Page 1 of Dirty Deceptions

Chapter One

Lauren stared at the time on her cell phone. Jake was half an hour late. He wasn’t coming. She knew the feeling of being dumped, too well. The chipper little notification chime confirmed her suspicions.

SORRY, L. IT’S NOT GOING TO WORK OUT BETWEEN US. CONGRATS ON THE PROMO.

“Asshole,” she muttered, slamming her phone onto the bar top.

“Not the news you were expecting, I take it?”

It wasn’t so much the words that got her, but the deep, gruff tone. Lauren glanced to her left. Pale blue eyes watched her with enough heat to have her wondering if her deodorant was going to be able to withstand that sexy stare. Holy Jesus, the man was gorgeous with his closely cropped black hair and facial scruff. A suit-wearing type, but somehow not. His thick biceps and massive chest strained the white dress shirt to the point where it was anyone’s guess how long it’d take before he popped a button or ripped a stitch. He’d rolled his sleeves up, showing off the smallest bit of a tattoo. She wanted to see the rest of it. And did he have more of them?

She cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter. “Excuse me?”Ah-ha, not a single stammer.

He jerked his head toward her phone. “Your expletive sort of caught my attention.”

She cringed. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Want to talk about it?”

She sighed and stuck out her hand. “Lauren.”

“Alex,” he offered as he took her hand in a firm but gentle hold. A few heart-pounding seconds ticked by before he released her. “Tell me to butt out if you want, but did some idiot just dump you?”

She took a sip of her white wine before replying, “I should’ve seen it coming. It’s always the ones that are uber-romantic. First date he had two dozen red roses delivered. Second date he took me to that restaurant across town that serves that amazing sushi. You know, the new one?”

He sat back a little and watched her. “I hear it’s tough to get reservations.”

“Yep.” She sighed. “He went above and beyond to impress. So, there it is.”

“I’m confused.” He tilted his head to one side. “He romanced you and that means he’s a jerk?”

She tsked. “No, he tried too hard. Went to great lengths. I should’ve known he’d have a sell-by date.”

He chuckled. “Sell-by date, huh?”

She found her lips curving upward. “That’s awful, right?”

He shrugged as he took a swig of his dark beer. “Not at all. What’s awful is leaving you here alone on a Friday night.”

“And I just got the best news too. Asshole,” she muttered.

“Yeah?”

What harm was there in telling a stranger? “I landed a job that I’ve been wanting,” she explained, as she stared at her long-stemmed glass. “I was hoping to celebrate with him.” God, she’d been so happy before Jake’s text. For one moment in time, she’d been on top of the world. He just had to go and ruin it.

“So, celebrate with me instead.”

Her head jerked his way and she could see the sincerity in those gorgeous blues. “You’re serious,” she guessed.

He grinned and tossed back the last of his beer. “I am. A beautiful woman should never celebrate alone. That’s a terrible crime.”

Electricity sizzled along her nerve endings, but her brain was firing warning shots at her. “I don’t even know you.”

He held up both hands as if in surrender. “I’m harmless and we don’t need to do anything crazy. We don’t even need to leave this bar.”

“Harmless? No way do I believe that.” She paused then added, “You don’t expect sex? Most guys expect sex if they buy drinks for a woman.”

He pointed to his empty bottle. “You can buy me drinks then,” he said, his voice softer now as he leaned a little closer. “After all, you’re the bigshot with the new job.”

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