Page 9 of Illicit Illustration

“Oh yeah, and the deep flirty tones coming out of you without hesitation means you’ve got practice at seduction. Which I find incredibly attractive. What do you find attractive, bachelor number seven?”

“Women with a sense of humor.”

“Then you’re in luck, I’m freaking hilarious. People laughat meall the time.”

Deciding not to rise to the bait of her putting herself down, I continued with my list to see how she’d respond.

“A woman who loves her family.”

“Considering I can’t seem to escape mine; I must love them a lot.”

“That didn’t sound too convincing. Do they meddle in your life too much?”

“Not really,” she sighed, clearing her throat. “I just have a very protective older brother, who is also my boss. So, it’s hard to step out of my comfort zone when I feel like he’s watching my every move.”

“It’s probably because he cares about you and doesn’t want to see you make mistakes.”

“Or because he’s the world’s biggest cock block.”

I choked, trying not to laugh at her assessment of Hudson.

“I just want to break out of this mold he’s shoved me into. But maybe now that he doesn’t have a psycho bitch for a girlfriend, his new one can keep him distracted enough that I can finally breathe. Even if he stole my best friend.”

If I didn’t already know the story, I would have asked more questions about that. But now that I was fairly certain this bachelorette was Hazel, I suddenly wanted to march over to Charley and break her damn timer.

“And now that you can breathe, what do you plan to do with your freedom from cock blocking older brothers?”

“Well,” she hummed, and the sound sent a shockwave through me. Now that her nerves were calmed by the anonymity of the opaque screen between us, I felt like she was letting her personality really shine through. I’d been trying to get her comfortable around me for months, but our history had clearly made her more skittish than I’d realized. “I want to finally be brave enough to do the things I’ve always wanted.”

“Which are?”

“Dance all night. Find a guy who understands me and doesn’t try to change me. Steal my brother’s motorcycle just to feel the wind on my face… Get a tattoo.”

“You know you should wear a helmet if you steal his bike.”

She laughed, and I glanced at Charley, who was standing at the end of the barrier screens, imploring her to not call out the time like I knew she would in less than a minute. She winked, and I sighed in relief as she flashed her phone. The screen was paused on the two-minute mark, and I knew she was waiting for Hazel to lose interest before she called out time.

Part of me felt sorry for the guys stuck withlikegirl and the whisperer, but maybe they were into that.

I was into the woman on the opposite side of the screen from me.

“You sound just like him.”

“Or maybe I just want to protect the pretty face of the woman on the other side of this screen.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed, her voice taking on a tone that had me wanting to knock this screen over and take her by the chin. “That would involve me being pretty. I’m average at best.”

Hazel had a natural beauty about her, nothing superficial like so many of the women that came into the bar. Her high cheekbones, dark brown eyes, freckles that dusted her cheeks, and silky auburn hair…

Damn,she was a stunner. Even if she didn’t see it.

“Well, I find your laugh very attractive.”

“Oh, don’t worry. My personality is quite sparkling. Well… when I’m not rambling about random things because I’m nervous. Or turning bright red when I’m embarrassed, which is often because I have a word vomit problem. And I know lots of random facts I add to conversations to make them more awkward. Then there’s the whole interrupting people and over-sharing. Yup. So hot. It’s a wonder I’m here with all the men beating down my door.”

“I’d happily beat down your door. I enjoy listening to you.”

She laughed, “Well, buckle up. Cause if we ever meet in person, I’m sure I’ll word vomit all over you. Or just freeze and run away. I’m good at that too.”

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