Page 5 of Entangled

He conceals that flash of surprise quickly, face falling back into an arrogant look. His eyes linger on me for a moment as if he’s not quite sure what to do now before darting to where Tim stands over my shoulder. That ghost of a smile pulls at his lips as his eyes come back to land on me and he leans down suddenly, bringing his head alongside mine.

His breath fans across my ear and I feel his fingers lightly brush my waist. “When you decide you’re tired of playing with the children here… come find me.”

My stomach flips as he stills, lingering, undoubtedly breathing me in, his body close enough now that I can feel the heat pouring off him. His fingertips caress my waist, leaving tingling trails in their wake and the sandalwood scent of him hits me full force when I breathe in.

There’s nothing but dark heat in his eyes when he finally lifts his head and my own blood rushes in response, anticipation spreading through my veins. My body is mourning the loss of his heat already and part of me wants to say to hell with it but… all good things come to those who wait. I remain silent as he gives me one more look before reluctantly breaking our gaze and walking away.

Sometimes, when you meet someone, you just know the sex is going to be good. Right now, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be earth shattering.

I watch from the corner of my eye as he walks to the other side of the bar and takes a seat at one of the tables along the wall. Leaning back in his chair and stretching his legs out, body completely at ease as his gaze drifts around the bar aimlessly and he sips at his beer. Seemingly unbothered by the fact that he’s sitting alone. But there’s a sharpness to his gaze that belies his casual pose.

Vaguely, I hear Tim start to talk again about rowing, or his fraternity, or something I could really care less about. My mind has completely checked out. In spite of that, I drag my eyes back to him though, not wanting to look too obvious. I sip my añejo and try to appear interested, making the appropriate noises of affirmation to whatever it is he’s talking about. Knowing that this is how the game is played. And it doesn’t take long before the feel of a gaze from the other side of the bar hits me like a weight against my skin.

I fight the urge to look. Stubbornly ignoring the pull that demands my attention. But after several minutes, I’m unable to stop myself from trying to sneak a peek. The anticipation building is too much for me to resist. I let my gaze drift casually across the bar in his direction and it doesn’t take long before my eyes find his night-forest ones looking directly back at me. As if he knew it was only a matter of time until he caught me.

My lips pull up into a smirk and his eyes narrow on me in consideration, his own lips twitching in turn. He breaks our gaze and raises his beer to signal a passing waitress, talking to her for a second before nodding to me. The waitress raises her head and looks at me, a smile flashing on her face before nodding her head in agreement to whatever it is he said. Their whole exchange has excitement filling me as I wonder what his play will be. I watch the waitress as she goes over to the radio behind the far side of the bar, scrolling through the out-of-date iPod hooked up to it before pressing play.

A few seconds later, I hear the first notes of upbeat ’80s rock fill the air and my eyes fly back to find him across the bar. A savage kind of smirk on his lips as his eyes drill into me. He arches a brow at me in question as the first words of “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure play loudly through the bar and I can’t help but throw my head back as laughter bursts from me.

If I wasn’t a strictly no relationship girl, I might have said I had met my match. And apparently, my non-match match has great wit and taste in music. I throw him a quick wink and drain the last dregs of my añejo while catching the bartender’s eye. The croon of The Cure still playing in the background as I dig some cash out of the pocket of my white sundress.

Thank God for dresses with pockets. I’d be lost without them.

“Hi,” I greet the bartender brightly as he stops in front of me. “Can I have the rest of that bottle of añejo, please?”

At his look of hesitation, I slide the cash in my palm across the counter.

“This should cover it.”

A smile spreads on the bartender’s face as he pockets the cash, both of us knowing I easily just gave him twice what the bottle is worth. He drops it in front of me a few seconds later without a word. Grabbing the bottle from the counter, I turn to Tim, who is uncharacteristically silent for once.

“Listen, Tim, I’m sure you’re a great guy but you’re not for me,” I tell him with a small smile, trying my best to be gentle even though it’s not a strong suit of mine. “However, I wish you all the best and that you find the love of your life and make lots of little rowing team champions with her.”

With one last apologetic shrug, I turn and start to walk across the bar, quickly locking eyes with my target. His intense gaze runs up and down the length of my body as I make my way to him and I feel it like a caress on my skin. As I come to stand before his table, our eyes remain locked and I feel something there between us, a pull that leaves me fighting the urge to step closer.

I take the seat across from him and fight the twitch of my lips, keeping my voice serious as I quote the song. “So are you going to show me that trick now?”

“The one that makes you scream?” he asks with equal gravity, leaning back in his seat. “Or the one that makes you love?”

“Well if you manage that second one, I’d consider it a miracle and tell you to call the pope. Then I might just run away with you.”

A low, dark kind of laugh leaves him at my comment and he holds out his hand. “Coop.”

I take it, letting him enclose my hand briefly in his heated grip.

“Nice to meet you, Coop.” I nod to the bottle of añejo on the table. “I hope you like tequila.”

“It’ll do.” That savage smirk spreads across his ridiculously full lips again. “Although I thought I was supposed to buy you a drink.”

I shrug and stand. “Well I figured if we were going to drink I might as well make sure it’s something I like.” Grabbing the bottle from the table, I take a few steps toward the side of the bar that’s open to the beach before pausing to look back over my shoulder at him. “Coming?”

He eyes me for a moment, gaze considering before his lips ghost up and he stands. Shaking his head as if he can’t believe my blatant invitation.

The sound of his footfalls close in on me as I step out onto the beach and leave the bar behind. “You didn’t tell me your name.”

I throw him a bratty smirk over my shoulder and cock a brow in challenge as he comes up beside me. “Impress me and maybe by the end of the night I’ll tell you.”

Chapter 3

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