Page 4 of Saint

“Liquid courage,” she said and slid it over.

“I need it.” Mia took a big gulp of the sweet drink.

“Okay, c’mon, I want to get you situated before you chicken out. They’re going to start soon.” Liv began walking toward the roped off section of the bar where ten tables were set up with two chairs across from each other. On each tabletop was a notepadand pen to take notes in between rounds and a clock that would buzz every four minutes.

The other women were already sitting, ready to get started, and Mia sat down in the only empty chair against the wall. The men would be the ones to get up and move every four minutes.

“Good luck,” Liv said. “I have a feeling you’re going to meet the man of your dreams tonight.”

“Ha! I seriously doubt that.”

“Just have fun. And if you need another drink, text me. I’ll get one sent over.” Liv tossed her a wink then hurried off to tend bar.

Mia let her eyes wander the room while she sucked down more of her vodka sour. The alcohol helped calm her nerves, and before she knew it, the hostess of the event was introducing herself and pointing to a group of men waiting to chat up the women.

Here we go,Mia thought, hope filling her. She had rotten luck when it came to men, but maybe Liv was right. Maybe tonight she would finally meet someone special.

Exactly sixteen minutes and four men later, Mia looked down at her notes and sighed. She hadn’t felt a connection with any of them. Not the model/social influencer who claimed he had two million followers and was only there to promote his brand. Definitely not the mortician who only talked about death and dying. Certainly not the guy who was “between jobs” and liked to shoot the rats in the alley behind his apartment with a BB gun. That left the long-haul trucker. He’d told her he wasn’t around that much, so maybe that was a good thing. At least he wouldn’t be too clingy or demanding.

As Mia was placing a question mark next to the trucker’s name, the chair across from her scraped backward. She hit the timer and looked up at Mr. Tall, Dark and Oh-So-Sinful. As the bear of a man sat down, his black eyes locked in on her like a missile.

All the air seemed to rush out of her lungs and it took her a moment to find her voice. Holy crap, he was intimidating. And hot as fuck.

“Hi,” she said, her voice breathless, her attention moving to the black tattoos on his neck that disappeared down past the neckline of his black T-shirt. The material pulled against his muscled pecs and he wore a leather jacket better than any bad boy she’d ever seen. His hands, which he laid flat on the table, were covered with ink. Something inside her fluttered and she couldn’t help but wonder if his whole body was tattooed. When she looked back up, meeting his stony face, she gave him a tentative smile. “I’m Mia.”

“Nice to meet you, Mia. I’m Nik.”

Something about that deep, graveled voice of his piqued her interest. She detected a very faint accent but couldn’t place it. Actually, everything about him intrigued her. She’d always had a secret thing for dangerous-looking men, but she’d never had the nerve to do anything about it. And Nik definitely had an edge that appealed to her. She was surprised to see him participating in Sip & Spark, figuring a man like him would have his pick of women. An image flashed through her mind of women swooning at his feet the moment he snapped his fingers.

She cleared the visual with a quick sip of her drink and looked down at her notepad. “So, ah, I have a list of questions here.” Her voice wavered a bit, caught in the energy emanating from the man on the other side of the table. God, just when she’dbegun to relax, Khal Drogo appeared and sat down across from her. Even though her heart thumped madly, she didn’t think she’d mind being his Khaleesi. Nope, not one little bit. “What do you do for work?”

“What do you do for work?” he asked right back.

“I’m in school. I mean, I was in school.” He arched a scarred brow. “I decided to change careers, so I, ah, dropped out recently.”

Why did she feel the need to tell him the truth? With everyone else, she’d merely said she was a student and moved on. But the way Nik was looking at her, as though he could see straight into her soul, gave her no choice but to be truthful.

He nodded, but didn’t comment, and he continued studying her so intently she shifted in her seat.

“And you?” she asked again.

Those extremely dark eyes of his, blacker than a moonless night, held hers captive. “I do whatever is needed. Today, for example, my job involved…plumbing.”

“Oh, you’re a city worker?” she asked, and his mouth edged up.

“Sure,” he answered slowly, drawing the word out. “Any other questions?”

“Um…” She dropped her attention back down to the notepad. There was a whole list they’d provided, but he didn’t look like the kind of guy who wanted to talk about the latest Netflix show he binged or the last book he read. He seemed more like a man of action. Fast-paced, ever-changing, always-chasing-the-next-rush.

The perfect man to have a one-night stand with.

The thought hit her out of nowhere and she felt her face heat up. That wasn’t the only part of her getting warmer. But she wouldn’t dare.

Would she?

Mia was a good girl who always followed the rules. Dropping out of law school, much to her father’s supreme disappointment, had been the first real thing she’d done for herself. She’d tried studying law for two years but had been absolutely miserable. Dating and relationships had always been something she planned to focus on later. And now she was a twenty-four-year-old virgin heiress with no career direction, sitting across from a gorgeous stranger who radiated more heat than a volcanic eruption.

Hmm.Maybe opportunity had just knocked on her door in the form of Mr. Dangerous. She took another sip of her drink and asked, “What’s your spirit animal?”

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