Page 20 of Accidental Attraction

Chapter Seven

Karen

That face. That face looked awfully familiar, but I couldn’t place a finger on it. The girl with Liam Stanford was very pretty, and I couldn’t help but wonder if we had met before. Even after they abruptly left, I stared after them, my eyebrows furrowed. The rest of the night went by rather quickly, and soon my husband and I were back home. I was currently taking off my makeup and getting into a pair of pjs.

“Honey, do you know the girl that was with Liam Stanford?” I asked from the bathroom.

“All I know is that she is his fiancé,” Martin shouted back at me. “She never said her name.”

Then why did she seem so familiar?

“Why are you wondering?” he asked as I came out of the bathroom and stood beside the bed.

“Oh, nothing. I just think I have seen her before. Maybe we have met her parents or something.” I waved it off. I was just tired from the long day.

“I just got off the phone with Ryan, and he said him and Tessa are excited about coming home, and their plane lands at eleven so we have to be there early,” he said. My twin babies were off at boarding school. It sucked not seeing them every day, but it was the best school in the country, so I guess it made up for it.

“That’s good,” I said, rubbing in my lotion before pulling the covers over myself and grabbing my book. We read for the next little bit before turning off our lights and heading to bed.

I lay there, trying to sleep, but for some reason I could not. I tried counting sheep and thinking about everything I needed done this weekend and during the week, but nothing seemed to work. Instead, my mind decided to bring up old memories I had pushed far away.

***

“What is your name?” someone asked. Lifting my head up from the counter, I saw a pair of chocolate-brown eyes and a gorgeous face. The guy sitting in front of me was wearing a nice suit with the tie loosened, and his brown hair was ruffled like he ran his hands through it too many times. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

“Huh?” I asked, already forgetting what he’d just said. I was too busy staring at his gorgeous face. He had high cheek bones and a nice jaw line.

“What is your name?” he asked once more.

“Oh, I am Karen,” I answered.

“Pretty name for a pretty woman,” he said, sending me a smile. I felt myself blush and chided myself. I was twenty-five, for goodness’ sake. I shouldn’t be blushing at a comment like that.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“I am Martin, Martin Brotherson.”

“It is nice to meet you, Martin.” Looking down at his hands, I saw he didn’t have a drink, and I also noticed he didn’t have a ring on. I really didn’t expect him to be married, seeing that he couldn’t be older than twenty-eight. “Is there anything I can get you? A beer, scotch, whiskey?” I asked.

“I’ll take a beer. Whatever you have on draft,” he answered. Nodding, I moved behind the counter to get him his drink. I felt him staring at me the entire time, which made my skin get hot.

“Here you go,” I said, sliding his beer in front of him.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why is a woman like you working at a bar like this?” Martin asked suddenly.

“What is a man like you doing at a bar like this?” I countered.

“Long day at the office. Needed something to relax me,” he answered, surprising me. He raised his eyebrows at me, waiting for my answer.

“I have bills I need to pay.”

“A woman like you shouldn’t have to work for stuff.” He took a pull from his beer and looked me straight in the eyes. Something about him seemed to speak to me. He looked like a businessman, and judging by his expensive watch, he had money.

I had been in plenty of relationships before. I mean, I had a daughter for crying out loud. It was no surprise that I was attracted to this unknown man. But it was surprising by how much I was. I’d only met him three minutes ago. His stare burned into my face like he was trying to get inside of my head.

“Tell me more about you,” Martin said, interrupting my thoughts. For the next hour the two of us spoke, getting to know one another. The entire time I felt at ease and safe. He did not strike me as a guy who would hurt a woman or demand sex in the bathroom like most men I had encountered at work. Every time I talked he would listen intently, almost like he was hanging off every word. Before I knew it, it was ten at night and my shift was over.

I knew it was terribly wrong, but I never told Martin I had a five-year-old daughter at home. Something inside of me was holding that little piece of information back. I knew men did not like when a woman had a child from another man. I knew if I told him he would run away, and I did not want that. I wanted to keep talking to him. We talked as if we knew each other all our lives. And we had plenty in common. We both lost our parents right after high school, and we both liked the same type of music.

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