Addictive Lunacy (3 page)

“You guys work alongside Sorenson Architecture, right?”

Her comment surprised me. “You know of us?” I leaned against the bar and studied her.

“I have a friend that works at Sorenson. Besides, the company I work for hired you guys to redesign one of our office buildings last year.” Liv mimicked my pose and leaned one elbow against the bar even though she had to sit all the way at the end of the bar stool to do it.

I fought the urge to smile at her, knowing that I was in deep. I found her adorable. Again, I’m sure my reaction was normal and considering the many stares being thrown her way, I was convinced that I could react no other way.

This didn’t mean that I couldn’t enjoy just talking to her, right?

Tread carefully. I’m sure this kind of rationale is what has led many men astray.

“Who do you work for?” I was truly interested. She seemed young but she was obviously old enough to order alcohol, as I’d already seen.

“Cannon Graphics.” Her lips wrapped around the edge of her glass. Her throat jumped when she took her next drink and I swear I saw her bottom lip stick to the glass for a second longer than the rest of her mouth when she pulled away.

I frowned in contemplation. “I’ve heard of you guys. Actually, I think we had you guys help on some advertising campaigns.”

Liv smiled at me, obviously unaware of the fact that the way her lips stretched over her teeth could rob me of my breath. “My dad owns the company. Damned slave driver. Made me work my ass off just to get to manage my own division even though I finished college early.”

She said this as if complaining but something about the tone of her voice and the look on her face spoke otherwise.

If I hadn’t been interested before, I would’ve definitely been interested now. Burning with questions
–
and other things I was trying hard to ignore
–
I leaned towards her, ready to ask away.

Liv looked over her shoulder, calling my attention to the fact that more people were starting to wander into the bar. She jumped off her bar stool, nearly landing right against my chest. I looked down at her, heart thundering as I registered how close she had been to colliding with me.

And how much I just might have been okay with it.

More than okay with it.

“Want to grab a seat at one of the booths before they’re all taken? I hate sitting at a crowded as fuck bar and trying to talk.” She was already walking towards the back.

I truly had no choice but to follow her. And as I did, I was subjected to the view of her ass as it swung with each step. She had a unique but not exaggerated walk that drew one too many stares.

My own and that of others.

A tick started in my jaw and I eyed one of the men staring at her over the rim of my glass. He caught my stare and I don’t know what he saw in it, but he turned away immediately.

I swallowed the alcohol in my mouth. Liv made her way over to a round booth in the back, one with a high backed end that curved and hid most of the booth from view of the bar.

She slid into it like a quick little nymph, moving fluidl
y and
I followed her down into the seat. Liv gave me a cute, closed mouthed smile that oddly enough seemed to be filled with pride.

I smirked and raised an eyebrow, completely at a loss as to what to talk about.

“So, your brother left you hanging, huh?” she asked.

I rolled my eyes even though I wasn’t so sure it was a bad thing anymore.

Wait...did I really just think that?

“Yes, he did. He lives to make my life impossible.” I felt an absurd feeling come over me when she giggled at that. Pride. It was pride. Making the girl in front of giggle had filled my chest with a heady sensation.

One that just might be addictive.

Liv asked me to tell her more about my brother as we drank. Eventually, when I saw that her drink had been finished and mine as well, I offered to go back to the bar and get us more. She went to hand me cash for her drink, at which point I sat back down long enough to give her an “
are you serious?
” look.

She bit her lip, thanking me in an almost shy manner as she put away her cash. I confirmed that she wanted the same drink then made my way back to the front of the bar.

The skin along my back prickled slightly, not an unpleasant sensation just one that was warm. Once I got to the bar and ordered our drinks, I turned back and looked at our table.

Liv had inched all the way to the left side, the one part of the booth not hidden from the rest of the bar. The sensation I’d felt was her eyes, watching me the entire time. I couldn’t decipher the look on her face.
Regardless, I couldn’t break away and when I locked eyes with her, she made no move to break our stare, either.

The bartender came back with our drinks. I was still staring at Liv and trying to figure out what outside of her beauty had me so intrigued. The bartender cleared his throat, making me turn to him with a scowl. I paid him, watching as his eyes moved back towards the table where Liv was at.

My scowl grew.

Had I been an asshole, I would have withheld my tip. As it is, I almost flung it at him, taking our drinks and heading back to Liv. Her eyes were still following my every move. She seemed to be studying me, trying to see something, and I found myself curious as to how she saw me.

She was obviously nothing like the women I was usually around. She was easy-going and open. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was coming across as “stuck-up” or any of the other things my brother had always accused me of
being
.

“Thank you,” she repeated again, taking her drink from me once I was seated.

I smiled down at her. “You’re welcome.” She seemed truly grateful that I had paid her drink, the smile on her face was warm. I knew that a lot of guys must have offered to buy her drinks in her lifetime. I’d gotten enough glares thrown my way to know that any of the idiots in that bar would have loved to take my place.

“Guys buy you drinks all the time, don’t they? So, why are you so surprised that I’d buy you one?” I surprised the fuck out of myself when I asked her that. I wasn’t normally so blunt with women. Men, yes. Women, no. But the curiosity I was feeling was bigger than any reservations I might have had.

Luckily, Liv didn’t seem insulted at all. She just took another drink from of her martini and shrugged her shoulders before answering. “Most guys would be hitting on me while doing it. Most guys would have tried to get me into bed by now. I can tell you’re interested but you’re not pushing it. I appreciate that.”

