Heart Lies & Alibis (3 page)

"What? I'm sorry. I missed that. What did you say?" I tore my eyes away from tall, dark and sexy and looked at Grace. I knew I was busted.

She had a small smile on her face and was shaking her head.I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment. "I was asking if you were ready to go but I think you may have been a bit distracted. Do you need a moment to cool down? A cold shower perhaps?"

I felt my face flush a shade darker. God this was humiliating because she was right. I was feeling more than a bit hot and bothered by my friend behind the bar and I wasn't hiding it well. I tried to play it off though so I didn't sound as desperate as I felt.. "Funny lady. No, I'm fine, I was just.... looking at the woodwork. Yes. On the bar. It is quite lovely, don't you think. Very nice detail." I took another drink and looked towards the band hoping Grace would let the moment go, which of course she couldn't.

"The woodwork on the bar? Really? I see. And here I thought you were checking out that incredibly hot, and might I add incredibly young, bartender over there because he hasn't stopped checking you out since we came in the bar." She leveled another knowing gaze at me but I continued to play dumb.

""What? Really? I mean, you're crazy. He is far too young and hot to be looking my direction. Besides he wouldn't be interested int me with that group of hot young things surrounding the bar ready to fulfill his every need" Still, I looked nonchalantly back toward the bar and found he was looking directly at me. I nearly choked on my drink from the intensity of his stare. I whipped my head back to look at Grace while my entire body erupted with heat and sensations in places I realized had been dormant for a damn long time. I wiggled a bit in the booth trying to calm my raging hormones with no relief.

Grace laughed out loud and I cringed. "Oh and Mr. Sexy, he's about 27 I would bet. You remember I was always good at the "Guess the Age" game. And yes my friend, his eyes have been on you the whole night, despite the best efforts of those interested young ladies angling for his attention at the bar. Why wouldn't he look at you Reagan? You are a beautiful woman and any man would be grateful to have by their side. Or in their bed. Don't let this bullshit with Thad make you think anything else."

I smiled at her, the genuine love in her words making my heart feel slightly less broken. "Thanks lady. You are the best friend I could ever ask for, you know that?"

She blew me a kiss. "You better believe it. I love you, Chica. Alas, I am also a friend who is usually in bed by 10pm so I am going to call it a night. Are you ready?" I think she already knew my answer before she asked.

I glanced back to the bar and Mr. Sexy smiled when our eyes met. This time I held his gaze. Yeah, he was exactly what I needed tonight. "Umm, you know Grace, I think I might stay a bit longer. Can you get home okay?"

She studied me for a minute in silence before she spoke. "Reagan, are you sure this is what you want to do?" And we both knew she wasn't referring to having another drink in the bar.

I tried to play the innocent anyway. "I'm not doing anything, Gracie, but having a drink. Celebrating my birthday for a bit longer. That's it. Besides, I think I deserve it, don't you?"

She narrowed her eyes, attempting to give me her most severe face, the one I had seen her use on her girls on many occasions. "You do deserve anything you want Reagan but are you sure that is all you are looking for tonight, Reagan? I think we both know you are more than a bit drunk, a lot hurt, and you are looking to ease your broken heart. You may make some decisions tonight you could regret tomorrow. We both know it has happened in the past." Man I hated when she was right. Maybe this was a mistake but tonight I didn't care.

"Grace, I am a forty-year-old woman on the brink of divorce not a young college student at a frat kegger. Come Monday, in addition to starting the process to end my decade long marriage, I will likely also have to leave a law practice I helped build, and one I dearly love, to start my life all over again. What decision could I possibly make tonight that could make the fucked state of my life any worse?" My argument didn't erase the look of concern from her face.

She looked back toward the bar and Mr. Sexy-as-hell and then back at me. Her only response was to raise an eyebrow.

I pushed on. "Trust me Grace. That guy is way too young to want to do more than some innocent flirting with me. I mean look at those young girls at the bar, like you said earlier, they clearly have plans for him. They can barely keep their tits in their shirts. How long can he really ignore them? He'll forget all about me soon enough. I will be fine. I am going to have one more drink and then call a cab and head straight home. Scout's honor." I raised two fingers in mock salute and she smiled in spite of her desire to appear disapproving.

"Alright, my friend. But you text me the minute you get home. And let's have brunch tomorrow. Okay? I want to hear all the details about this innocent flirting you are about to do. It has been quite a few years since you used that charm of yours on any man but Thad, so this should prove to be interesting to say the least. Be safe. I love you silly girl. Happy Birthday."

We stood and hugged. "I love you too. And thanks for being there tonight Grace. You are the best."

"Be good," she called as she floated out of the bar, still a vision in cream.

The waitress brought me another drink and I was trying desperately to keep my attention on the band but my eyes kept straying back to the bar. Every time they found my young friend, to my excitement and chagrin. He smiled a few times, and nodded once while he gave me an intense stare that made me feel like he could see right through my clothes. The thought of being naked with him had me recrossing my legs again looking for relief from the pressure building inside.

I needed to leave soon before I made a fool of myself in some way but I couldn't get my feet to cooperate. When the band took a short break, I made a move to leave when I felt someone near the table. I turned and found myself looking at the broad chest I had been admiring from a distance all night. Crap. I looked up further and met the eyes of Mr. Sexy from behind the bar..

"Can I get you another Jameson's, ma'am?" Ouch. Thanks for the nice reminder of our age difference sexy boy. But wait. What was he doing? Oh crap, he's standing close to my chair and he's leaning in towards my ear and oh man does he smell good and crap I haven't answered his question yet.

"You know, I was actually getting ready to go. But thanks." I smiled as my heart thundered in my chest and I felt a rush of heat fill my cheeks.

