Chapter 1
“I’m doomed. It’s the second attempt on my thesis, and I have not made any progress on my research,” Mantra declared setting her drink on the bar counter with a thud.
“Don’t talk like it’s the end of the world,” her childhood best friend and roommate, Samar, snorted.
“I need to do this… I will lose my job and my shot at a career in psychology if I don’t finish my thesis.” She rested her forehead on the bar counter hugging her drink.
Mantra worked as a psychology intern for one of the top family therapists in the area, but it wasn’t enough for her graduation. She needed a thesis with case studies.
“Mantra… that dude is checking you out.” Samar nudged.
“Stop it!” She didn’t bother looking up. She knew who Samar was talking about. It had to be the dark-eyed stranger she had clapped eyes with multiple times in the last thirty minutes. He had caught her checking him out while she sat at the bar waiting for Samar.
From the moment their eyes met, he wouldn’t stop scanning her face ignoring the blonde who was with him.
She had to acknowledge she had trouble averting her eyes from his hot ass. When her eyes wandered up to find an unbelievably chiseled face with a rugged jawline and penetrating eyes, she realized they were looking straight at her.
“His date is trying hard to get his attention, but he’s got his eyes fixed on you. Check him out,” her friend urged.
“I already did,” she confessed calmly without lifting her head up.
“You did?”
“Yeah, he caught me drooling over him, and his girlfriend seared me with her looks.” She shook her head in disbelief. It had been a while since her last breakup, but that had nothing to do with how she gawked at him. He was a beast of a man, and his body was too wild for his tamed outfit.
“Did you talk to him?”
“Samar… not now. I need to focus on finishing my thesis and graduation.”
“He is hot and seems to be totally into you.” She giggled ignoring Mantra’s state of mind. “Right, Tony?”
“Mantra, you okay?” a familiar male voice interrupted her depressed mood.
“I’m fine, Tony, thanks.” She looked up to smile at the friendly bartender.
“You’ve been nursing that beer for the past hour. What’s going on?”
“The state I’m in… I should be getting drunk, but…”
“Mantra, cut the crap.” Her friend shook her by her shoulder, annoying her.
“Samar, what else can I do? My professor thinks my thesis is crap, and my parents don’t believe in my aspirations. What’s worse is they are embarrassed by my choice of major.”
“No, what you are doing is interesting,” Samar, an electrical engineering major, encouraged.
“Be sure to tell that to my mom and dad, next time you see them.”
“That’s all the whining you get to do for the night,” Samar stated and added looking at Tony, “What’s all the commotion here tonight? It’s never been this crazy busy.”
“Well, we are under new management, and there’s a spice contest starting shortly. The bar will be converted into a place of adventurous food.” Tony was excited. “It’s a winner-takes-a-thousand-dollars-home competition.”
“Who does that in a bar? A spice contest?” Samar scrunched her nose.
“Fine, do you want to go home?” Mantra was in no mood to hang out in the overly crowded bar.
“No, it’s Saturday night, and I’m not leaving,” Samar declared winking at the bartender signaling him to fix her another drink.
“If we are going to camp out here all night, I’m going to make a trip to the ladies’ restroom.” Mantra got up from the barstool making a conscious effort not to look in the man’s direction.
The line outside the ladies’ restroom was not a welcoming sight, and she was in an urgent situation. She needed to go badly but didn’t want to stand in a long line. She walked back to her spot at the bar, and to her relief, the guy she was caught drooling over was gone. She let out a sigh as her body slumped on the stool.
“Tony, you want to tell her or should I?” Samar’s eyes were glistening with mischief.
“Tell me what?” She quizzically looked at her friend.
“So, the dude owns this place.” Samar winked.
“Who?”
“The guy who wouldn’t stop checking you out,” she whispered.
“So? Why does it matter? It’s not like we get to drink for free just because he owns the place.” She snickered.
“Yes, we do. Tony was asked to take care of us.” She winked at the bartender.
“That’s just cheesy. We should pay for our drinks,” she said sternly.
“She’ll pay for hers, Tony. I’ll have all the drinks I can get on the house.” Samar was not going to let the opportunity for free drinks slip away. No student would.
“Whatever… don’t make me talk or laugh. I need to pee badly, and there’s a line longer than the Great Wall of China,” she growled.
“I’m not allowed to tell you this, but there may be a restroom you will stumble upon if you get lost behind the bar on the right.” Tony winked.
“I love you, Tony.” She beamed heading toward the hidden restroom.
She walked past the stockroom and the manager’s office and was thrilled to find the restroom. She turned the knob and pushed the door open with her shoulder harder than required. The next thing she knew, the door was completely open, and she was falling. She lost her footing and threw her hands out desperately to hold onto something—anything—and she grabbed onto the collar of the man filling the frame of the door. She felt her nails graze his collarbone, a button or two dove to their freedom, and a vise-like grip circled her waist sending tremors under her feet. Her eyes met dangerously dark eyes inches away from hers.
Dark brown eyes swept over her shocked expression, and a moment later, a smile appeared on his face.
“Are you following me?” His voice was smooth making her want to close her eyes and listen to him ramble endlessly, but she knew better. She jerked out of her wild thoughts and attempted to step away from him.