My bluntness was nothing compared to hers. Her response shocke
d me and embarrassed me a bit
. She could obviously tell I found her attractive. What really had questions flying through my head was how easily she said she appreciated me not flirting with her.

Did she appreciate it because it gave her a break? Or did she appreciate it because she wasn’t attracted to me that way? She must be. I remembered the way she had looked at me in the hallway downstairs...

Why was I even pondering this?

Liv turned to me, her next comment almost sending me into a panic. “So, Calum. Tell me, is there some girl that’s going to be pissed off because you’re sitting here talking to me at a bar?”

3

T
ell her the truth. Tell her the truth. Tell her the fucking truth!

“No.”

What? It was the truth.

Not all of it!

I understood what my conscience was trying to tell me, but aside from sitting there and enjoying a good conversation with her, I had no intentions of taking it further. Yes, the girl was sexy and attractive to me but I couldn’t let myself fall victim to
any of
that.
 
             
And if I had no plans of going further than talking with her, what was the point of bringing up my damned ex? Just thinking about her was threatening to ruin my mood and though Liv had me on edge, she also was relaxing to be around.

Easy to talk to.

What I didn’t count on was the fact that Liv just might be attracted to me. It didn’t cross my mind that she might take my affirmation of being single as an opening.

The first hour we hung out together, she asked me to tell her more about my brother. She told me about her mom and dad, how she was an only child.

I learned that her name was actually Livana Payne but yes, she rather her friends call her
“
Liv.
”
Sometime after that, she insisted that I had to call her Liv. When she did, I couldn’t hold back the smile on my face. I found myself ridiculously wishing that I had a nickname that she could call me by.

By my sixth drink, things were getting bad. I had kept on drinking, and while six drinks weren’t enough to get me drunk right away, it was enough to start getting me tipsy.

Blood warming even more, I leaned back against the booth, too relaxed for my own good as I watched Liv with heavy lidded eyes.

“Why are you single?” I couldn’t hold back from asking her. The question had become too much to hold
in
.

Seriously, why? She was fun, beautiful, easy to be around when one ignored the whole “arousal-that’s-too-much-to-bear” situation. Why was she unattached?

“Because most men are idiots,” came her honest, unapologetic reply. “I’ve dated before, don’t get me wrong, but it’s usually a headache. I haven’t met anyone I can honestly say I really got along with and I’m just not the type of girl that can be with a guy for the sake of being with him.”

I watched her shrug, finishing my drink. My brain liked and
didn’t
like this reply. Diane had seemingly been with me for the sake of just being with me. I had done the same thing with her. It had all been founded on something that was wrong and for the first time I was allowing myself to admit that.

“Hey there big guy.” Liv slided up to me and nudged my shoulder softly. “You ok there? You’re looking like a chocolate melting into that seat.”

“A chocolate?” I asked, amused and unwilling to move. I had one arm draped against the back of the booth’s seat while my other arm lay on the table.

“Yeah.” Liv’s eyelids lowered, seeming to become heavy. “A chocolate. Definitely. A nice, edible Hershey’s Kiss.”

And the way her eyes traveled over me destroyed all of my calm, tension shooting like spirals through me and forcing me upright. My body thrummed from the alcohol and her appraisal. Being compared to chocolate by her had me imagining things.

Things that featured her lips.

Lips that, in the dim light of that bar, I was dying to lean over and taste and I couldn’t deny it to myself any longer.

Holy shit.

“Another drink?” I was already standing up.

Liv nodded at me, her eyes traveling up and down my body.

I swear to God, I think they might have frozen for a second too long on my ass.

Jeans. Jeans are good. Must buy more.

No! This is bad! I should go.

But I wasn’t going to. God help me, I wasn’t.

When I returned with my drinks, Liv was leaning against the back of the
booth
and still giving me that look.

I swallowed, my abs clenching. I sat down and handed her the drink, taking a large sip of my own and hoping to high hell she wouldn’t see how nervous I was.

Liv’s cheeks seemed to be darkening even in the dim light and the relaxed, glazed look in her eyes told me that her own drinks were starting to hit her. She sat up and actually moved a little closer.

I almost choked on my drink, my body tensing even more.

Urges. Bad urges. Urges that
felt
good but were asking me to do things that would be bad. I didn’t want to go; I wanted to keep talking to her, but I just might have to force myself to
leave
.

I couldn’t give into what my body wanted from her. I’d have to tell her the truth before I did and once I did, I’d look like the biggest asshole in the world.

Which, I was starting to believe I was. Why the hell was I in a bar, lusting like a maniac after a woman when just yesterday morning I’d been engaged and ready to marry another?

Oh, right.
Fuck you, Lucas. You left me on my own.

Once you saw her, would it have mattered if he was here?

No, o
f course not.

So fuck you for inviting and convincing me, Luke.

“Calum, look at me.”

I took another sip and forced myself to do as she said.

“You seem...” She tilted her head, moving even closer. “Nervous.”

“I am,” I responded honestly.

She bit her lip. I wanted to kick the table away from me and rail. Why couldn’t I have met her later on? Oh say, months after my engagement had been over?

“Why? Is it because you can tell I’m attracted to you?” Nothing about her seemed to be hesitant or shy.