Page 22 of Company Ink

"Setenil... de las... Bodegas." The words roll off his tongue, so velvety and smooth, like dense, dark, and melted chocolate. My eyes stay affixed on his full lips as he repeats the name over and over again, every syllable drawing me closer, like a helpless honeybee to a full succulent flower, until I realize I'm dangerously close to his tempting lips.

"Your turn," he whispers, and my eyes flicker up to his blazing irises.

"Setenil de las Bodegas," I mutter, my voice is breathy and uneven. My body shifts closer to his, our knees and thighs touching, my heart fluttering out of my chest with desire and anticipation. "How was that?"

"Better," Adrian murmurs, his warm palm hovering over my exposed thigh, emitting titillating heat that stirs something deep inside of my abdomen.

Touch me. I scream with my eyes.What're you waiting for?

A startling thump on the bar forces us to turn our heads. "Your beer," the bartender says with an edge to his voice like he knew he was disrupting a moment. "Enjoy."

I shake my head in an attempt to gather my wit. I've never wanted to punch someone as much as I do this damn bartender. He totally just cock-blocked me! Or maybe he was trying to cock-block Adrian... Either way, I am peeved!

Adrian shuffles in his seat, purposely creating distance between us once again. He holds up his red bottle of beer. "To us and the BluTech account."

I begrudgingly cheers with him and take a sip of my cranberry vodka goodness. What is his deal? One minute he's hot the next he's cold. He flirts and then he's back to his old professional self. Oh God, he's a Katy Perry song.

"So," Adrian begins. "Other than Spain, where else have you been?"

"Mmm... Thailand, Indonesia, Italy, Portugal, France, Mexico, and uh—Peru. Plus a few States here and there."

Adrian blinks, flabbergasted… "And you're how old?"

"Twenty-four."

"You're quite the adventurer," he notes, taking a sip of beer. "Were you always interested in travel?"

"Not until three years ago," I sigh, thinking about Ness and all the trips we had planned. "Something happened and I—I just figured, why put off until tomorrow what I could do today." Adrian looks like he's going to ask a follow up question, which I'm not keen on answering so I interject and ask, "How about you? Travel often?"

"When time permits, yes. I actually just recently went to Peru myself."

My eyes light up. "Really? Did you hike Machu Picchu?" I ask eagerly.

"Of course, it was the reason I went."

"Me too!"

For the next whoever knows how long, Adrian and I talk about Peru and how ill-prepared we both were for the trek up the Inca archaeological ruin. It turns out we both used the same tour company for the excursion and even had the same guide, Hector Garcia. This man was like a drill sergeant. Water breaks, snack breaks, and everything in between was timed to the second.

"I think Hector is a very admirable man," Adrian argues, tapping his credit card on the table. "Plus, I'm sure if he wasn't diligent about timekeeping, you wouldn't have made it all the way to the end. I may be older than you, Cassie, but I know how many selfies women your age take."

Raise your hand if you've been personally victimized by Adrian Cavallero.

"That's not true!" I lie through my teeth. "I barely took any photos." I'm hoping he doesn't ask to see my camera roll.

Adrian hands his Visa card to the bartender. "You're a horrible liar," he laughs.

"Or maybe I'm such a good liar, that you think I'm a bad liar, and thus end up believing my original lies," I retort, smiling smugly.

Adrian cocks his head to the side, stifling an incredulous laugh. "What?"

My eyes shift to my three empty martini glasses. "It made sense in my head," I admit slowly, checking the time. "Holy cow, it's already 8 pm?"

"I'm sorry for keeping you so long," Adrian says, catching my surprised expression. "I hope your friends aren't going to be upset."

"My what?" I ask and then immediately remember I told him I had plans.Shit. "Right! My friends, yes. No, no. They'll be fine. They're very...understanding." And completely made the fuck up.

Adrian grabs the receipt off of the checkbook and pockets it. "I had a nice time with you, Cassie," he says, leading us out of the bar.

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