The Crimson Bond (2 page)

            I shrugged. “I needed a change.”
            “Well, you’ve come to the right place, if that’s what you want. Just don’t let Anna here get you into any trouble. She’s a magnet for it”, he said and winked at Anna who rolled her eyes.
            “Yes”, she sighed. “I’m a magnet for loser men and horrible roommates. Thanks for rubbing it in, Kyle. Present company not included of course.” She bumped me with her shoulder teasingly.
            “How bout lemon drops?” she asked me.
            “Sure! Sounds good.”
            Kyle flashed me another smile and went to get our drinks.
            I was watching the band play at the back of the room when Anna grabbed my arm. Her fingers were digging into my flesh.
            “Oh. My. God. Sweetie today is your lucky day.”
            I followed her gaze to see two men making their way through the throngs of people towards the bar. Both of them were drop dead gorgeous, but one in particular drew my full attention. Demanded it, really. He was tall with broad shoulders, muscular arms and narrow hips. He had dark brown, almost black, wavy hair that deliciously looked like he had just ran his fingers through it. This guy was unbelievable. His face was beyond handsome, but it was his breathtakingly blue eyes that captured my attention. They were a clear, deep, hypnotizing blue. In fact, I was pretty sure that they were hypnotizing, because I couldn’t have torn my eyes away if I tried. Anna was saying something to me, but I had no idea what it was over the roaring going on in my ears. His dark blue eyes had me in a complete trance. I blinked several times trying to clear my head.
            Anna on the other hand was looking at the other guy. “Brooke, that’s Paul,” Anna gushed on, still holding my arm in a vise grip and then nodding towards the guy holding my eyes prisoner. “And the guy you’re ogling is Alex. Paul and I have been dating and I knew he was going to stop by, but I totally didn’t know that Alex would come with him. It most definitely is your lucky night. Isn’t he gorgeous?” I could almost see the matchmaking wheels turning in her head. Usually that’s the last thing I’d go for…..but this guy I would make an exception for.

             She winked at me and let go of my arm finally as the two guys walked up and took seats at the bar table we had moved to after ordering our drinks.  I could feel the Alex guy’s eyes still on me and while part of me was jumping up and down about that, the other part of me was a little intimidated. Brad was the extent of my dating history and I certainly wasn’t use to guys of Alex’s caliber. He radiated confidence and power and sensuality. He was totally out of my league and I had a feeling his interest in me, if that is what the weight of his gaze was, would not last long. I expected him to be with some gorgeous model type, and while I was pretty enough, I felt like he was way more handsome than I was pretty.

            Even so, I mentally thanked Anna for knowing this Paul guy with the hot friend. Anna wasted no time making introductions. And when I turned to meet Alex’s eyes, I didn’t hear a word she said. I was lost in the depths of his brilliant blue eyes. Eyes that were making me feel exposed in a way that left me feeling vulnerable. It was like he could see past the perfect façade that I presented to the world. Anna elbowed me and I had to blink several times before breaking eye contact with Alex. Oh goodness, this was embarrassing. How much more obvious could I be that I was completely entranced by this guy
.
And if the amused look he was giving me was any indication, I wasn’t fooling anyone, especially him. Mentally pulling myself together I turned to smile at Anna. “I’m sorry Anna, what did you say?”

            She gave me a knowing look before saying, “I was asking you how you like it here so far. I know it‘s only been one day, but you would know if you‘re having any regrets, right?” Oh, boy. I wasn’t fooling anyone it seemed. Trying to smooth over my gawking at Alex, I quickly piped in. “Oh, I love it already.  The minute I drove into the city limits it felt right.” I gave her a teasing look.  “And of course I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate.”
            She laughed, “Of course you couldn’t have. But I’ve sure had my share of bad ones. Thank God you came along.” The band started back playing and Anna returned her attention to Paul, pulling him into conversation. I looked over to where Alex was sitting next to me and caught his eyes on me.  There was a heat in his gaze that left little doubt in my mind as to whether he was interested or not. I wasn’t usually so self depreciating, but it was beyond me why this particular guy would be looking at me the way he was right now. He leaned towards me so he could be heard over the band playing in the background.

            “You shouldn’t be here you know.”

            Holy smokes.
I’m not sure what I expected him to say but that wasn’t it.

            My eyes widened. His statement had floored me. He wasn’t making any attempts to hide that he was attracted to me, and to say something so blatantly rude was beyond confusing.  I tilted my head to the side and I’m sure my face was a mask of confusion.          “What do you mean?”

            He reached his hand over and picked up a lock of my golden brown hair letting it slide through his fingers while never taking his eyes off of mine.

            “Trust me when I say this isn’t the place for someone like you.” 

            I sucked in a breath through my teeth. “Excuse me?”

            His lips twitched as he looked at me. It was apparent he was finding my reaction amusing
.
I had to stop myself from gritting my teeth in frustration.
His lips broke into a heart melting smile before answering,” You’re far too beautiful and enticing and….way too innocent.”

