Page 8 of Billionaire Boss's One Night Stand

Nervousness battled with fear. I waited for this new guy to flick my hand away, not welcoming my touch. We were strangers, and perhaps I was taking this a little too far. To my shock, he didn’t recoil or smirk at me. Instead, he turned so he could tuck me against his side, draping his free arm around my shoulders. It was a territorial embrace, like he was making his claim on me.

And I was all for it.

The drunk rolled his eyes. “What the fuck?” He snorted before lifting his beer bottle to his lips. Once he realized it was already empty, he groaned and slammed it onto the bar top before walking away.

I froze, watching as the man sulked off. He was probably on his way to find another woman to prey upon, and I hated that he’d targeted me.

“Are you all right?” my savior asked. He slowly stepped aside from me, but he didn’t go too far. His body heat radiated to me, and with the spicy hint of his cologne, so clean and fresh, I was lured to want him back against me.

“Um…” I nodded, looking down at my arm where the drunk had grabbed me. “Yeah. Thank you.”

This man still held my fingers, and as we stood apart, he turned my hand so he could inspect the red marks on my flesh. “I was checking out my tab and noticed him bothering you. Sorry I wasn’t faster.”

“He came out of nowhere,” I admitted.

The stroke of his thumb on my skin teased me. A shiver coursed through me, and I wondered how he could invoke such pleasure with one little touch like this.

“Are you here alone?” he asked.

I nodded before I could think better of that reply. While it was stupid to letanotherman know I was by myself, I dismissed the worry that this guy was like the other one. I didn’t feel trapped or alarmed. Just… safe.

“I, um. I just wanted to get one drink for myself. To celebrate.” My hair fell forward, and as I lifted my face to gaze up into his blue eyes, I tucked my long, blonde hair back behind my ears.

“Oh?” He lightened up a bit. Calling his softer expression a smile was a stretch. But his lean facial features changed up into something like a smirk. Perhaps I’d amused him. Intrigued him, even. He didn’t look away, seeming stuck on searching my face for an answer to a riddle I didn’t know. “What are you celebrating?”

I smiled, feeling the start of a blush warming my cheeks. The impatient bartender had been trying to get his attention for a moment now, waving a card and an electronic payment device. I pointed, indicating for him to turn from me. “Your tab…”

He didn’t look away. Reaching toward the bar was the moment he seemed to realize he was still holding my hand. “Oh. I’m sorry.” He released me, looking down at my hand.

Me too.I mourned the loss of his touch. It grounded me somehow, and I mentally chastised myself for wishing this stranger could put his hand on me again. I hadn’t felt thatprimal, simple sort of comfort in… forever. Hell, I’d never felt that sort of electric spark before.

He kept his smoldering stare on me as he signed the screen with his fingertip without reading it.

The idea that he couldn’t look away from me was thrilling.

“What are you celebrating?”

Having his attention on me like this was getting to my head. He’d already wowed me with that Good Samaritan act of scaring off that other guy, pretending to be here with me. And the more I noticed about him, all the rugged strength his shirt and pants didn’t hide well from the strain on the seams, desire chased away the remnants of what I’d felt before.

I wasn’t second-guessing myself and doubting that I’d manage this night. I wasn’t worried about being abducted. Yet, I wasn’t sure how much to reveal about myself to a complete stranger.

“Changes,” I replied. It was true. I was adjusting to taking charge of my life for once, and I was doing so with many changes.

Now he smiled. A slow, sexy grin lifted his lips, and I was struck with the need to kiss him. To feel his mouth against mine.

“Changes.” He nodded, stepping closer to me. He wasn’t crowding me, but I wished he were. I couldn’t explain this instant draw, this immediate need to be flush with him and just let go. The taunting pressure to surrender to desire built, and I wondered how this could be happening.

I had no clue who this guy was, but we’d collided into a case of lust at first sight. I wasn’t an expert at reading men. I was clueless at best, but a man didn’t lick his lips and stare at a woman like that without something torrid and naughty in mind.

“I could toast to that. I’ve been ready for a change for a long time now.”

Closer and closer, he leaned in toward me. I gave in to the urge to reach up toward him, setting my hand on his chest for leverage. “Stuck in a rut?” I asked, noticing how breathy I sounded.

He nodded, placing his hand on my side to pull me toward him gently. “Yeah. But right now, I’m stuck on you, stranger.”

I smiled, aroused by his husky voice and the mesmerizing intensity in his eyes.

“What if you and I headed next door for your celebratory drink,” he asked, gazing at me like his life wouldn’t carry on until he had my reply, “and we can toast to changes together?”

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