Page 6 of Undercover
Definitely a clean-glass kind of bar. Since Rainn hadn’t paused to get one, he must have understood just how desperate I was for some…not liquid courage, because after staring at the scowl on Hot Dude’s handsome, stubbled face, no liquid in the world would give me enough courage to actually talk to him.
Liquid anesthesia, maybe. I wondered if I could synthesize something that would control blushing without completely fucking up the rest of my body’s circulatory system. Maybe a cooling gel, topically applied to reduce flushing? Maybe that already existed. Like a lot of chemists—I slugged another huge gulp of my wine at the thought, because I couldn’t really call myself a chemist anymore, and thathurt—I didn’t actually know or care much about medical science. I liked the way the atoms danced in perfect harmony when I did things right, swung and caught and held hands, forming new and beautiful patterns. Patterns that intersected with other patterns, and eventually maybe made your face cool down.
But honestly it was mostly the molecules themselves that interested me. What they could do to the human body usually didn’t.
Still. Ethanol could be a glorious, glorious thing when it affected the human body. Two little carbons and an oxygen with their six tiny hydrogen friends. Rearrange them a little and they’d do nothing except blow up if you lit a match. In this arrangement, they made me not care as much that I had no career, no boyfriend, and an embarrassing crush on a guy who’d probably dismiss me if he knew me. I set the now-empty glass on the counter and waved at Rainn again, starting to slouch a little against the bar.
Yeah, that was better. Liquid anesthesia.
Rainn poured the third glass with a disapproving frown, but at least he poured it. I sipped this one more slowly, taking the time to look at the sign showing the night’s wine specials. The malbec promised blackberry, cocoa powder, and leather. Mmm. Leather. Like his jacket…the way he’d smell if he pushed me up against a wall and leaned in. I’d catch a whiff of leather then, and maybe something warm and spicy and dangerous.
The malbec delivered, and I actually chilled out enough to enjoy it. Besides, I’d better. I was pretty sure Rainn was going to cut me off. The sun wouldn’t be down for another two hours, and even though with May’s long days that still put me firmly into cocktail hour…well, day drinking. He had a point.
I finished the wine, toyed with the glass for a minute, and then left an extra-large tip on the bar, slipping away while Rainn was distracted by leaning in to whisper in the ear of a cute, fresh-faced guy with light brown hair sitting at the other end of the bar.
And then more than whisper. Yeah, that was a kiss, and a look in the guy’s eyes that said more than words could, and a smile that—well, that nearly undid all the good the wine had done me.
That. I wantedthat.
A guy in a suit, stylish gray tie loosened and top shirt button undone, smiled at me from one of the booths as I made my way to the front door. A handsome guy, with long legs and a familiar gleam in his dark eyes.
On any other day, maybe. I’d loosened up enough that I could manage to flirt, and then I’d want to take the guy home with me and get fucked and drink some more and…and that wasn’tthat, and abruptly, it also wasn’t nearly enough. My chest tightened, and I swallowed down the lump in my throat and headed out the door, not even bothering to return the smile.
The sun had slanted down enough that the Church Street marketplace had fallen into shadow, with lights coming on all along the promenade. God, it would’ve been nice to saunter out of Vino and Veritas hand-in-hand with someone, stop for ice cream, and then head home and make love while the sun went down.
If I had a couple of cocktails when I got home alone, I might get sloshed enough that a club would start sounding like a good idea. Wednesday night wasn’t exactly primetime for pulling someone, but at that point I wouldn’t be all that picky, either.
I headed south along Church. I’d walk home. About eight blocks, partly uphill…and I needed to stay in shape. Not that I had a ton of muscle, but I liked to be toned, at least. An eight-pack, or really any kind of pack, wasn’t in my future, but I was kind of proud of my taut, tight thighs and ass, not gonna lie.
About three blocks into the walk, Church dead-ended, with a little park across the street.
Fuck it, I wanted to watch the sunset, and even though my condo had a killer view—came with the price tag—I also didn’t want to be inside just yet, dealing with my heaped-up laundry and empty fridge. I crossed in the middle of the block and strolled along a little tree-shaded concrete path through swaths of emerald-green lawn. I walked by this park all the time without bothering to enjoy it. Kids played there a lot, but the play area and little baseball diamond were empty now. I spotted a mom with a stroller in the distance at the other end, just leaving the park and presumably heading for home.
Peaceful. I inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of green growing things, clearing my head.
Something raised the hair on the back of my neck. A prickle of awareness.
My head whipped around as I scanned behind me, and then to the left and right.
Nothing. When I turned back, the mom with her stroller had vanished too. I shrugged, trying to shake it off. Fuck, a few glasses of wine and a little bit of maudlin bullshit and I suddenly turned paranoid. Who’d want to sneak up on me in a park? I didn’t look like I had money to steal, even though I did. And if someone wanted it, I’d hand it over, anyway.
A bench sat off to the side under a tree and near the side of a small building that looked like it probably held landscaping equipment, and I headed for it. It didn’t have the best view of the sunset, but fuck it.
Almost at the bench, I changed my mind, the way people do sometimes when they’re drunk and over it. Nope. Home. I wasn’t going to sit on a park bench alone and mope like a loser.
I spun around, and I froze—with Hot Dude standing equally still a few yards from me, right next to a tree he’d almost certainly been hiding behind as I walked by it.
My heart went from normal to a million in an instant, and I staggered back a step, feeling my eyes go as wide and round as dinner plates. He’d followed me. He’d been hiding,stalkingme, and he had what, maybe sixty pounds of muscle on me? More? Plus the look in his eyes and the set of his shoulders, his loose, ready stance…this guy knew how to take care of himself.
He could pound me into the pavement, and not in the fun, oh-yes-harder kind of way.
Did he know somehow that I’d bought those books for him? Had it pissed him off, set him off in some way I hadn’t anticipated? What the hell had I gotten myself into?
“What are you doing here?” My voice came out high and shaky. Fuck, because I really needed humiliation on top of my shock and fright. “Were youfollowingme?”
Ah yes, stupid questions were definitely the way to take the high ground and look less weak. I tried to hide my wince at my own idiocy.
Hot Dude frowned at me. Frowned more. I hadn’t seen him smile yet, I realized. Not even for a second, even when he was laughing about something in a book.
