I’d paired it with my favorite pair of Louis Vuitton’s and a velvet choker around my neck. My pink strands were straight and pulled into a tight ponytail and my make-up dark and smoky. So, yeah, I wasn’t conceited, but even I could admit I looked good.
But this feeling wasn’t interest. It was different. I couldn’t explain it, just knew it made me feel like a gazelle with a lion watching my every move. Patiently waiting for the opportunity to strike.
I swallowed hard, willing my nightmares to go back to the dark hole they’d crawled out of. Forcing my lips to curve upward, I nodded with determination. “You’re right. Let’s get that drink.”
“Now you’re talking. Drinks and then we dance.” Kasia crossed her arms above her head and rocked her hips in a slow circle.
Laughing, I linked my arms through hers and started walking. “You can dance while I sample the drinks.”
“Oh, mark my words: one way or another, you’re going to end up on the dancefloor tonight.”
Ten minutes and two colorful drinks later, we slid into one of the booths. Even though I was still fascinated with everything going on around me, I couldn’t manage to shake that eerie feeling of being watched.
Not watched but scrutinized. My every move dissected and studied.
“Well, what do you think?” Kasia asked, successfully distracting me from the craziness inside my head.
I took a big gulp of my drink, my gaze traveling to the half-naked man gyrating on the podium behind Kasia. His skin, covered with lip imprints that glowed neon green, stretched tightly over his well-defined muscles while his body and the beat became one.
“Becca!”
I blinked and then blinked again, finding it difficult to drag my gaze away from the man and back to my friend. “Huh?”
“What the—” She twisted in her seat, her mouth instantly falling open when she feasted her eyes on the guy on the podium. “Ooooh, he fine.” Kasia turned her attention back to me. “You should totally hop on there with him.” She leaned in over the table. “Or better yet, hop on him.”
Even as I shook my head, I couldn’t stop the laughter from bubbling over my lips. Now there was an idea… One-night stands weren’t really my thing, and I had never slept with a guy that I hadn’t been in a relationship with.
Maybe it was because of the way my aunt and uncle had raised us, or because of the obvious love and respect they had for each other. I didn’t know, but jumping into bed with a random guy had never really intrigued me.
But there was something about this place that had me wondering.
A sudden sense of awareness prickled over my skin, the hair on my arms steadily lifting. I felt this need, compulsion, to look to my left and when I did the breath got knocked right out of my lungs.
Emerging from the crowd—and heading straight for us—like some demigod had to be the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Tall, dark, and handsome wouldn’t never do him justice. He looked like he’d stepped off the cover of a dirty GQ magazine. Like a wolf on the prowl. When he reached our booth, his dark, dark gaze zeroed in on me and my blood turned to molten lava. “Welcome to Absinthe, ladies.”
As if his looks weren’t dangerous enough, he had a voice so smooth and rich it made my toes curl. And don’t even get me started on the way his Spanish accent rolled over my skin like an intimate caress.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep my little sigh trapped inside. But he knew he’d affected me. His eyes snapped to my blood-red mouth with razor-sharp precision, and all I wanted to do was slick my tongue over my lips.
“This place is amazing!” Kasia chirped, effectively breaking the connection between Mr. Dirty GQ and me.
He gave my mouth one more heated look that had my entire body humming. Smoothing a tatted hand down the front of his black shirt, he turned his attention to my friend. “It is, isn’t it?” And then he was gone.
“Oh my goodness!” Kasia reached across the table and gripped my hand. “Do you know who that is?”
“Uh… should I?”
She leveled me with a stare that clearly said I had just asked the world’s dumbest question. “That’s Santiago Morales. He’s one of the owners.”
“Wow,” I muttered more to myself than her.
I was still busy daydreaming over the hotness that’d just left our table when a figure appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and smoothly slid into the space beside Kasia. Dark hair, dark eyes, tan skin, and a mouth made for sin; he was gorgeous. And yet there was no spark of awareness zapping through my veins.
“Jorge!” Kasia squealed. Throwing her arms around his neck, she all but crawled into his lap as she attacked his mouth with her own.
I probably should’ve looked away; I just couldn’t. Because deep down, I wanted that—not the making out with Jorge, but to do whatever I felt like without giving two shits about who was watching or what they’d think.
As if sensing my eyes on them, Jorge’s gaze flicked to mine for a beat before his big hands moved to cup Kasia’s cheeks. He whispered something against her lips and she glanced at me over her shoulder.
With a sheepish look on her face, she tried to slide away but Jorge draped his arm over her shoulder and tucked her to his side. Grinning, he jerked his head in my direction. “You must be Becca.”
My lips lifted. “And you must be the famous Jorge.” My eyes swept over the expanse of the dancefloor before meeting his again. “Nice place you’ve got here, even though it’s a bit of a pain to get in.”
He bared his teeth, and they looked shockingly white as the neon blue
