Fate Interrupted (6 page)

She leaned into
Jon and laughed, the tequila already making her insides tingle.

“Bullshit,” Dean
barked, trying to sound offended but unable to stop a smile from spreading like
the flu. “I cried during the
The
Vow
.”

Evy laughed
harder, making his heart inflate to twice its normal size. She took a drink of her
beer while examining him through warm pools of green.

Jon gestured to
Dean again with his bottle. “Guy like that won’t be on the market much longer,
sweetheart.”

Dean scooted
closer to Evy to change the subject as his cell vibrated two times in his
pocket, signaling an incoming text message. “He’s drunk; don’t listen to a word
he says. So what do you think of Milwaukee so far?” he asked, glaring at Jon,
who held up his hands in surrender.

“I really like
it. It’s so beautiful down by the lake.”

“Just wait till
Summerfest
,” Dean told her, digging his phone out.

“That’s what
everyone keeps saying.”

Without saying a
word, Jon got up and started dancing with the two dark skinned girls on the
other side of the dance floor. Their annoyed looks quickly turned to smiles
when he unleashed his wild moves upon them.

Dean shook his
head and chuckled. “You can’t beat the summertime in Milwaukee, but you blink
and you’ll miss it.”

Evy’s eyes
narrowed.

“It gets cold
quick,” he explained, looking down at his phone. A shot of adrenaline flooded
his system when he saw the picture of Megan lying naked on a pink bed with her
legs spread wide open. Evy craned her neck for a better view and Dean scrambled
to back out of the screen, dropping the phone to the hardwood floor where it cart
wheeled out of reach. He bent down to snatch it just as a leggy blond at the
other end of the long couch picked it up. The bright screen illuminated her
face. Her eyes widened. She turned to Dean, staring at him through incredulous
eyes, and slowly handed it back.

“Thank you,” he
said shamefacedly, pocketing the phone and sitting back down.

The blond batted
her fake lashes at him and whispered something to her girlfriend, who glanced
over at Dean. The two burst into an animated case of the giggles, sizing him up
from head to toe.

“Are you all
right?” Evy asked with a scrunched up face.

“All thumbs
today,” he smiled.

“Are you always
so smooth? I about died laughing when you spilt that lady’s drink at
Panera
.”

Dean exhaled a
long breath, relieved Evy hadn’t seen Megan’s revealing picture. He was
thankful for the energetic lights masking his flushed face. “You saw that,
huh?”

“I almost hit an
elderly couple crossing the parking lot I was laughing so hard.”

He watched her
lips wrap around her bottle of beer and he wanted to be that bottle more than
anything in the world. It was absurd. Something was happening inside of him he couldn’t
define. Serving up natural conversation with his silver tongue had always been smooth
and easy, but with her it took effort and he wondered if he had a fever. Evy’s sultry
gaze jerked back to him and his heart skipped a beat. She smiled as the booze
loosened her up. He couldn’t stop himself from getting lost in the sea of green
staring back at him.

She dropped her
gaze to her bottle and began picking at its label as a comfortable silence fell
between them. He waited for those eyes to return, knowing they would.

On cue, her
emerald gaze alighted on him, sending fire blazing through his veins. He wanted
to grab her and kiss her and was certain sure she felt the same. A swarm of
butterflies launched in his stomach, their wings tickling his insides as they
held each other’s gaze, communicating their thoughts and desires without saying
a word.

She leaned in
closer, making him do the same. “So…what do you do?
For
work?”

He wrapped an
arm around her waist and pulled her across the couch. She slid up against him
with a faint whimper bursting from her lips. Her startled expression made him
regret the move. It was too much too soon, but he kept his arm around her just
the same.

“What’s that?”

She opened her
mouth to repeat her question, basking in his glow without pulling away.

Sweet relief
swept over Dean like a cool ocean wave, instantly quenching any apprehension he
may have had. Her body heat flushed against his side, stealing his breath. There
was a stirring in his jeans as he waited for her to reply to a question he no
longer remembered asking. His eyes traveled from her eyes to her lips and back
again.

She watched him in
silent wonder, her lips dangling in the air, her memory long abandoned by the
question. Her hand found his knee to stop herself from falling into him.

They were so
close, he could feel her warm breath on his face and, yet, he had to get
closer. His hand curled around her hip and pulled. She moaned again, their eyes
dancing with the beat of their hearts. Bright lights jumped across their faces.
He opened his mouth, tasting her sweet lips before even making contact, his
erection searching for a way out of his jeans like a whale trapped beneath a
sheet of ice. He leaned in closer.

“
Deano
!”

Dean looked up
just in time to see a girl with long black hair and blue eyes drop into his
lap, spilling his beer onto Evy’s jeans. “Whoa, Becky!” he cried out, trying to
regain control of his frosty beverage.

Becky wrapped
her arms around Dean’s neck and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. He pushed
her away with his free hand while she painted him with a drunken grin. “Why
haven’t you come over to see me yet?”

He tried his
best to control his annoyance at the rude interruption. It was all he could do
to keep from dumping her onto the floor with a double thud. “We just got here,”
he replied coolly, swapping glances with Evy as she gradually retreated down
the couch.

Becky stuck her
head in-between them, blocking Dean’s view of the most beautiful thing he had
ever seen, demanding his full attention. “Aren’t I still your favorite
bartender?” She brushed an index finger across the tip of his nose.
“
Boop
!”

An uneasy laugh
squirmed free as he twisted beneath her weight. “You know you are.”

