The Bargain (3 page)

Chapter Four

“You’re wearing this.” Vera, my best and only true friend, tossed a black, silky dress, resembling lingerie at my face. Other than Vera, my friends had taken Evan’s side. They accused me of overreacting. Fuck them. I didn’t need them.

“No, thanks.” I tossed the dress on the hotel bed next to me. “I’m not going out tonight.”

She cocked one leg to the side and balanced one hand on her hip. “Why not? We’re in Mexico. We can’t sit in our hotel room like two losers.”

“You can go without me. I don’t mind.” I didn’t mind. In fact, I preferred it. That way, I’d have more time to sulk without worrying about Vera’s feelings. I needed to pull my head out of my ass and stop being a bad friend, and I would, but not tonight.

“That’s dumb. I’m not going without you.”

“Just go. I’m sunburned. I’ll be miserable.” I thumbed through the gossip magazine I picked up in the airport, pretending to be totally absorbed in the story of the latest starlet gone crazy. In truth, my misery demanded all of my attention. I didn’t have room in my life for other people’s problems and Vera clearly noticed. When Vera convinced me to go on this vacation with her, enjoying myself seemed like a foregone conclusion. Now, it felt like another obstacle, preventing me from putting shattered pieces of my life back into order.

Vera flipped her vibrant red hair over her shoulder. “Nope. That excuse won’t work. You didn’t leave the beach cabana once today, and you have olive skin.”

I tilted my head to the side. “I swam laps in the morning.” At home, I alternated between swimming and running on a daily basis. Exercise kept my life organized, structured…just the way I liked it. I didn’t like to deviate from my routine, and the last three weeks had been a huge deviation. I ran in a different park. I swam at a different gym. I slept in a different bed. I left my favorite coffee mug at my old apartment with Evan.

“For twenty minutes at sunrise. That hardly counts. Try again.”

“My stomach hurts?” I said it as a question. Both of us knew there wasn’t a thing wrong with me except a wounded ego. I didn’t want Evan back, but it sickened me that I wasted so much time with him. I completely misread him until he shoved his true self in my face in the form of a buxom blonde. Even worse, my mom refused to let the idea of a happily ever after for Evan and me die.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re going out with me tonight. I won’t take no for an answer. We’re on a mission.”

“Oh really?” I dropped the magazine in my lap and folded my arms across my chest. “Please share.”

Vera chewed on her lower lip for a second before answering. “We’re going to find the hottest guy in the bar and you’re going to bring him back here and fuck Evan out of your life for good.”

My eyebrows scaled my forehead, disappearing under my blunt cut bangs. “Sorry…that’s not going to happen. I’m not going to stop being me because Evan is a complete and total manwhore.” Evan was my first and only boyfriend. Except for a kiss, I’d given him my first everything. I wasn’t a paragon of virtue who had saved myself for the right guy. On the contrary, I was the quintessential late bloomer. At five feet ten, I towered over most guys in high school, and I didn’t have a curve or anything resembling a chest until I turned eighteen.

My lack of feminine attributes weren’t relevant, because my mom had forbidden me from dating until my senior year. By then I had focused all my attention on doing the right activities to secure admission to the right college to get as far away from my mom as possible. I dated in college a little, but nothing serious until I met Evan at the end of my sophomore year. We were political science majors, and we had friends in common. From the minute we met, we were inseparable, and then we went to the same graduate school.

“We’ll see.” Vera moved to the edge of the bed. She lifted the dress I had crumbled into a ball and held it out in front of her. “This will look sexy on you.”

“It won’t fit me. I’m five inches taller than you, and you have considerably more going on in the chest than me.” Vera’s body resembled a 1950’s pinup girl. Sexiness oozed from her pores like perfume, and today wasn’t any exception. She looked amazing in her short emerald green halter dress.

I realized a long time ago I couldn’t pull off the sexy thing, so I went for sophistication. I had dark brown hair, cut in a blunt bob with long bangs, brown eyes on a bad day, and hazel on a good day.

“Your legs will look amazing in this. You spend all your free time running and swimming. You should show off your hard work.”

“Oh please,” I said rolling my eyes. “I’ll look like the lanky girl who forgot to change out of her pajamas.”

“Put it on. You’ll see. ”

I groaned and held out my hand. “Fine. Give it to me. I don’t care if my ass hangs out the bottom of the dress. Nobody will look at me anyway, especially when you’re standing next to me.”

