CHAPTER ONE
Chloe
“If you don’t find a man soon, you’re going to die a born-again virgin.”
I directed an exasperated sigh at my best friend Jackie. “Well, it’s a good thing I’m feeling adventurous then. Maybe we should find someone for me to flirt with tonight.”
I set my half-empty martini down on the expensive chrome-and-glass VIP table I’d been able to secure at On The Rocks, New York City’s newest high-end celebrity hangout. Tonight we were here to celebrate Jackie’s upcoming nuptials. Glancing around, I took in the carrera marble floors, black fabric-draped walls, and large circular banquettes running along the perimeter of the room. I was a long way from small-town Bar Harbor, Maine.
Jackie rubbed her hands together in obvious anticipation. “Ooooh, I like the sound of this. Let’s pick one. Or should we wait for the rest of the girls to stop flirting with the bartender and get back here with the drinks?” I glanced over to the bar and sure enough the rest of the bridal party was there laughing it up with one of the workers. Before I could say anything, Jackie pointed across the room. “What about that guy over there?”
I looked across the dim bar to the wine-colored, velvet banquettes, where an attractive man sat pondering the wine list. “You know I’m not into blonds. Two blonds together, can you imagine? How would we ever figure out what body parts go where?” I batted my eyes feigning innocence.
Jackie chuckled at my lame attempt at a joke, while I continued my inspection of our fellow patrons. Not much to choose from, which was disappointing. On the one night I’d decided to let loose a little, there wasn’t anyone worth letting loose with. I certainly wasn’t interested in the middle-aged man with the small paunch and a wedding ring, trolling for women at the bar. Or the work-obsessed Wall Street type with the suspenders over his dress shirt who didn’t seem to be letting his friends get a word in edgewise. And the artsy guy was too outside the box. His bright red jeans, painted on his ass, looked like they’d been dragged behind a bus. But this was New York City—they probably cost a small fortune.
I scrunched my face up in distaste then turned in the other direction and locked gazes with a set of piercing blue eyes. The wall sconces and the lighted glass behind the bar offered the only illumination in the room, but it didn’t matter. I could see from here—this guy was smokin’. And not like a ‘let’s cook some marshmallows over the fire’ kind of smokin’. He was three-alarm blaze, call-in-the-water-bombers smokin’.
I swallowed, my lips parting while my eyes took in his wholly male presence. He was standing beside a table, and his tailored grey suit hugged his body—a body that sure as hell had spent a lot of time at the gym. His dark hair had a slight wave to it and brushed the top of his back collar.
I held his gaze for a long moment as the rest of the people milling about the room seemed to fade away. The reality that I was blatantly staring at the stranger floated into my consciousness, and I cleared my throat as I diverted my gaze. But not before seeing his sexy, lopsided grin, complete with dimple and a perfect set of pearly whites.
Heat rose up my neck, and I traced the condensation pattern of a cup no longer there.
“Wow. He’s something else.”
I turned my attention back to my friend and gave her a weak smile. “He sure is.”
With a suspicious smile, Jackie said, “I haven’t seen this side of you in a while. I have to say, I like it.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not that bad, am I?”
“Well, not at my bachelorette party, you’re not,” she said, sliding a shot in front of me. “I still can’t believe you got us in this place.”
It hadn’t been easy. The group of us were only in town for the weekend, but luckily one of my past clients had a connection with the owner, who’d agreed to let us use the table without
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