she’d been back home in Miami, she probably would have told him off even if that meant yelling across the bar. Given that she was new to LA, she felt it best to compose herself.
Maybe I should wait near the bathroom for Aaliyah before I get myself into more trouble. Grabbing her cocktail and the margarita she’d ordered for her friend, she stood and turned to leave only to bump into a solid six-foot-three-inch wall.
“Oh, crap,” she said as her feet, encased in peach three-inch pumps, slipped from under her and her drinks went in the air. As she tumbled to the hard-tiled floor of the bar and stumbled to catch her balance, Nicole briefly noticed that the solid six-foot-three-inch wall had a good-looking face and arms to match a deep, throaty voice that was currently warning her to watch her step.
“Shit,” he said as part of the liquid in one of the glasses spilled on his white dress shirt. Unfortunately for her, the rest spilled all over her peach blouse.
“Watch out,” he said when the second glass dropped from her hand and clacked on the floor. As the music blasted in the background, Nicole thought about those scenes in movies where a damsel in distress stumbled and tried to catch her balance only to be encased by a pair of powerful arms that caught her and pulled her to safety.
When the tall mouthwatering stranger reached out his arms, only to completely miss her outstretched hands, causing her to land even harder on her backside, she realized just how false those movie scenes were.
“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to help her up.
No, sexy guy, I’m not okay. “I’m fine,” she said, waving away his hands. She knew she should probably accept his help, but a part of her was too over the events of the night to accept any help. I must have done something wrong within the past week because karma is not on my side.
“Oh, God, are you okay?”
She turned to the sound Aaliyah’s voice.
“I’m fine, just help me up.” She reached for Aaliyah, ignoring the smirk on the man standing next to her. She hadn’t even gotten a good look at him, but based off what she’d seen on her journey to landing on her butt, he was delicious. Judging by the wide-eyed look Aaliyah was giving him, Nicole assumed she’d noticed how attractive he was too.
“I thought you didn’t need help,” the deep, throaty voice said.
“I meant I didn’t need your help,” Nicole said, using a napkin she had in her back pocket to dab the liquor from her blouse.
Aaliyah cleared her throat. “Really.”
Nicole glanced at her, immediately recognizing that motherly tone in Aaliyah’s voice. Taking a deep breath, Nicole turned to face the man. When she did, she had to remind herself to breathe. “Thank you for the offer.”
“You’re welcome.” His mouth widened into a full grin. “And I apologize. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Even his pearly white teeth are sexy. “Maybe you should be more careful next time.”
“Seriously?” Aaliyah huffed. Nicole just shrugged. Was she coming across a little rude? Yes. Was the sexy guy standing before her making her nervous? Yes. Did she get a little rude when she got nervous? Unfortunately, yes. She either got rude or extremely quiet. Apparently tonight, rudeness won.
Sexy Guy stepped a little closer to her. “If being reckless means I’ll run into beautiful women such as yourself, then I’ll have to take a pass on being careful.”
Oh, he’s good. Pickup line or not, she had to admit that she liked how good it felt to hear him say those words.
Nicole crossed her arms over her chest, fully aware that she was probably giving him more of a show than she intended since she’d spilled liquor on her blouse. To his credit, he didn’t look down.
“Did you run that line on many women tonight or am I the lucky victim?”
He squinted his eyes before leaning closer to her ear. “I know you don’t know me,” he said in a low voice. “But I’m not the type of man to waste time running lines on women. You’re either interested, or you’re not.” He lifted his head so that he could look into her eyes. “In case you can’t tell, I’m interested, and based off how you were checking me out even as you were in the process of falling, you’re interested too. My guess? This whole diva attitude of yours is a way to redirect your attraction so that you don’t feel vulnerable.”
Nicole sighed. Sexy Guy: one. Me: zilch. She wasn’t sure if it was the trusting look in his eyes or if the fall on her butt had somehow short-circuited her brain cells, but she found herself smiling at his comment instead of denying it.
“Maybe you should buy her another drink,” Aaliyah suggested to the man. She then turned to Nicole. “You should go with him to the bar, and I’ll find someone who works here to clean up the mess.”
Nicole’s eyes grew wide at Aaliyah before she turned to the man. She studied his eyes to see if she saw any hint that he’d rather not buy her a drink.
“Sounds good to me,” he said, ending her observation.
She took a deep breath as she turned to walk toward the bar, fully aware that he was close behind her.
“What would you like?” he asked as they sat down on two stools.
“Rum and Coke.” If he was going to be sitting this close to her, she needed something stronger than a fruity cocktail.
“So, does Miss Slip ’n Slide have a name?”
Nicole smirked. “Cute.”
“I try,” he said with a shrug.
I doubt you have to try very hard. He seemed to be one of those men who women just flocked to.
Nicole briefly thought back to their previous interaction to recall if Aaliyah had stated her real name. She was satisfied when she concluded that Aaliyah hadn’t.
“It’s Bianca,” she said, extending her hand. Nicole rarely gave out her real name at bars, no matter how attractive a man was.
“Nice to meet you, Bianca.” He accepted her hand. “My friends call me KD.”
“Nice to meet you, KD.” Nicole couldn’t help but glance down at his hand, which was still holding on to hers. I wonder what the KD stands for? Even though she assumed it was his initials, the KD made him seem mysterious...edgy.
She immediately missed his hand when he released hers as their drinks arrived. “Are you new to the area?” he asked.
Nicole took a sip of her rum and Coke. “Do I give off a vibe like I’m not from the area?”
“No, you don’t. But I frequent this bar, and I’ve never seen you here before.” His eyes quickly roamed her face. As much as she tried to ignore it, her skin heated under his gaze. “And there’s no way I would have forgotten a breathtaking beauty like you if you were a regular.”
“Here you go with these lines again.” Nicole shook her head. “I hope you realize that I’m not going home with
