ night only and by interrupting it came off as more annoying than charming.”

“I, ummm.” My cheeks grew warm as I cringed. I wasn’t normally a rude person, honestly. Him calling me out on it made me feel bad.

“Come on now, I’m trying to work on my pick-up lines. Your input would be really appreciated.”

Laughing, I shrugged, turning to face him fully. Okay, so perhaps he had some charm, I’d give credit where credit was due. “It wasn’t the best line. But I’ve heard worse.”

The man standing before me laughed along with me a moment. “Okay, then how about we do this the old-fashioned way?” He extended his hand to me. “I’m Nate, nice to meet you.”

After a moment’s hesitation, I accepted his hand. “Layla.” I really hoped he wasn’t so corny as to sing a line from Eric Clapton’s “Layla”. I’d had men do that to me in the past, and it made me embarrassed for both myself and them.

“Beautiful name.” His smile widened as his eyes quickly did a sweep of my body, pausing at my cleavage. He didn’t pause long enough to come off as creepy, just long enough for me to notice. Modesty was screaming for me to cover myself up, but I ignored the temptation. Not like I had anything to cover up with anyhow. Wasn’t the whole point of coming here, to quote Misty, to get under a new man. And Nate seemed to be as good as any—at least as far as appearances went. We’d see about the rest.

“Thanks.”

“Can I buy you a drink?”

I held my glass up for him to see. “Got one.”

Giving me a sheepish grin, he shrugged. “I see. Then how about after you’re finished with that one, I pay for the next.”

“Perhaps.” I took a sip from my drink. “Why would you need to use a pick-up line anyhow?”

His smile faded a bit, but the amusement remained in his eyes. “Then what would you suggest?”

“A simple, hey, how’s things going?” I gave it a moment’s thought. “Or maybe, I’m Nate, I’d like to get to know you. The classics never die.”

He cringed, but I could see he was simply mocking me. “Those are really corny lines. I don’t think they’d work. Good thing I didn’t choose you as my wingman.”

Speaking of wingmen, or in my instance wingwoman… I looked around me, but Misty was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, she’d gotten up and taken off somewhere along the line. Frowning, I looked back at Nate.

“She left a minute or two ago.”

“She left? Where?” Would she just take off on me like that? That wasn’t safe. I had to say, I was a little annoyed. Nate could be a psycho for all I knew! Hot men could easily be crazy too. Hell, it was easier for hot guys to be crazy, they barely had to work to get a victim.

“Dunno, she’s your friend. But I will tell you that she gave me a thumbs up before she left.”

My eyes narrowed at him, but I couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that a fact?”