Forbidden Romance by Lena Lucas

3

Daisy

Ileft the bathroom, feeling nervous for some reason.

It was that man. That gorgeous, mysterious stranger at the table. The one who’d been staring at me.

I could still feel that connection inside me, as if a bolt of lightning, a shock of electricity, had speared right from him and into me, jumpstarting my heart despite it already beating fast and frantically.

When I’d gotten into the bathroom, I stared at my reflection. I had a physical reaction to that stare we shared alone, to the memory of looking into his eyes.

My cheeks had been flushed. My pupils dilated. My lips looked redder—which had nothing to do with the lipstick—and swollen, as if the blood rushed frantically to the surface. I’d been able to see the rapid beat of my pulse right at the base of my throat.

I thought about him, watching him from a distance. I hadn’t been able to see his facial features clearly, hadn’t been able to tell the color of his eyes or how tall he was. But he looked huge, imposing and powerful, muscular and masculine.

I stayed in that bathroom for longer than I should. And now as I left and walked down the short hallway, my heart raced even more.

I stopped right in the entryway, where the hallway opened up to the main bar room, my focus going right to that table. My heart plummeted to my stomach as I saw the table was empty. My disappointment was shocking, this pain in the center of my chest as I noticed he was no longer sitting there. He left.

That bothering me so much should have been a red flag. But it wasn’t. Not at all.

I exhaled in defeat, shook my head to clear it, and told myself I was acting ridiculous.

I glanced over at the bar to where Fiona and Braden sat. She was leaning close to him, their shoulders brushing together, this genuinely happy smile on her face. And Braden stared at her as if she were everything. His world, and the only woman in the room.

I hated that I felt jealous. If anyone deserved a happily ever after, it was Fiona.

I felt another pain lance through my heart at the fact that I would probably never have that. Yeah, I was young, but hell, if nothing like that happened to me yet, I felt like I was already doomed.

I’d never had that. I’d never even thought that could be possible for me. At twenty-two years old, there’d never been a boyfriend for me, never been passion, kissing, and sure as hell no love. I’d never been with a man in any way. I was as inexperienced as they came, a secret not even Fiona knew about.

I supposed I was a little embarrassed, because at my age and in this freaking decade, being a virgin at twenty-two was unheard of. People would think there was something wrong with me.

But I never wanted to give myself over to someone else until I felt this all-consuming need to be with them. And as I looked back at that empty table, I felt that for the very first time in my life.

All-consuming desire.

And it was crazy, insane to feel something so strongly just by looking at someone from across the room.

Maybe it was that glass of champagne I guzzled down? God, I was losing my mind.

I exhaled again in defeat, telling myself I’d just go over to the bar, let Braden and Fiona know I was heading out, then go home and drink that cheap champagne I bought, make an equally cheap charcuterie board, and watch the ball drop on TV. Alone. As always.

I started making my way over to where Fiona was when a group of guys blocked the way, their laughter loud, their voices slurred as they’d clearly had one too many beers.

“Excuse me,” I murmured, then said it again, louder this time, trying to move this way and that, attempting to get around them. It was as if I was invisible to them—-story of my life—like I wasn’t even on their radar for them to move politely over.

Annoyance started to curl within me, and I was seconds from just pushing my way through them, irritated mainly because of the stranger in the darkened corner and how I’d never know who he was.

Which was ridiculous, but whatever. It was what it was.

But before I could push my way through, one of the men looked over, his bloodshot eyes and goofy smile spreading.

“It’s almost a new year!” he shouted and raised his beer bottle, clanking it with his friends’ as they too started shouting happily. “A brand-new year. A brand-new start. Putting all the shit behind us.”

He stepped closer to me, and the stench of alcohol wafted around me. I didn’t know if it came from him or everybody else in general. The majority of the people in the room seemed to be over the legal limit as it was.

“Hey,” he said excitedly as if he knew me. “Are you here alone?”

I opened my mouth, about to tell him that no, I wasn’t here alone and just needed to move past him, but he started rambling on before I could get a word out.

“Celebrate with us!" He reached out like he meant to grab my arm and pull me closer to him and his friends, but I was already shaking my head and trying to step out of the way.

