Page 5 of One Night Bride
I glanced down at my watch, seeing it was time for my dinner reservation. “Just heading into the restaurant for dinner. Why?”
She licked her lips again, and I couldn’t help but stare at the movement. “This is going to sound crazy, but would you mind if I joined you?”
I opened my mouth to say yes, but she cut in. “See that blonde in there?” She tilted her head subtly to the private room where I’d seen the gaggle of women go. The blonde with the sash was standing at the head of the table, gesturing wildly as if telling a story while the rest of the table ate dinner. I nodded, holding back a grimace in case that was her friend.
“She bugs the ever-loving shit out of me,” the woman stated adamantly.
I grinned. “I bet I can guess why.”
The woman smiled at me, laying her hand on my leg. There was a single gold ring around her middle finger, sparkling with tiny diamonds all the way around. “Guess.”
I tilted my head and sucked in a deep breath, already having fun when I least expected it. “She looks high maintenance. She likes the sound of her own voice. And from the ring on her finger and the sash, I’d say she’s very vocal about how wonderful her fiancé is when he’s probably at a strip club right this second with another woman on his lap.”
The dark-haired woman beamed at me right before she grabbed my shirt and pulled me so close I saw the flecks of gold in her brown eyes.
“Have dinner with me?” she whispered just an inch away from my lips.
3
Esme
“And then he told me he booked us first-class tickets to Paris for our honeymoon!” Ashley practically squealed, swinging her skinny little arm through the air and nearly clipping the server trying to deliver her fourth glass of wine. “Now, I know not all of us can be so lucky”—she looked me square in the eyes—“but let me be a shining example of what can be achieved if you just try.”
Chloe, her best friend, tried to pull her down to a chair with a suggestion to eat some food before the wine got the best of her. Emily, by far the quietest girl of the bunch and therefore my favorite, nudged me with her elbow.
“You just need to try harder, Esme,” she whispered, then giggled behind the hand pressed to her lips.
I snorted, trying unsuccessfully to cover it up with a cough. Ashley’s head whipped over in my direction and her lips thinned despite the injections meant to plump them up to superhuman proportions.
“What’s so funny over there, Esme?” she simpered. “Are you discussing your love life?” She let out a practiced laugh, Chloe and Olivia joining in because of course they’d follow her lead.
Rage, the kind that made me want to pull her row of extensions clean off her scalp, had me standing, the chair nearly tipping back in my wake. I pasted on a calm smile and told myself it would be bad form to kill a girl at her bachelorette party.
“I was just on my way to grab another drink since the server is taking so long.” It was true. The poor server was run ragged trying to bring Ashley all the various things she apparently needed to enjoy her meal. I stepped away from the table, ignoring Ashley’s mean smile and the way she whispered something to Chloe under her breath.
The “mean girl” vibes had escalated with each glass of wine she consumed.
As soon as I stepped out of the glassed-in private room, I made a beeline for the beefy cowboy sitting at the bar. I’d spotted him earlier when my eyes had threatened to glaze over with Ashley’s welcome speech. He wore a pair of Levi’s like nobody I’d seen before. Plus, his shoulders extended out past the back of the chair, and if I wasn’t mistaken, that watch on his wrist had to be worth a small sedan.
Time to implement my own plans for this weekend.
I wedged myself between him and some sales guy in a suit, making sure my breasts, the ones not currently strapped into a bra, pressed against the cowboy’s shoulder. I placed my clutch on the bar.
“Sorry, but all the chairs are taken,” I muttered, glancing down to confirm that the watch was in fact a Blancpain, an interesting and expensive choice. It wasn’t the pricey watch that was doing it for me, it was the combination of a guy who worked with his hands, yet appreciated fine jewelry that piqued my interest.
“You can squeeze in anytime,” I could have sworn he said, though the rumble of his voice was almost drowned out by the noises at the bar.
I smiled at him, locking eyes for the first time and nearly swallowing my tongue. His eyes were a startling blue, highlighted by tanned skin that you could tell came from being outdoors, not from a tanning bed.
My thighs wanted to clench together and my breath was coming faster just looking at this guy. I turned away to give my order to the bartender to give myself some time to settle down. I intended to take a guy to my hotel room tonight, but I shouldn’t appear too eager.
Just as I thought I could turn back to the guy without climbing onto his lap and begging him to take me right there on the bar, I saw him adjust the crotch of his jeans out of the corner of my eye. And there was a lot to adjust.
“Are you busy?” I sputtered out without thinking. Damn. I was bad at playing hard to get or even trying to be subtle.
The man glanced at his watch and then let those blue eyes trace up my torso before locking back on my face. I could practically feel the caress even though it was only my one leg touching him at the moment.
“Just heading into the restaurant for dinner. Why?”