“That’s not true. I’d kill to have your long legs, and it’s not always a good thing to have huge breasts. Do you realize how many guys start a conversation with my chest instead of me?”

“Whatever. At least guys talk to you.”

“Don’t be such a buzz kill. You’ve been wrapped up in Evan for too long. Guys would talk to you if you showed any interest.”

I lifted the dress up in front of me, eyeing it skeptically. “And this dress is your idea of me showing interest.”

“It’s a start.” She turned and walked toward the bathroom. “You have thirty minutes to get ready.”

“I don’t need half that long.” I planned to slip the dress on, put on some clear lip gloss and a pair of sandals. I needed all of ten minutes to complete the look.

“Yes, you do, because I’m helping you get dressed. You know what that means?” Vera announced as she glanced over her shoulder, a sly smile on her berry colored lips.

“No, but I’m sure you’ll share,” I said flatly.

“We’re going big, which means shaving, exfoliating, and full war paint.”

“
Fan-fucking-tastic
, so guys will be soliciting me for a blowjob in the alley.”

Vera furrowed her eyebrows. “Don’t insult me. You’ll look perfect. Beautiful.”

I smiled faintly. “I know. I’m just giving you a hard time for making me go.”

“You won’t regret it. I promise. This is going to be one of the most memorable nights of our lives.”

Chapter Five

An hour later, we walked into a bar filled with more people than was safe or sanitary. Music vibrated from the speakers set in the thatched roof, causing it to shake. Red, blue, and purple lights flashed in time with the music. A woman in a black halter-top and black booty shorts carried a tray of tequila shots.

It was so far out of my realm of experience, I took a step backward from culture shock. Boring political fundraisers and quiet dinners with Evan were more my speed, or at least since I met Evan. Sure, I went to bars too, but this bar was crazier than the places I frequented at home.

“Go with it,” Vera said.

“Do you see anyone?” The rest of our friends left the hotel a half hour earlier. Vera fussed over my hair, makeup, and shoe selection for nearly an hour, but when she finished my mouth fell open. I never wore much makeup, but Vera did this smoky-eyed, red lipstick thing, and I went from dully sophisticated to mysteriously sexy.

Standing on her tiptoes, she scanned the crowd. “No, but we need a drink. We’ll run into them at some point.” She linked her arm through mine and pulled me through the masses of hot sweaty bodies, grinding against each other toward the bar.

A few well-placed elbows here and there and I stood smashed between two people at the bar. “Tequila shot?” I asked Vera, glancing over my shoulder. I might as well start with the strong stuff. With any luck, it’d keep my negative thoughts at bay…or amplify them so I morphed into a messy, tear-stained drunk.

“Nope.” She held up a bar menu she snagged off one of the tables, waving it in front of my face. “We are going to have every shot on this list.”

I scanned the list and raised one eyebrow. “I don’t have any interest in seeing the inside of a Mexican hospital tonight or ever.”

She shoved my shoulder playfully, and I teetered sideways on my ridiculously high heels right into the person next to me. He didn’t notice.

“Not all of them. I was just messing with you. Let’s start with a…” She ran her finger down the menu with her eyes closed. Her eyes popped open, and her finger stopped.

I leaned over and squinted to bring the words into focus when the strobe light flashed. “A Prairie Fire?”

Vera scrunched up her nose and groaned. “I guess the gods have spoken.”

“Do you realize what’s in that shot?”

“Yeah, but we’re letting fate take over tonight, so a Prairie Fire it is.”

I shook my head. “I have a feeling I’m going to regret going out tonight.”

“Regrets mean you had fun. Stop being so whiny.”

Three shots later and we had imbibed enough liquid courage to climb on top of the bar and dance with a few random girls. I twirled, twisted, and rocked my hips back and forth. Guys gathered around the bar, cheering us on and touching me way more than I liked, but I decided to go with it. This was my last Spring Break before I graduated. I would go with the flow, even if it killed me.

“I have to use the bathroom. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I yelled next to Vera’s ear, two body shots and more than an hour later. I didn’t need to go. My arches were crying for relief from my four-inch heels, and I needed to sit down. Unfortunately, Vera looked as though she didn’t have any intention of stopping anytime soon, which meant I was on my own for a while.

“Wait.” Her hand looped around my forearm. “Look over there.” She tipped her head toward the far end of the bar.