The bodies behind me were thick, pushing me forward like a wave in the ocean. Just when his fingers were about to brush along my upper arm, I saw he’d frozen, his focus trained on something over my head. And then I heard something low and deep, and strangely I thought it was an animal.

An animal inside the bar? A wolf growling?

It seemed ridiculous, but the expression on the guy’s face looked hesitant, anxious. I looked over my shoulder then and had to look up. Way, way up into the face of the man behind me. I felt my eyes widen, the breath hitching in my throat.

It was him. The stranger that sat at the table in the shadows who’d been staring at me.

He was monstrous standing behind me, his shoulders so broad, his chest so wide. He was so tall that my head barely reached his sternum. I swallowed as a wave of lust slammed into me. But he wasn’t looking at me. His focus was straight ahead… on the man who’d been speaking to me innocently.

And then Mr. Tall, Dark, and Fucking Sexy slowly shook his head. I glanced over at the drunken frat boy again. He held up both hands in a very “I’m backing up slowly, man” way and took a step away before turning from us.

I looked back at the stranger, and my breath caught once again as I saw he watched me once more. Standing this close to him, everything else faded away. All I could smell was him, this dark and spicy scent that had my body warming, loosening, and had desire being poured all over me as if it were honey, thick and sweet.

Being only inches from him, I could see every little nuance that made him up. His eyes were deep blue, navy in shade. His hair was dark, cut short but slightly long in front so it fell over his forehead. The strands looked soft, pitch-black in color. His eyebrows were these onyx slashes over those intelligent-looking eyes. His nose was straight and aristocratic. And then there were his lips, full and sensual, but so very masculine. His jaw was square with a light dusting of scruff along it and his cheeks, as if he’d shaved this morning but it was already growing in.

He wore a suit, the jacket dark and clearly tailored to fit his massive frame, the shirt underneath crisp and white, with the first couple of buttons undone at the collar. His chest looked tan and smooth, his throat thick, his pulse beating steadily at the base, and I felt my heart jump into my throat.

For the longest time, we just stood there staring at each other, this Viking of a male looking at me as if I were the only woman in the world he saw.

Oh. God.

“Will you sit with me and let me buy you a drink?”

Holy hell. His voice was deep. So… deep.

“Why?” I closed my eyes and felt like a total ass. Who responded that way? “I’m sorry. How unbelievably rude and weird of me to blurt that out.” When I opened my eyes, I saw he smirked, just a tilt at the corner of his mouth that made him even more attractive, which seemed impossible. “I’m just not used to men asking me things like that.”

“I find that hard to believe… about the men.”

My pulse raced, and my face heated at his words.

“And I like your candor. It’s refreshing.”

I felt tingles move over me at the sound of his voice.

“I saw you walk into the bar.” His eyes became hooded, and I didn’t miss how he lowered his gaze to my lips.

Do not lick them. Do not lick them.

And of course I did, just dragged my tongue right over the bottom swell. I saw his nostrils flare, his jaw tighten, and then he snapped his eyes back up to mine.

“I watched you.”

Maybe his honesty should have been unsettling, but then again, I’d been watching the hell out of him too. “I know,” I whispered, not even sure he heard me over all the noise surrounding us. “I watched you too.” I didn’t even care how frank I was being with this man. I didn’t know his name, his age, or anything about him, but I felt like I knew him.

So weird. But so right.

“So will you? Let me buy you a drink, and sit and talk with me?”

I glanced over my shoulder at where Fiona was and saw she and Braden were staring at me. Fiona wore this knowing smile on her face, gave me a thumbs-up, and I felt a blush steal across my face as all this attention was on me. I wasn’t used to it.

When I glanced back at the sexy stranger, I assumed maybe he’d be looking at Fiona. She was beautiful, a real stunner that turned heads everywhere we went. I always felt like Plain Jane compared to her, never got that kind of attention, not that I resented her for it. I didn’t even think she realized how beautiful she was. But I was pleasantly shocked to see he wasn’t looking at anyone but me. Only me.

“Okay,” I said loud enough he heard. No way I wanted there to be any miscommunication. I was doing something I’d never done before, taking a chance with a man, because for the first time in my life, I felt like this was exactly what was meant to happen.