            Huh? This guy thought I looked innocent.
            I brewed this over for a couple of seconds. Well, I guess compared to most, I
was
pretty innocent. I hadn’t been one to try drugs, I didn’t smoke, I wasn’t really a partier and I had only been with one guy and that was Brad. I thought of myself as more boring than innocent.
            “Innocent?” I questioned, trying to decide whether to get offended or not.
            “And enticing” he reminded me. My stomach did another dive
. I can’t believe this guy thinks I’m enticing
. Surely he had seen and been with much more alluring women than me. The way he carried himself and the expensive cut of his clothing made it obvious he was not only drop dead gorgeous, but successful, as well. And here I was a soon-to-be measly marketing assistant. Even if he was interested in me, I wasn’t so sure that I’d want to be on such an uneven playing field. This Alex guy was totally out of my league. I wondered how long it would take him to figure that out. 
            And,
Oh God
.
Even his voice had to be sexy.
I was starting to wonder what this guy‘s flaws were. If he was human, he was bound to have them. I tried to reign in my nerves.
            I tore my gaze up from his perfect, even teeth and…big mistake….our eyes locked. I swear they could see straight into my soul. A strange fission of electricity passed between us and his eyes seemed to alight with comprehension. The roaring in my ears got louder and I was wondering if I actually might pass out. This feeling was beyond anything I had ever experienced before. I must have forgotten to breathe, because a wave of dizziness had me grabbing the side of the table to recover my balance.
            I gasped taking hold of the last shreds of my composure. I glanced back up at him, hoping I looked more composed than I felt.
What in the hell is this guy doing to me?
Ten minutes with Alex and I was feeling emotionally drained and totally inept at holding a simple conversation. I dredged up every grain of inner strength I had and was finally able to respond.
            “Thank you…. I think. But what does that have to do with me coming here?”

            I was trying to play his compliment off, but I was impressed that he thought I was beautiful. I mean he was perfect. He had an air about him that exuded power, money, confidence…authority? Basically everything I wasn’t. Unfortunately, I was going to have to add confusing to his list of qualities. Maybe I had found a negative quality after all. This guy was looking at me like he could devour me one moment and then telling me I didn’t belong here the next. I had been hoping that the small town girl in me wouldn’t stand out, but apparently it was blatantly obvious that I didn’t fit in here. Even so, I wasn’t going to let anyone actually tell me that I didn’t. I cocked my head to the side, waiting for his answer.

            “You’ll just have to trust me,” he said.

            “But I don’t even know you.”

            He brought a hand up to his chin and sat back looking at me with a hooded gaze, a smile playing on his lips. Lips that I was dying to kiss.
Geez, get a grip on yourself Brooke!

CHAPTER 3
            Was this guy for real? I looked away, embarrassed at his audacity. I just wasn’t use to this kind of blatant flirtation. Just thirty minutes of knowing Alex and he was making my relationship with Brad look like a middle school romance.  Luckily, Kyle had returned with our drinks. He set one down in front of me and turned to Alex. “So you’ve met Brooke too, I see. Must be our lucky night.” He winked and gave me a warm smile that put me at ease.
           
Geez, these two were polar opposites
. One was warm and calming and the other was setting my nerves into a tailspin.
            I glanced over at Alex who was watching me intently.
            Nervous once again, I took a restoring sip of my drink.
            “You come here often?” I mentally rolled my eyes at myself.
Wow, that’s original Brooke
.
            The smirk was back. “You could say that.”
            Okay, he wasn’t brimming with information, that’s for sure. To cover my nerves I rambled on, scrounging around for a topic of conversation that would take my mind off the extremes in feelings he was evoking in me.
            “I’ve been wanting to move to Charlotte for a while now. I finally found a job that I start next week.”
            “Oh?” I’m sure I was boring him to death, but I couldn’t help that.
            “Yes, at a place called Chase Advertising. Do you know of it?”
            Now he looked intrigued. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and I was glad that he wouldn’t be dying of boredom any time soon.
            “I do. And what will you be doing there?”
            “A marketing assistant”, I answered and was sure that job didn‘t even make a blimp on his radar. Surprisingly, his eyebrows rose even higher and he studied me with a new light in his eyes. He looked amused. If I didn’t know better I’d say he knew something I didn’t.
            I continued on. “I’m a little nervous.” I tried not to squirm under his intense gaze and fidgeted with my bar napkin. “Just being new- not knowing what to expect.” I looked up at him. He was still studying me intently and still smirking. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was laughing at me. I felt my cheeks heat up and I was sure they were glowing a rosy red.
            He must have noticed his intensity was making me uneasy because he leaned for before saying. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.” He reached over putting his hand over mine and putting slight pressure on the top of my hand to stop my fingers from tearing the napkin to shreds. My breath caught as a jolt of awareness shot through me. I glanced up quickly from under my eyelashes and he was looking at me with his breathtakingly blue eyes. It was crazy how they changed shades of blue so quickly. I could seriously get lost in them. My heart was racing just looking at him. What was it about this guy that was tearing my nerves to pieces, in an absolutely good way?
           
“Relax Brooke. I don’t bite.” He paused. “Unless you want me too,” he murmured while giving me a look that was both teasing and questioning at the same time. His face broke into a mischievous smile and I was relieved to see he was just teasing me.

            Oh, god he’s really too handsome to be real.

            I took a deep breath noticing how delicious he smelled. Whatever they were charging for the cologne he was wearing, was not enough. He smelled phenomenal.

            I decided to go with it and pretended to be considering. “I might not mind if you bite me,” I teased back. Something flared in his eyes and I looked away.
Gosh, I’m brave tonight. Must be the new environment
.
            I was saved from further embarrassing myself by a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Anna. Her face was glowing and she had one hand in Paul’s and was already heading towards the dance floor. She spoke loudly over the music playing. It was amazing. I had completely tuned all the background noise out during my conversation with Alex. “We’re going to dance. Come on!”
            I looked back raising an eyebrow questioningly at Alex. He nodded and followed me out onto the dance floor. Just then the upbeat song the band was playing ended and they transitioned into a slower song.
           
Oh boy, a slow song right off the bat with Mr. Gorgeous Eyes.
I was already quaking from our limited physical interaction. How in the world was I going to make it through this? I was completely not used to this kind of electricity with a guy. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to run away or run straight into his arms. No other man had ever affected me this way. I was definitely treading into new, uncharted territory.