My eyes drifted over the faces of the people. “Can you be more specific? What am I looking at?”

“Are you really that clueless?” She elbowed me in the ribs. “Mr. Dark and Sexy sitting at the end of the bar. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you for the last ten minutes.” She lowered her voice even though the music was loud enough to be heard three blocks away. “I think we may have found the man to wipe away any lingering messy feelings you have for Evan.”

“I told you I’m not hooking up with a random guy.”

“When you see him, you’ll change your mind.”

With my heart hammering against my ribcage, I pushed my hair behind ear, and I turned my head sideways again, trying to be inconspicuous.
Holy hell
. The most insanely good-looking man I’d ever seen sat not more than twenty feet away. How did I miss him? One glance and thoughts of twisted sheets and a hot, sweaty night flashed through my mind.

When my eyes connected with his, all the air rushed out of my lungs, my nipples tightened, and my hands shook. “Wow,” I whispered, mostly to myself as I quickly lowered my eyes.

Vera grinned like a maniac. “My thoughts exactly.” She nudged my back. “Go get him.”

“Maybe I need another shot first. We haven’t sampled the Buttery Nipple.” Everything about the way he watched me said he wanted to talk to me, and a whole lot more. Rather than giving me confidence, the knowledge sent a ripple of uncertainty through my alcohol-filled stomach. I didn’t know the first thing about flirting or random hookups, and the way he looked at me made me nervous in a way I couldn’t remember feeling since starring in my high school play at the age of sixteen.

Vera elbowed me in the side. “Put on your big girl pants and go over there. You need to bust out of your comfort zone.”

My eyes glued to the wood counter, I twisted my hands in the folds of the dress. I wasn’t prepared to meet a man like him today. Who was I kidding? I’d never be prepared, and that thought coupled with too much alcohol made me a little reckless. “What the hell,” I said. I slid off the raised surface and pushed through the masses of people.

“You’ve got this,” Vera shouted after me, but I didn’t turn around to acknowledge her comment. I would catch up with her in a few minutes after I crashed and burned because there wasn’t any other possibility. I shoved my way through the crowd, brushing up against undulating bodies, a few wandering hands, and a whole lot of sweaty skin.

When the crowd cleared, I came face to face with him. I blinked, overwhelmed and wide-eyed. Close up, he was downright intimidating and a million times more devastatingly handsome than from afar. He was a little older than me, but he had every physical characteristic a woman wanted in a man: broad shoulders, powerfully sculpted muscles, dark hair just long enough to curl at the ends, and a savagely elegant face that hinted at a thinly concealed eroticism. At this range, I even saw his eyes. They were a striking shade of gray that both complemented and enhanced his olive complexion, and they were trained 100 percent on me.

Sure, I had encountered many powerful and attractive men in my life. After all, my dad was the Attorney General of the United States, which was a big deal. Interacting with the political elite was just another day on the playground for me, but none of them compared to this man. Not even close. Power, control, and something intangible seeped from him in wicked abundance.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I didn’t move. I didn’t blink. Apparently, my brain had disconnected from my mouth and my body. Even with the aid of Vera’s little pep talks, I crashed and burned the second I came face to face with Mr. Dark and Sexy. Game over. There was no way in hell I could talk to him, much less use him as an Evan mind eraser. I pivoted backward, determined to flee.

“Are you going to talk to me or did I already scare you away?” His voice whispered down my spine, and the hair on my forearms stood on end. The glint in his eyes said things that his mouth hadn’t, or maybe my overactive imagination needed to shut the hell up.

“Um…” My mind scrambled into a million puzzle pieces, and then I found my voice. “No. I’d like another drink.” I pointed with a limp finger toward the bar, horrified by my attempt at making conversation.

Satisfaction slid across his face. He knew I wasn’t leaving. “I can help you with that.” He lifted two fingers and motioned for the bartender. Less than five seconds later, the bartender hovered in front of him expectantly. All night, Vera and I had to flash our breasts to elicit his attention. Not really, but close. “Another Prairie Fire or a Red Headed Slut? Maybe something different this time?” He raised one dark, perfectly arched eyebrow, humor lighting the sharp angles of his face.

Vera was right. He had been watching me all night. I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing, but I elected to stay the course for a few minutes and feel him out. “You pick.”

