Page 53 of Untethered Heart
The club has a steady crowd of younger people. Certainly younger than I feel. I’m glad I bothered to change out of my suit tonight, opting for dark wash jeans and a white Ralph Lauren Henley that Beth got me for Christmas last year.
I scan the bar, searching for a flood of red that never fails to call to me.
Making my way to the front of the bar, I sit on a stool at the very end. Disappointment takes root in my chest as I notice her absence. Perhaps she’s not working tonight, and now I’m sitting here like a fool with nothing better to do than pine for a woman I don’t know how to keep. I feel a little better with how we left things a few days ago at the salon. Our fingers stayed locked around each other for a full ten minutes before Claire dragged her away to meet more of Lee’s family. I stuck with Mason for another hour, meeting Lee’s cousin, Tristan, and some of the guysworking at Connors Construction, who Mason said would be the ones working on Gage’s new bar. But for the remaining time we were there, Lex kept looking for me. She couldn’t keep her eyes off me, and I know because my eyes were on her for most of the night too.
“Hey, mate, can I get you anything?” A young guy with a towel thrown over his shoulder interrupts my thoughts.
I scan the shelves behind him. “Johnny Walker Triple Malt, neat.”
With a nod, the bartender turns away. I rest my arms against the bar top, surveying the crowd.
I muster up a half smile when the bartender comes back with my drink. Before I can take a sip, my arm stops. Lex comes through a back hallway, blowing a stray lock from her face as she balances a stack of crates in her arms. I can’t describe all the ways it lights me up to see Lex in a new, undiscovered form.
I’ve seen her hips held hostage in a tight leather skirt when she’s been out dancing. In white cowboy boots that made me salivate. In that pale blue cocktail dress the night of the contract signing that highlighted the shades of grey in her eyes.
Tonight, she wears a tight black T-shirt with the club’s logo in neon pink across the back. Little black shorts that show off her siren tattoo, the curved tail that draws attention to the perfect golden silhouette of her thigh.
Her red hair hangs in two braids over her shoulders. She’s the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
I’ve seen a lot of women, been with my fair share, too. But not one could touch the beauty Lex holds so gracefully. So innocently.
The glass finally makes its way to my lips. I savour the taste on my tongue the same way my eyes savour Lex as she moves around the bar.
Perhaps she felt eyes upon her. Or perhaps fate told her to turn around, but whatever it is makes those grey eyes meet mine, widening briefly in shock.
Like a jolt of electricity, my body welcomes the thrill that comes when her attention belongs to me.
She looks around, seeking I’m not sure what. A guest I might be with. Perhaps uninvited eyes that might bear witness to our exchange.
Whatever the hesitancy, she swallows it down, and makes her way over to me.
“Hello.” That word may have been lost in the music if it weren’t for the fact that my gaze is zeroed in on her mouth. I can’t resist when they’re painted in her signature red.
“Hello, Siren.”
Her hands run circles over each other, thin silver bands are stacked on almost every finger, making me think of the one still hanging off my chain.
“What are you doing here?”
That’s a great question. One I wish I had a better answer for.
“Just came for a drink.”
“And you thought to come here instead of the bar your brother owns?”
“But you’re not at The Wayside.”
I can see the flush as it breaks out on her cheeks. Her eyes quickly dart around, but no one here is paying us any attention.
“So, you came to see me?” she asks.
I can read the emotion on her face, on her body. She wants my honesty; she just doesn’t know if she can believe it. I’m starting to understand that Lex is someone who needs words backed up with actions. I can do that.
I rest my elbows on the bar top, blowing a breath against my hands where they clamp together. Gathering the control that so easily slips around her, I rest my chin on top of my fists. “Thealternative was to sit in my empty apartment and wonder what you were doing instead.”
“Well, here I am.” She shrugs playfully. “Very exciting.”
“It’s definitely made my night.”