“Yes, I am following you so I can pay you back for the drinks,” she snarled placing her palms on his chest and pushing her trembling body away from him. To her utter shock, he held her waist in a steel grip limiting her movement.
“I’ll take any form of payment.” He pulled her closer laughing in her ear.
“Let me go, you,” she growled gathering some strength to pull out of his embrace.
“Nice to meet you, too.” He smiled before slipping past her in the bathroom doorway leaving her alone.
“Pathetic!” she called out to him as her eyes went straight to his sexy ass, and she couldn’t stop admiring how well his jeans clung to him.
Suddenly, he stopped and turned and yet again caught her admiring his rear even with her bladder ready to burst.
“I take it you like what you see.” He blew her a kiss before he disappeared behind the stockroom door.
She cursed under her breath. She was unable to comprehend what it was about him that transported her into another unreal dimension making her oblivious to reality. He just knew how to push her buttons.
She went back to her spot a few minutes later and found Samar trying hard to get rid of a guy. She could tell he was annoying her. Samar didn’t need rescuing every time, but sometimes she was too nice to ask the men to back off.
“You’re in my spot,” Mantra declared looking at the decent-looking guy.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just mesmerized by this beautiful young woman here.” He smirked oozing too much sugar with his smile.
“How sweet. I hate to interrupt, but we have to go, girl. Your stalker is here, and if you want this nice person here to be safe, you should stop talking to him,” Mantra whispered but loud enough for the guy to hear her.
“What? Stalker?” The guy was taken aback.
“Yeah, she has this guy who feels the need to protect her, and if he feels you are going to steal her away from him, he will go after you,” Mantra said with a straight face.
“You’re kidding!” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Why would I?” She shrugged biting her lip to suppress her smile.
“Oh… I have to go. My friends are looking for me,” he declared a few moments later.
“Please fight for me.” Samar jumped on the bandwagon.
“You girls have a good time,” the man murmured and disappeared into the crowd.
“Stalker? Really?” Samar laughed covering her mouth.
“I can go tell him the stalker dude left,” Mantra offered, downing her drink.
“Tony, she is ready for her food and drink.” Samar signaled.
Tony placed a platter of samplers and a drink in front of her. The drink wasn’t her usual one, and it looked intimidating.
“I didn’t order this drink.” She looked at Tony who was smirking. “What the heck is that?”
“Your buddy over there sent it to you.” Tony smiled, and Mantra knew exactly who without looking in the direction Tony pointed. “I was asked to tell you that you are chili pepper hot and out of this world and that’s why the platter and Mai Tai.”
“Are you fucking serious, Tony?” she grumbled trying to keep her cool.
“He is technically the owner and my boss so eat and drink up.” Tony laughed.
“Nice try, Tony. I’m sure your new boss told you to use that line,” she snapped.
“Wow, how did you know?”
“Seriously, Tony?” She sneered.
He laughed shaking his head and walked away.
“Why are you acting like a bitch? The dude’s hot, and that platter looks like fun.” Samar poked her.
“He can set the entire place on fire with his hotness, but I can’t stand such dicks. He’s a total asshole.”
“Wow, someone lost their cool. How do you know he is an ass?”
“I ran into him in the restroom in the back, and he reeks arrogance and overconfidence. He expects every woman to throw herself at him,” she grumbled.
“You did ogle him,” her friend taunted.
“Let’s get out of here. The crowd is getting out of hand.”
“I have to go pee.” Samar got off her stool.
“Go to the back and use the restroom next to the manager’s office. I’m sure there’s a line stretching outside the building at the other one,” Mantra advised.
“Yeah…” Samar walked to the back of the bar.
“Tony, you can have my drink. That’ll make you out of this world which you are.” She winked pushing the cocktail away.
“Mantra, give the food a try,” he insisted.
She reached for what looked like Jalapeno poppers and took a bite. A sharp tanginess hit her first before her tongue was set on fire.
“Tony… what is this? I’m dying but can’t stop eating it.” She took another bite of the batter-coated chili pepper. The heat burned her mouth, but it felt like her stress was melting away with the heat. She closed her eyes to contain the moisture building up behind her eyelids and moaned delectably.
“You have no idea what you’re missing out on,” a deep male voice interjected making her open her eyes. The dark-eyed, arrogantly sexy man had slipped onto the stool next to her.
She glared at him without responding. He scanned her face, and his eyes stopped at her trembling lips before boring into her eyes. She adamantly lifted her chin holding his gaze.
“Excuse me?”
“Take a sip of that drink now and tell me what you think.”
“I don’t let strangers buy me drinks.” She gently pushed the cocktail away from her.
“Tony, is she always like this?” He winked at the bartender.
“You don’t need to know, and this seat is taken. Do you mind?” She pointed toward the stool he was on.
“Sure, I can walk back that way if you care to admire my… you know what… again,” he taunted before getting up to leave.
She didn’t look in his direction. He seemed to be a top-class playboy, but her body responded very differently to his presence. His cologne, strong and spicy, prevailed in spite of the stench of the alcohol at the bar a long time after he walked away.