His lips hinted at a lopsided smile, and my heart nearly exploded in my chest. A direct hit to my heart would have been less effective. “Two glasses of Patron on the rocks with a splash of soda water.”

“No fancy name for that drink?” I asked rocking back on my heels.

“Not everything needs a name.” He leaned closer to the man next to him and whispered something next his ear. The man immediately vacated his seat.

“Sit.” He motioned toward the empty chair…another thing I hadn’t been able to score tonight.

“I’m Hattie.” I slipped into the seat next to him, my body a foot away from him, but still too close for my comfort.

“Hattie,” he repeated. The way my name rolled over his tongue was more intoxicating than my last few shots. “That’s an interesting name.”

“My mom named me after Hattie Caraway—the first woman elected to a full term in the U.S. Senate.”

“Does that mean you have political aspirations?”

“My mom wants me to be involved in politics.” My dad held all the political clout in their relationship and she resented him for it. She didn’t want that for me. She wanted me to be the person with the power. She met my dad at Harvard Law School, but she dropped out when she got pregnant with my brother. She has never let me forget she considers that decision her biggest mistake.

“I’m Ryker.” He pushed my hair behind my ears and with one delicate stroke, the air evaporated from my lungs. Caught in the tangle of his sea gray eyes, I leaned forward, dropping my gaze to his lips.

I bit my lower lip. “What brings you to the bar tonight?”

“A drink. What about you?” Ryker asked.

“Boredom and peer pressure,” I responded.

Ryker’s lips quirked up at the corners. “Maybe I could help you relieve some of your boredom.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Oh really, and what would you suggest?”

Ryker slid my drink across the bar countertop toward me. “A drink. Conversation. Maybe more.”

I swallowed hard, trying to beat back the anxiety bubbling in my stomach. “Why don’t we start with the drink and conversation?” I lifted my glass and took a healthy gulp of my drink.

He stared at me, burning up my insides with a predatory gaze. His eyes swept down my body, lingering on the deep “v” of my dress, sending a tingling sensation straight to my core before his eyes met mine again. “Fine. If that makes you comfortable, I don’t mind pretending we don’t know the end game…at least for a little while. We’ll finish our drink first. ”

My hand froze; drink in hand, halfway to my mouth. I stared at him, my lips parted, my breathing accelerated as his words washed over me. Panic, astonishment, and excitement swirled inside of me. Conflicting urges to flee or drag him back to my hotel room warred inside my body. Both thoughts seemed ridiculous. Weighing my options, I shifted to the end of my seat. “What’s the end game?” I asked, my throat dry and a bit shaky.

He leaned forward trailing a fingertip along my jaw line. “We can sit here and have a friendly chat, but we both know that this night ends with me buried inside of you.” He cocked his head to the side. “I’m hoping it happens sooner rather than later, though,” he said, lowering his voice to a wicked drawl.

Who said shit like that? I snickered trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t help. Desire brewed in the air around us, making it impossible to ignore him. I drew in a forceful breath as my eyes flittered around the bar, searching for Vera. Normally, she stood out like a beacon in a sea of blonde and brown, but I didn’t see her long, flowing red mane anywhere.

“She disappeared toward the beach with a man a few minutes ago.” Ryker waved his hand in the direction of the long span of doors open to beach at back of the bar.

“Vera?”

“Is that her name?”

I nodded as I swallowed nervously. “Why are you interested in me?” It was a dumb question, but the thought tumbled from my mouth before I stopped it. I wasn’t ugly, but I didn’t draw the attention of many men either. Vera does…not me.

Secrets danced behind his guarded eyes, but Ryker didn’t answer. He snagged my hand and pulled me off my chair. A heated, tingling current traveled the length of my arm, but I didn’t have the time to analyze it. Instinctively, I tensed for a beat, pulling back…resisting him, but he didn’t release my hand. He pulled me closer until his hard chest whispered a darkly suggestive promise against mine.

“Let’s dance,” he said, his lips only millimeters from my bare skin. Shivers cascaded down my neck, and my heart sputtered. I was enthralled, spellbound, and already dancing to his seductive tune.

Even as I followed him into the maze of people, I knew I shouldn’t go anywhere with him, but when I gazed into his smoky gray eyes, I buried my better judgment into the recesses of my mind. At twenty-four years old, I needed to start living my life for me instead of my family. And right now, that included doing things I had every intention of blaming on the ignorance of youth.