“What do you care?” Dane asked, but I couldn’t help noticing that the cocky tone of his voice wasn’t quite there anymore. “It’s none of your business.”
At that, the stranger stood up, and I was right. He walked over to us without saying anything, but when a man looked that intimidating, words weren’t necessary. Hetoweredover Dane, looking down at him with a sneer twisting his full lips.
Dane stood as well, body tense. I could sense his mind working fast, weighing the pros and cons of this situation. It didn’t take long for him to decide that hitting on me wasn’t worth it. He shook his head and turned away, mumbling, “Whatever.”
I rolled my eyes at his petulant need to get a final word in before storming back to his table. I glanced over to see his friends laughing at him. I doubted he’d be a problem again.
Turning my attention to the stranger, I offered him a small grin. “Thanks for that. Some guys don’t know how to take a hint.”
“You gave him more than a hint,” the man said, a muscle ticking in his jaw as if what just happened was bothering him.
The fact that he seemed to care like that made me gesture to the stool Dane had just vacated. “Would you like to join me?”
I had no intention of sharing my time with anyone tonight. When I walked through the door of the bar, I just wanted to sit alone and stew in the lingering bitterness from the end of my relationship. But I didn’t regret impulsively asking the man to join me as he retrieved his drink from where he was sitting before and sat on the stool beside me. I noticed that he pulled the stool out a bit, giving me some respectful distance.
“I’m Sarah,” I said, offering him my hand.
“Dmitri.” His big hand engulfed my own, and a tingle ran up my arm. The sensation was strange, and I squeezed his fingers automatically.
He grinned, his eyes flashing with something that looked almost like amusement. He held onto my hand just a moment longer than necessary, and it was startling how my body reacted to the simple contact.
“So, what brings a woman like you to a bar alone?” he asked.
“A woman like me? What does that mean?”
He took a sip of some kind of amber-colored liquor before answering, his tongue darting out to swipe over his bottom lip. “Beautiful. Classy. The kind of woman that grabs attention.”
I smiled. It was a hell of a line, but there was something earnest in his voice that made me think he was sincere.
“I guess you could say I’m looking for an escape. Just for a couple of hours while my scumbag of an ex-boyfriend moves out of my apartment.”
“Scumbag, huh? Did he cheat on you?”
I felt my cheeks grow warm as I nodded. Logically, I knew he was the one at fault, but it was embarrassing to admit that I was betrayed by someone I trusted like that. It felt as if I was admitting that I was lacking in some way.
But Dmitri shook his head, disgust curling his lip. “Sounds like you dodged a bullet. The man is clearly a complete idiot to look elsewhere when he has a woman like you in his bed.”
Another smooth line, but it was working.
I leaned closer to him, knowing that I was giving him an eyeful of my cleavage as my V-neck blouse shifted. “And what would you do if you had a woman like me in your bed?”
I wasn’t usually this bold, but I felt like I needed this tonight. My ego had taken a hell of a hit recently, and getting hit on by a man with classic good looks like Dmitri was a balm for my wounded pride. More than that, I was picking up chemistry between us that I’d never felt before, even with Jason. I wanted to explore it, even if that meant throwing myself at a stranger in a bar.
“Would you like to find out?” Dmitri asked, his voice taking on a husky tone and his brown eyes growing darker.
A surge of excitement rose inside me, but I hesitated for a moment. I wanted this, but was I being too reckless? There was no doubt in my mind that I was being offered a casual night of sex, which wasn’t normally my thing. I tended to only sleep with men I was in a relationship with.
Before I could talk myself out of it, Dmitri tipped back the rest of his drink and placed it on the bar. Then he stood.
“There’s a hotel right across the street. I’ll get us a room for the night.Ifyou’re still looking to escape for a couple of hours?”
I allowed my gaze to slide down his body again, not just appreciating his physique, but also imagining what it would be like to feel those hard muscles up against my body. He was wearing a black T-shirt with dark jeans, casual. But there was something refined about the way he carried himself. This was a man who was comfortable in his own skin, a man who knew what he wanted.
And suddenly, I had my answer.
“Let get out of here,” I said. It seemed like my impulsive idea to come to the bar was going to pay off.