The Impostor, A Love Story by Tiffany Carmouche

You
know how girls always come onto him? He ignored all of them and
kept asking, ‘Do you think Nicole will show up?’ And yesterday,
when you didn’t come to work, you should have seen him. The guys
were teasing him about it. He could have had any girl, and all he
did was talk about you. You have to stop being so picky and get you
some. He is hot.”
    “It doesn’t make much sense to me. He’ll be
leaving soon. The band’s only staying for one more month,” I
reminded myself as I spoke the words.
    “It isn’t like you are going to marry him.
Just have some fun. All you do is work. You should at least go out
with him.”
    I thought about it for a moment. When he
kissed my cheek in a bar with people cleaning, people leaving,
people bustling through the place, it seemed like there was only
the two of us. I could so easily disappear in his eyes, in his
arms, in his kiss. Red flag! I don’t need the distraction or the
broken heart .
    “We’ll see,” I told her, but I had already
made up my mind. I went to take an order from a table.
    Katie had a suspicious grin on her face as
she used the phone at the bar. She hung up the phone, giving me a
smirk. What the hell was that all about ? It wasn’t long
after Katie’s mysterious call that Dylan came through the door of
the club, arriving hours earlier than his set. Walking over to the
hostess, he soon had a table in my section.
    Damn . We only had five customers, so I
couldn’t pretend I was busy or anything. I swallowed, straightening
my apron as I approached him.
    “How can I help you?” I tried to act as if
seeing him didn’t mean anything to me, but I was pretty sure that I
was doing a terrible job.
    He handed me a single red rose. “I thought
about nothing but you last night.” He ate me up with his intense
warm eyes.
    “You have hundreds of girls screaming your
name each night.” I knew it was just a line.
    “I want to be with you, though.” Taking my
hands, he drew me closer to him. “I want to be with you.” His
fingertips tickled down my arms. Each time they did, he hypnotized
me with his sensual touch. Chills covered my body. Even my scalp
tingled. He sat before me, his mouth at the perfect height for me
to kiss him as he brought me in close to him. I focused on his
soft, luscious lips and bit down on my own, trying to hold myself
back. How I longed to kiss him. How I longed to . . . instead, I
pulled away.
    “You’re going to get me fired.”
    “So take off.” God his smile was so
sexy.
    “What kind of girl do you think I am? You
think I’d leave work to sleep with you?”
    “Who said anything about sleeping with you?
I’ve got four hours before I have to go on. Let’s get out of here.
We can do anything—you decide. I’ll take you to dinner. You need to
eat right? We can go to a movie, we can go for a drive, or you can
come to my place. I’m actually a pretty good cook . . . whatever
you want to do. Come with me.”
    I felt the thumping intensify in my chest. “I
can’t.” I removed my hands from his, stepping away.
    “You can.” He stood, startling me as he
picked me up, cradling me.
    “Brad,” he called out, “clock her out—I’m
kidnapping her.” He carried me to the door like it was a
threshold.
    “I can’t.” I repeated, “Dylan, I really
can’t.” He didn’t listen. He left the building with me in his arms,
bringing me over to his car.
    “Dinner, just dinner—you have to eat. You
have been here all day, and as much as I love Brad, the food here
is not the best. I insist.” He gently put me down next to the car,
then took his jacket off and wrapped it around me. I stared at him
silently, as he buttoned it up. He swept the hair off my shoulder
and straightened up the collar.
    What the hell was I doing ? One voice
was cheering, “Wahoo!” The other voice screamed, “You idiot!
Run!”
    He stood so close . . . his cologne filled my
nose with its sweet, sexy smell. As he reached around me to unlock
the door,