He looked genuinely disappointed. "Really, so soon? Can I convince you to stay? I thought maybe we could talk a bit. Have another drink? Get to know each other?" Seriously, he had an Irish brogue in an Irish pub? Lord help me. My heart was really beating fast now and I was feeling things in all the right places as I looked at him.

Before I could stop my mouth, I heard myself saying, "Oh. Umm, sure. I guess. Okay. Yeah. One more drink would be great. I'm having..."

"A double Jameson. Yeah. I know. I have been pouring them all night for you. Be right back."

Did he just wink at me? Oh my god. Get a hold of yourself Reagan. You sound like a sex crazed idiot. Snap out of it. Just be calm, you can do this. You used to like to flirt. A lot. You got this girl. Thank god I kept my pep talk in my head.

He returned moments later with the drink and set it on the coaster in front of me before he slid into the seat across from me. He laid one arm along the back of the booth and twirled a napkin with the other. His eyes never left mine. He had gray blue eyes, like the color of the ocean right before a summer storm, and I knew I could get lost in them all night long. Up close I could see the tattoo on his arm better – a scroll with the words
Let It Be
in swirly print laced through the leaves of a four leaf clover. Below it was the name Fiona and a date. It was beautiful and I found myself wondering what the words meant to him.

He stretched his hand out. "My name is Declan." Of course it was.

I took it and the jolt of electricity between us at the touch of skin made me jump. "Reagan."

Still holding my hand, he leaned across the table, his intense stare smoldering between us. "What brings you to our fine establishment this evening, Reagan?" I loved the way my name trilled off his tongue.

I smiled nervously finding the pressure of his hand on mine distracting for a moment. "I am celebrating a birthday. My birthday. A big one actually, so I thought I deserved to have a good time." I babbled away like an idiot. I didn't add the part about also wanting to forget my cheating bastard of a husband.

He cocked an eyebrow at me, a sexy smile hovering just at the edge of his mouth. "A big one? Really. So, let me guess, it must be your 30th?"

I laughed out loud. "You, sir, are very kind. But no. It's actually my 40th." Best to get that clear right away.

He sat back in mock surprise. "No way. I don't believe it." He winked and smiled that gorgeous smile again. "Seriously, and please excuse my boldness, but you look damn fine and nowhere close to being forty." His face spread into a sexy grin.

Between the whiskey and the lateness of the night, my usual walls of defense were down. I looked at him for a minute. "I appreciate that. Thank you. Even if it's a bit of an exaggeration. Do you mind if I ask you a question?" I didn't wait for his answer. "How old you are you Declan? Because I know it is nowhere close to forty." Please don't let it be as young as I fear.

He laughed as he leaned towards me across the table. His hand still held mine and his finger traced a seductive trail along my inner ring finger, ironically where it was now bare of the diamond wedding set it had worn every day for the last ten years until this morning when I had tossed it my jewelry box never to be worn again. "How old do you think I am?" The sensation of his touch made words hard to form.

"You know, I'm actually kinda afraid to guess. I mean, I know you are at least of legal age if you are working as a bartender so that's a relief. But you look to good to be the age I need you to be in order to not feel like one of those cougars I hear about." I watched him as his face broke into a grin and he started to laugh harder.

He took an even firmer hold of my hand and the feel of his touch sent me spinning. I was convinced my heart might just pound out of my chest at any moment, if he kept touching me that way and why did I have to keep reminding myself to breathe?

"Well, you are correct about part of that assessment at least. I am perfectly legal. I'm 27 but I will be 28 by the end of next month." He smiled again as if that made everything alright.

I wanted to fan myself. "Oh well that makes all the difference doesn't it? Twenty-seven, you say? Wow." My head was really spinning at this point. He was nearly thirteen years my junior which meant he wasn't even in kindergarten when I graduated high school? Oh my lord, what was I doing?

He leaned a bit further across the table, his eyes looking deeply into mine I thought I would never want to blink again. "But as for it being a problem for us, I think you're wrong about that. I think things between us could be very nice." He brought my hand to his lips, brushing them across my knuckles, while his eyes told me exactly what he hoped could be happening between us. I just stared back at him. This boy was smooth that was for sure.

We continued to make small talk. I gave him the usual biographical details one shares with a stranger in a bar. I told him I was a lawyer, born in Iowa, without any real family to speak of but I left out the part about my impending divorce.

Beyond his name, I learned little about him during our conversation. He had a way of answering and steering the conversation without offering many personal details. I was about to ask him some more personal questions when someone called to him from behind the bar and he rose to go back to work.

Leaning close enough that I could feel his breath on my ear when he spoke he said "Don't leave yet Reagan. Okay? I would really like to talk to you a bit more." Before I could I answer he turned and walked away. What the hell was I going to do now?

Chapter 3

I needed to think for a moment. Somewhere alone where I could get my head straight. The bathroom. Yes, I could splash some cool water on my face, have a moment to collect myself. I knew I needed to think about exactly where, if anywhere, I wanted this evening to go before anything happened.

I slipped out of the booth and bee-lined to the restroom. Thankfully the single stall room was empty and I locked the door behind me, leaning heavily against it. My head was really spinning now – from the whiskey, the emotional roller coaster my life had been on the last 24 hours but mostly from the Declan's touch. It had been almost 15 years since any man besides Thad had touched me and made me feel alive and like a desirable woman and it was intoxicating. Besides, Thad had failed epically in that arena these past few years and I was more than ready for more. But was I willing to take this step? To let whatever was or wasn't about to happen between Declan and I be realized? Though Thad had cheated first was I really ready throw my marriage away forever?

You bet your ass I was. I was a woman who hadn't really been in love with her husband for a long time despite the lies she had tried to tell herself. As depressing as it was to finally admit, it was the truth. But crap. Was I ready to take this big of a step so fast? And with a guy this young?