Fuck. I shouldn’t have let it go this far. I should have reigned them back a couple of hours ago.
“I’m sure she doesn’t,” I say.
“Tell me. I’m all ears,” the bartender says, leaning on the counter now. She’s smiling indulgently at Jimmy, but really, she’s staring at me.
She’s not my type. Too skinny. Sexy, sure. But there’s nothing about her making me want to throw her on the counter and pull her jeans down.
And if there is one thing I’ve learned in the last six months; is that life is too short to waste it on things and people who don’t give you that feeling. That feverish exhilaration of joy and desire. That insane connection that drives you wilder than you ever could have imagined...
Jimmy is telling her some garbled story about one of the incidents that occurred while on active duty. I don’t need to listen to it. I was there. She’s dug her own grave by agreeing to listen.Now Jimmy is going to be stuck to that bar all night, chewing her ear off. He is not a pleasant drunk.
But when I turn from them, I see her walk in.
Blond. Tight black dress that fits her curvy body. Big breasts. Very big breasts. She has wavy luminescent hair that frames her face. She flicks some of it over her shoulder while she looks around. She doesn’t see me. She’s with a friend who is now tugging her in a different direction. Away from me.
This is what I was talking about.
This is what I want to feel.
Cleo
Just as I expected, the guy Marsha has introduced me to tonight is all kinds of awful. While she flirts voraciously with the guy she is on a date with, I just sit next to mine, staring at the piece of spinach stuck between his teeth while he talks.
I’m bored and distracted. I can’t stop thinking about whether I’m going to get the job I applied for or not. I interviewed with them three days ago and I still haven’t heard anything back. It feels like a bad sign.
“So what do you do?” the guy asks. It isn’t his voice that’s snapped me out of my thoughts. It’s the fact that he has now placed a hand on my knee. His touch is clammy and cold. When I look up at him, he’s smiling.
I glance at Marsha. She’s already making out with her guy. I know if I interrupt her somehow, she’s going to lose her mind. She’s not exactly the kind of friend who is on my side.
I glare down at the hand on my knee, hoping I can embarrass him into taking it off me. But he doesn’t. Undeterred, his fingers start creeping up my thigh.
“I don’t know anything about you, Cleo...tell me more.” He speaks in a low purring voice. Is that supposed to be sexy?
It feels like pins are pricking my back as I try to sit straight and keep it together. He can’t do any more than this, I remind myself. We’re in a public place.
But oh, he can! Now he’s dragging the bottom of my dress up my legs and he has this sickening smile on his face that makes me want to slap him.
I can’t take it anymore. I don’t care what Marsha says or does. I’d rather sleep in a women’s shelter tonight than endure another second of this.
I jump up from my chair, knocking his hand away from me. The cutlery and glasses on our table shake and rattle. Not only that, but my sudden movements have caused me to lean back. I didn’t realize there was someone behind me. Someone carrying drinks. I’ve knocked into him hard and I’m sure everything’s going to go crashing to the floor.
I’m about to squeal when a strong arm wraps around my waist. For a second; I was falling backwards, but now I’m not. Everything is a haze, but I can feel his arm on me, holding me up.
I look up. With one arm around me, he keeps me steady and with his other hand he grabs the tray with the drinks that the waiter was carrying.
“All good?” he asks the waiter, who nods.
It all happened in a flash. I was expecting chaos. Damage to property. Marsha screaming. But magically, order has been restored.
The waiter scurries away and I look up at the man who rescued me from a certain disaster. He still has his arm around my waist and suddenly, I don’t want him to let go.
Who is this knight in shining armour?
Irwin
I have her in my arms. I’m looking down at those bright baby blues that take up half her face. She also has the most luscious mouth. Her lips are velvety and pink and so tempting that I almost kiss her right here and now.
It’s like we’re trapped in a bubble and for a few seconds, neither of us can sense anything else in this room. I somehow just knew we had a connection earlier. From the moment she walked into this joint, I knew she was the one.
The woman I have been looking for.
Then slowly, she begins to move away from me. I have no choice but to release her.
“Th…thank you,” she mutters. “I would have totally crashed into that guy.”
“Cleo, what is going on?” another girl interrupts us. She is sitting at the table, her lips pursed in irritation.
Cleo’s cheeks flush and she looks over her shoulder at her friend.
“Nothing. Everything’s fine.”
“You should sit down,” her friend insists.
Cleo looks nervously over at the guy she was sitting with. There is something in the way she glances at him...I can sense she doesn’t want to be anywhere near him. Maybe I can rescue her a second time.
“Do you want to get a drink at the bar?” I ask. She meets my eyes and
