Page 5 of Touch in the Dark

I drop my head. I can’t do it. I’m not that girl.

“Hey,” he cups my chin and tilts my head so I’m looking up at him, and I see the resignation in his features. “I get it, I promise. If anything, this whole refusal thing, makes you hotter.”

I laugh but my brain is now telling me I’m a fucking idiot.

He bent down to collect my bra and helps slip it back on, before pulling my top over my head. I don’t think I have been so disappointed in my life, but it is the right thing to do. After he pulls his top on, he slips his arm around me.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re going back to the party,” he tells me as he opens the hotel door and guides me out.

Great, he’s going to pick up someone else in front of me. What an absolute idiot I am. “I should probably just go,” I say.

“Go, no way. The night is young, plus we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

“I don’t understand,” I let him lead me to the elevator. The party is in the roof top bar. I’m not sure why Nick has a room here, when he lives in L.A. I twist my fingers together as the elevator arrives and we step inside. He keeps his arm around my neck as he leans back against the mirrored wall.

“Well, if I want to show you that you are more than just a one-night stand, we need to get to know each other.”

I tilt my head up to look at him. His eyes are alight with amusement but there is still that edge of attraction peeking out at me. I’m not sure I am buying what he’s selling. I can’t believe someone like him is willing to forego a night of sex. There are plenty of women upstairs who would never balk at what was just at my fingertips. Why is he doing this for me? We go back into the bar, a few people glance over, some eyeing me suspiciously. We haven’t been gone long enough for anything more than a quickie. Embarrassment blushes my cheeks and I dip my head.

“Hey,” Nick leans in close to my ear. “They’re just jealous, don’t let it bother you.”

“They don’t have anything to be jealous of,” I mutter.

“Sure they do,” he tugs me closer.

I look up at him in confusion. He calls out to a bar tender who is passing with a bucket of ice and a bottle of champagne perched in it. He asks if one can be brought to the table, he is leading us towards.

“They think you’re the lucky girl I chose tonight, a throwaway. But that isn’t what you are.”

“I’m not?” my eyes widen, and I feel my heart swell.

“Absolutely not,” he guides me into a booth and slides in after me, when the bar tender brings us a bucket of champagne, he pours us both a glass and holds his up to mine. I lift and we clink glasses. “You’re the girl I’ve thought about for weeks,” he says, leaning in close. “The girl I would give everything to have been in that hotel room with right now, but,” he winks. “You’re also the girl that I want to talk to, to get to know, to spend time with.”

He can’t mean that. Right? We both take a drink of our champagne and after he sets his glass down, he takes mine and puts it on the table too. Then he takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and guides my mouth to his. When he kisses me, my toes curl, and my heart explodes. I can’t believe it, he still wants to hang around after I turned him down. Nick Chambers, the bass player for one of the most famous rock bands in the world, still wants me.

Fucking hell, this is worse than sleeping with him. I have let myself in for something far worse than the disappointment of being a one-night stand. I am allowing myself to trust him, to believe his pretty words, his beautiful blue eyes lure me in without hesitation.

More fool me.

Chapter Two

The Present

I shriek almost as loudly as Jenna does when she walks through the door. She hurries over and grabs me in a tight squeeze. We are the same height, but she is dark haired to my blonde, chic to my boho, both of us incredibly successful in our businesses, but still able to screech like teenagers at the sight of each other and give no fucks whatsoever about it. It has been months since I’ve seen her, after her last trip to L.A. with her boyfriend. Now her fiancé.

“Let me see,” I grab her hand and pull it closer to inspect the rock on her ring finger. It has been two months since the engagement. She’s sent me plenty of pictures, but it isn’t the same as seeing it in the flesh. I cover my eyes. “Oh. Ma. Gawd. I’m blind,” I cry.

“Stop it,” she laughs, but she is beaming.

“Being engaged suits you, girl,” I squeeze her hand before letting it go.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she does a little shimmy of a dance that has me laughing. “I have so much planned. Brooke and Meg are ready to party tonight, they’re excited to see you too.”

“About that,” I adjust the beads and chains around my neck.

“Nope,” Jenna holds a hand up.

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