Page 1 of Tricking an Introvert

Tessa

Tessa grinned behind her flute of champagne, watching the crowd assembled in the bar. It was her favorite time for people watching: ten in the evening, after dinner, when the little kids were tucked in bed. The wolves came out to play at night. In trendy, higher market bars such as the one in this hotel, most people were here to score.

Well, people who weren’t Tessa, anyway.

She’d observed people from the sidelines all her life, and in her opinion, attraction was an algorithm. Simple mathematics. Or chemistry, perhaps.

An adorable blonde with a killer outfit and drool-worthy shoes was tossing her hair and batting her long lashes in the direction of a tall, dark, and handsome guy with green eyes and rectangular glasses. Dark and Handsome was her target, her goal, her birthright as a cutie.

Cute, confident women wanted to end up with smoking hot guys, of course. While they weren’t on the exact same level physically, hotties occasionally fell for cuties. Hollywood movies said so.

Next to Dark and Handsome, there was a shorter, bubbly, cute guy whose jokes made his whole table laugh.

In reality, the chances were Dark and Handsome wouldn’t settle for anything except a model-type, probably five to ten years younger than him, to ensure that they didn’t have much conversation. Tessa hoped Cutie wouldn’t take it to heart.

Tessa couldn’t get enough; she wanted—needed—to see how the peacock dance was going to end. Would Dark and Handsome give Cutie the time of day? She doubted it, but still. Watching hot, single people in real life was like binging a rom-com movie.

Ten minutes later, when Blonde Cutie had the guts to make her move, walking toward the guys' table and introducing herself, she was expecting Dark and Handsome's attention. Predictably, Dark and Handsome wasn’t interested; his body language was uninviting, his attention remaining centered around his friends. Another man in the group, the one Tessa had dubbed Bubbly Guy, made Cutie laugh. Within moments, the blonde stopped trying to catch Dark and Handsome’s gaze. Tessa knew Bubbly Guy was going to get some.

Humans were so very predictable. There was simple arithmetic to why people ended up together. It didn't matter if a guy wasn't super-hot or tall, as long as he made up for it in other ways. And preferably had a big dick.

Which was exactly why dudes like Dark and Handsome were the scourge of the earth. The worst kind of person imaginable. As well as being a clear ten physically, tall, drop-dead, drool-worthy gorgeous, with a Superman jaw and a lethal smolder, he had money—his custom Italian shoes, tailored dark gray suit, and I own the world posture made that clear—confidence in spades, and a presence that made everyone in the bar aware of him. In short, he was Tessa’s opposite.

Men like him had no reason to work on their personality. They were attractive enough to get away with being self-centered, boring, and even cruel. Their magnetism let them win debates just by existing. It wasn't just about scoring; anything from getting a job to being selected to play the lead in a high school musical worked on the same basis. Appearance was half the battle.

Now that Blonde Cutie was paired with Bubbly Guy, Tessa expected Dark and Handsome to gravitate toward Perky Titties, another object of her voyeurism tonight.

Tessa had arrived two hours ago and checked in at the hotel the night before her annual outing: a fantasy book conference. Going to bed at seven on her one trip out of town per year was too lame for words, so she'd cleaned up and headed down to the bar for snacks and a drink or two. Most attendees were socializing, getting to know each other, catching up with contacts they'd met previous years.

Tessa didn't intend to speak to anyone. Speaking wasn't her thing, even with her friends. She was the silent one, thinking about inner jokes she’d never share out loud. Among strangers? Forget it. Drinking, taking notes, and maybe sketching an interesting face or two was her plan for the night.

Dark and Handsome would make a nice demon. Hot demons were in right now. His face, black wings, on a throne in the darkest pit of hell. Horns. Definitely horns. Maybe a tail. She could see it. She itched to sketch it.

Perky Titties could be his love interest. An angel. A fae. She was dark-haired, with a fancy bob that probably got trimmed weekly, and the sort of sexy makeup Tessa could never pull off. Ruby red lips, dark smoky eyes. She rocked it.

As usual, Tessa's creativity was at peak level whenever she left her house. She should do it more often.

Tessa smiled secretly to herself. She'd also said that last year. And the year before. Probably the year before that, too. She only ever made the effort to leave New York overnight for this specific festival, the Paranormal Novel Fest.

Whitney, one of her closest college friends, had started the convention five years ago, and begged her to attend. Tessa may not be fond of socializing, but there was nothing she wouldn't do for the few people who put up with her. She didn't have much in terms of family, so her friends were her tribe. She went.

Three years later, the Baltimore PNF book convention was well known. Actors, authors, world-renowned artists attended it. Tessa didn't strictly have to go anymore, but Whitney was still asking for her to come, so, why not? Her social anxiety wasn't too bad, as she was used to the event.

And she literally went nowhere else. One event a year was all she could take.

"Did I miss a joke?"

Tessa spilled out the champagne she'd just sipped—some of it through her nostrils. Dark and Handsome was standing right next to her, at her corner of the bar. What the hell? He was not supposed to be anywhere near her. Perky Titties was still giving him the fuck-me eyes from the other side of the room!

Tessa looked around, half expecting someone—anyone—to materialize around her. He couldn't be talking to her, now could he?

"You were looking at me." He was talking to her, his gaze intently focused on her. "And laughing."

"Sorry, do I know you?"

Maybe they'd met last year, and she'd somehow forgotten about him? Unlikely. Tessa rarely forgot a face—let alone a face as nice as this one. If she'd ever talked to him, she would have remembered. But she didn't really get why the man would come all the way from the cool table to her dark corner to speak to her otherwise. She wasn't on the way to the toilets or anything. If he was here, in her space between the bar and the end wall, it was because he'd meant to come speak to her.

He extended his hand. "Cole Westbrook. You're here for the PNF, right?"

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