I was barely paying attention to my friends’ banter. I was too busy watching the woman who had followed Jeremy inside. Skylar Murphy hadn’t joined us, instead beelining for the bar to order a drink. She was smiling. God, she was beautiful when she smiled. She pulled her long, black hair to the side, draping it over her shoulder. She laughed at something Brad said, smacking her hand down on the countertop. Her laugh was rich and carried across the room.
My groin tightened in response and I had to discreetly adjust myself.
Brad handed her an open beer—no fruity cocktail for her—and she turned to head to our table. And then catching sight of me, she stopped. She frowned. She started chewing on her bottom lip in a gesture I knew meant she was contemplating something. Probably whether to get the hell out of there. I quickly looked away so she didn’t see me ogling her.
I was practically holding my breath.
Fucking hell man, get it together.
I tapped my fingers against my leg in impatience. I should leave. I knew Skylar wouldn’t want to spend the evening with me. She had made her feelings abundantly clear the last time we had spoken privately. Maybe, like me, she’d want to avoid the awkwardness altogether, and she’d choose to sit somewhere else.
I should have known better. Skylar never hid from anything. It’s one of the hundred things I found so attractive about her.
“Hi fellas. Fancy meeting you here.” Her voice held a slight rasp as if she had been shouting for hours. But I knew that’s just the way she spoke.
I couldn’t help but look at her. It was as if my eyes were addicted to the sight of her. She was beautiful in an understated way. She wasn’t flashy, showing off her boobs. She wore minimal makeup because honestly, she didn’t need it. Her long dark hair was held back in a simple ponytail; her bright blue eyes were truly startling. Her thin, angular face had an almost regal quality. She wasn’t tall but she wasn’t short either. I remembered how perfectly she fit against me as if her body were made to be molded against mine.
Christ, I had to get a grip. It was a good thing I knew how to contain my emotions. I had a hell of a poker face. Otherwise, I’d be panting in a drooling heap at Skylar Murphy’s feet.
“What are you doing here on a school night?” Adam asked, standing up to embrace his friend before making room for her in the booth.
She slid along the bench until she was pressed up against the wall—and directly across from me. I felt her leg brush up against mine beneath the table, her eyes lifting to meet mine briefly before quickly turning her attention back to Adam. I could feel discomfort radiating off her in waves. And all because of me.
“I just finished a project and the money hit my account, so I thought I’d come out and celebrate. Except my friends were all busy, so that leaves you losers.” She took a drink of her beer, her eyes drifting my way again. And then as if catching herself, she purposefully angled her body toward Adam, causing her knee to collide with mine.
Adam nudged her with his shoulder. “That’s awesome, Sky. Congrats.”
“Next round’s on me,” Jeremy announced, calling out to Hannah.
“Congratulations, Skylar,” I said, sounding slightly strangled.
Her eyes danced over me, leaving me feeling unsettled. “Thanks,” she replied shortly, then carried on as if I hadn’t spoken at all.
It fucking sucked.
Things used to be easy between us, and that was saying something because I didn’t do easy. Idle chit chat was my idea of torture.
When Adam first asked me to sit down with his friend Skylar, who he had hired to revamp our website, I hadn’t been too thrilled. Then she walked in, sat down, and opened her mouth and I realized quickly she was something completely unexpected.
**
“This website is junk. Who did you have design it? A four-year-old?” Skylar asked, clicking the mouse, making a face of disgust. She was sitting at the table in the breakroom and I was sitting across from her. I had made a list of what Jeremy, Adam, and I wanted to include on the site, but she didn’t seem particularly interested in my ideas.
“Actually, I set it up. I know it’s bad, I have a law degree, I’m kind of an idiot when it comes to digital marketing,” I grimaced.
“Did you really use clipart?” Skylar laughed, pointing at the screen to a cartoon gavel with googly eyes.
“You make it sound like I killed someone,” I joked.
“Well, you definitely murdered good taste,” she chuckled, shaking her head.
“Come on, it’s not that bad.” I scooted my chair closer so I could look at the screen. I had left my glasses on my desk, so I had to lean in closer to see anything.
Skylar started clicking through the tabs and I cringed. “Okay, yeah, it’s pretty bad.”
I looked at her, realizing that I was less than a few inches from her very attractive face. Her pupils dilated fractionally in a way I knew meant she was appreciating her view as much as I appreciated mine. I was intimately acquainted with the tell-tale signs of female arousal and Skylar was showing quite a few.
“Adam says you're a genius at this stuff, so I expect to be impressed.”
Skylar snorted a surprisingly sexy sound. “Adam’s slightly delusional as well.” She sat back in her seat, putting distance between us, which I found disappointing. “But, yeah, I’m not bad. Or at least I hope so if I want to give this whole ‘in business for myself’ thing a shot.”
“Well, if you’re shitty at your work, that won’t be great PR,” I deadpanned. Skylar gave me a startled look and then began to laugh. I found myself smiling
