Page 2 of Audra: The Prequel

They strolled through the large room. The men in attendance were definitely good-looking and in excellent shape. Audra suspected most, if not all of them were athletes.Maybe I should pay more attention to baseball, she mused.

She helped herself to a nacho at one of the food tables. As she was crunching the snack between her teeth, her gaze wandered toward the balcony doors.

She froze.

There was a man standing there, dressed casually in chinos and a snug-fitting burnt ochre shirt that showed off his defined chest and exposed tattooed arms. Clearly one of the athletes.

A diamond stud sparkled in his left ear, a striking contrast to his milk chocolate skin. A mustache connected to a beard formed a circle around his mouth—neat and low the way she liked. He looked tall, but everyone looked tall because she was short. His casual sexiness caught her off guard and made her stare. He looked like he spent a lot of time on his appearance and probably smelled good too.

He was looking at her—blatantly, openly. The way he looked at her made her knees soften and almost give way. Her whole body tingled under his watchful gaze.

Jacob approached with their drinks and blocked her view of the man by the door. He handed Claudia a red, slushy drink that looked like a daiquiri. Audra took her Coke.

While Claudia and Jacob flirted, her eyes searched for the hot guy but didn’t see him. Feeling like a third wheel, she interrupted her friend’s conversation. “Excuse me, I need to make a quick phone call.”

Claudia opened her mouth to say something, but Audra slipped away. For show, she pulled out her phone on the way to the kitchen.Other than the stainless steel appliances, the entire kitchen was white too.

“This guy needs a decorator,” she muttered to herself.

There was extra food and snacks on the island, so she opened a bag of chips and munched on a few as she scrolled through her Twitter feed.

“Hiding?” The voice came from behind her, and she spun around, drawing a startled breath when she saw the hot guy standing several feet away. Damn, he was fine.

One hand held a tumbler of dark liquor. He put up the other hand in a disarming way. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was mesmerized by a Twitter war between a Democratic representative and a Republican senator.”

His eyebrows shot higher. “Deep stuff to be looking into at a party.”

“I needed a break from out there.”

“You’re not having a good time?”

Audra shrugged instead of answering honestly.

“Oh no.” He laughed. Slow and sexy, which made her entire body vibrate with awareness.

“Honestly, I didn’t want to come. I’m keeping my friend company.”

“Oh, gotcha,” he said, slowly nodding.

His probing eyes examined her from head to foot, and Audra felt her cheeks burn under his scrutiny.

“I’m Damon, by the way. Damon Foster.”

Oddly, the way he pronounced his name and then waited gave her the impression that he expected her to say something afterward.

“Audra Connor. I guess you play baseball, like the owner of this place?”

He tilted his head and looked at her with an odd expression she didn’t understand.

“Is there something wrong?” Audra asked.

He smirked. “Nah, it’s… never mind. Yes, I play a little bit. It’s nice to meet you, Audra.”

“Nice to meet you.” She shifted from one foot to the other, unsure what to say next. “Well, I guess I better head back out there. Excuse me.”

As she moved toward him, he shifted out of the way and spilled some of his drink on the counter near the door. He swore softly.

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