She buried her
head in his neck and inhaled his scent. He pushed her away and she pulled him
closer, kissing his neck and making him fidget. She leaned back and looked into
his eyes. “Then come dance with me while I’m on break,” she said, grinding her
curvy buttocks into his lap with the house music. Her eyes lit up. “Ooh,
someone’s happy to see me!”

His face turned
as red as the glowing table. “I’m going to have to take a rain check on that,”
he said, trying to free his groin from her crushing attack.

Her face fell,
turning a multitude of flashing colors.

“I’m with
someone.”

Creases snaked
through her fake-baked forehead.
“Who?”

He craned his
neck to look over her shoulder, his mouth opening to introduce her to Evy,
praying that Becky would play nice and make a graceful exit. His heart sank.
“Shit,” he said, scanning the empty couch and pushing Becky off him.

She fell onto
the velvety cushions with a soft bounce, her startled eyes boring holes straight
through him. “Hey!” she bellowed, struggling to sit up.

He pushed her
legs off of him and set his beer down on the table without looking at her again.
His round eyes scoured the large room as he waded through the thick crowd. He
cut through them like a warm knife, seeing Evy standing in the shadows against
a far wall only to find out it was someone else upon closer inspection. He saw
Jon bouncing up and down with the dark skinned girls in perfect rhythm. A
strobe light kicked in, making them move like stuttering robots as the song hit
its crescendo. The strobe cut out, releasing the crowd back into a flurry of
unbridled dancing. Jon looked up and raised a fist for Dean to bump. Dean
ignored him and kept moving.

The line of
girls waiting to use the restroom in the back was long and loud and Evy free.
He ran a hand through his hair and turned for the front doors, dread growing in
the pit of his stomach. He nodded to the two burly bouncers guarding the
entrance as he spilled outside. The cool breeze felt good against his skin and
he could finally think again without the blaring music muddying his thoughts.
The walkway out front was hectic with small groups of smokers and people shuffling
past to their next destination. His heart hammered inside his chest. He spun in
circles on his heels. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go down. He started
for Sugars, reversing the way they had come. When he saw her his heart lurched
into his throat. He picked up his pace and darted into the street. A silver SUV
slammed on its brakes and Dean barely noticed.

“Hey!” Dean said
,
taking her arm as the SUV whipped around them.

She twirled
around and hit him with those green eyes, sending a shiver down his spine.

“Why did you
leave?”

She glanced down
the street. “I have to help Brooke close up.”

He followed her wandering
gaze, his mind swimming in a sea of longing with no land in sight. He must have
a fever. “No you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then I’ll go
with you.”

She shook her
head. “You shouldn’t leave your friend.”

“He’ll make new
ones.”

“I’m sure he
will,” she scoffed.

His face soured.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I
think you have enough friends on your hands already.”

He snorted,
still holding onto her arm, her soft skin making his knees weak. “So you don’t…
wanna
be friends?”

Evy lowered her
gaze to the pavement and kicked a red Solo cup off to the side. She looked back
up, unable to stop herself. They stood frozen, staring into each other’s eyes.
Time seemed to stop, or speed up. It was difficult to tell. Dean’s hope danced perilously
close to the edge of a high cliff, ready to jump into his arms or topple over
the side, crashing into a million pieces on the jagged rocks below.

She finally
dropped his sweltering gaze. “I just think this isn’t the best time for…”

A speeding cab laid
on its horn.

With a quick
jerk he pulled her against him, the blur of yellow just missing her leg. They
stood face to face in the middle of the street, her startled eyes looking up into
his, silently pleading for him to stop whatever he was doing. He cupped her
face in his hands and dipped his chin. Their lips hovered inches apart as his
eyes ravished her features, spellbound by something he was at a loss to
explain. Her eyes glittered with heat, making them glow. He licked his lips,
ignoring the way his heart was pounding against his ribcage. When she took a
step back he pulled her close and brought his mouth down onto hers, forcefully
kissing her with a needful passion that refused to
be denied
.
A soft whimper escaped through her nose from somewhere deep down inside. Her
arms spread out into the air for balance as he took what he so desperately
desired.

His lips pressed
against hers with fervor, sucking and caressing, moving from top to bottom. She
pushed against his shoulders, trying to resist with little resolve. He kissed
her harder and her hands gradually relented, wrapping around his neck and
pulling him in. She shut her eyes and sent her warm tongue slipping through his
lips. Stars exploded behind his eyelids, lighting up the darkness like the
Fourth of July. Headlights swerved around them, the drivers’ angry horns
falling on deaf ears. Their lips probed each other like they had met before,
pulling and pressing with a familiar repose. They were the only two people on
Earth and time had definitely stopped.

They broke the
kiss to catch their racing breath. Dean’s chest rose and fell beneath his black
button down as he stared into her star-crossed eyes. Her hand slid down his rounded
shoulder and pressed into his chest, accepting his heart beat into her open palm,
the rapid hammering telling her something words could not. She melted into his
eyes, unable to utter a single sound, let alone an entire word.

“We should
probably get out of the street,” he panted.

She grabbed a fistful
of his shirt and pulled his lips to hers, pouring gasoline on the fire inside
his pants. Their firm embrace was greedy and relentless. He cupped the curves
hiding inside her tight jeans and pulled her body against his, pressing his
groin against her stomach. Her eyes widened as his hardness stole her breath.

A cop car stopped
in the street and splashed them with red and blue, adding to their dream-like state.
Evy’s mouth breathed sweet air into him that he would surely die without. Their
heads rocked back and forth as she emptied her life force into him with
reckless abandon.

A screaming
siren punctured the night with a double beep. “
Getouttathegoddamnstreet
!”
a man squawked over a PA system in a continuous string, jerking them from their
trance.