He nodded. “Florida, huh? I was assuming you were on vacation, but if you’re from Florida, I doubt that. Why vacation at this beach when you have beautiful ones there? What brings you to Alabama?”
I liked his voice. It was soothing. It paired nicely with the way he smelled—very appealing. “I’m traveling west. Going on an adventure of sorts.”
He turned to look at me then. “An adventure? Alone?”
Okay, that was a bad idea. I shouldn’t tell a strange guy I was alone. “No, I’m traveling with friends,” I lied quickly.
He didn’t look convinced. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yes, really.”
“Dirty martini,” Larissa said placing the drink I ordered in front of me. It had the ice slivers in it that I loved.
“Thank you. This looks wonderful.”
“She’s the best,” Eli agreed. “Now how about another Jack?” he asked her.
“How about a glass of water first,” she said sliding a glass of water in front of him.
“You’re killing my buzz, Larissa,” he said looking unhappily at his glass of water.
“I’m saving your ass,” she told him. Then she turned and said to me over the music that was growing louder, “Eli’s a nice guy. Better when he’s sober. And your food will be out in five,” she said holding up her hand with her five fingers spread.
I figured he had the approval of the bartender who seemed nice enough. I wasn’t going to be abducted or raped tonight. That was a relief.
Eli Hardy
TOO MUCH ALCOHOL was never a good thing. Unless you were home alone with pizza, or even better, Chinese food and the box set of Rocky DVDs. Then you were safe. But I’d been sworn off women for three weeks. The last women I had dated had made a wedding planner by the sixth date and proceeded to show it to me. That had been our last date.
I missed women. I’ll admit it. The one sitting next to me was gorgeous, and she reminded me of that etiquette book my grandmother made Larissa read when we were kids. Grandma tried to make me read that book, but I wasn’t doing it. I pretended. The picture of the girl on the front of the book was so polished and polite—that look hadn’t been attractive until now. Wrapped up in this package beside me, it was a complete turn on.
Watching her attempt to eat a potato skin with a fork and knife was priceless. Larissa’s face when she asked for “flatware” had been even better. We had grown up around my grandmother, so we were used to proper people. But in a place like Live Bay, you didn’t run into this sort of girl.
I was positive Larissa was as entertained as me. Probably not as fascinated, but fucking entertained. Larissa was giving me the “be good” glare every time she came over to get our drinks.
She was my aunt, but she was only a couple of years older than me. We’d grown up more like cousins. She had lived with us for a time, but I was too young to remember.
It had taken some acting to pretend I wasn’t as drunk as I actually was to get her to give me another whiskey.
Finally, I reached over and picked up one of the potato skins and held it to her little pink perfect mouth. She frowned immediately. “Eat it with your hands. Try it. The grease gets on your fingers, but somehow that makes it all better.”
I wasn’t a junk food guy. I was a runner and very careful about the food I ate until I got drunk. Then I ate all the bad shit. However, Lila was keeping me from eating the greasy bar food. I was too enthralled with her to care about anything else.
She took a dainty bite, and then cover her mouth as she chewed, grinning as if she had done something completely wicked. Damn, that was hot. There was no way she was as perfect as I saw her. She had to have something wrong with her. I just couldn’t see clearly through the drunken haze. I needed to tread carefully.
I tried to focus harder to see if her teeth were bucked or if there was a gap big enough for food to fit through. Maybe she had bad breath? Or was married? I began checking those for evidence of those intently.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I wasn’t about to tell her I was trying to focus enough to find her flaws. There had to be a reason I was the only guy in this bar hitting on her. If she was, in fact, as fucking perfect as my mind was telling me she was, then she should have several guys hovering around her. That was my first clue. I could ask Larissa, but then she’d stop giving me drinks, and possibly slap me across the face for being so shallow.
I went with the best excuse. “I was trying to figure out if you were married or engaged.”
She laughed then. Out loud. A musical sound that made me feel nice all over. “Married? Why would you think I was married? And why were you studying my mouth like it was a science experiment? Was it going to tell you I was married?”
I wasn’t very smooth. Maybe I should drink some water.
“Just checking to see if those green onions were sticking in your teeth. They always get in mine.”
She laughed again. Damn, I liked that laugh. I liked that she thought my lie was funny.
“Thanks, I think. I assume I passed the inspection.”
I nodded because she still looked perfect, and fuck me if it was the drunk goggles talking. If it was, I had a better imagination than I realized.
“Dance with me,” I said standing up, thankful I didn’t fall over. I could still balance. That was good.
“Drink this water first, Romeo,” Larissa interrupted me. Her serious expression told me maybe I wasn’t hiding my drunk that well. So, I took the glass and downed it.
She cut her eyes to Lila. “I’m trusting you,” were her final words to me before she walked back to help other customers. It sucked when your aunt was the bartender at the only place in town that was worth going to. Well, it didn’t always suck, but tonight it was getting in my way.
I smirked and blew it off. “Larissa is my aunt. You’ll have to ignore her.”
Lila’s stunning eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. She looks so young.”
“She is. Only a few years older than me. The story is long, full of intrigue and lies. Very daytime soap opera. I’ll tell you all about it if you dance with me. I swear it’s better than a romance novel.” That much was true. Larissa’s story was intense.
Lila looked down at her uneaten food. “I can’t eat any more anyway. You were right they are delicious but heavy. I’m full.” She stood up and gave me that smile that I hoped I remembered tomorrow.
I placed a hand on her lower back and led her out to the dance floor. Glancing at the table I had been at when she walked in, I saw Micah Falco and Jimmy Taylor give me the nod. They were both smiling. Either they were smiling because she was as smoking hot as I thought she was, or because they were going to harass me about this for years to come. I just didn’t care anymore. And I was fucking thrilled Saffron’s crazy ass wasn’t here tonight to cause trouble. She’d ruin this just for the hell of it.
Even if I did forget fragments of tonight, Micah and Jimmy would surely give me a complete recap. Once we were on the packed dance floor, I pulled her to me and inhaled. Jesus, she smelled like heaven. She wasn’t wearing some heavy perfume or body lotion. It was light and smelled like almonds or cinnamon. Fuck if I knew. It was just intoxicating. I pulled her closer and took a deep breath.
“I’m sure you hear this a lot, but you smell amazing.”
She tilted her head back just enough to look up at me. “Thanks. And no, I don’t actually.”
That caused me to pause. Did she live in a convent? “How is that possible?”
She gave me a small shrug. “I don’t get close to guys often.” She hesitated, then she looked serious like she was unsure she should have said that. “I mean I didn’t for a long time, but I do now. I’m different. It’s time for a change.”
A change? What was she a lesbian trying out the other side? I decided against asking that figuring if it was the case she might be offended. Didn’t matter to me either way.
“What all does this change of yours consist of?” I asked her.
“Adventure.”
Just that one word. Interesting. She had eaten her bar food with a knife and fork with her paper napkin in her lap and she wanted an adventure. I wasn’t sure that was safe. She seemed too innocent for an adventure. Or maybe I was reading her completely wrong?