Jesus, I need a fucking drink.

I’d had the day from hell. Work had been a bitch. Grayson had been an unbearable pain in the ass since he started pursuing his girl. She was definitely giving him a run for his money. Usually it was fucking hilarious to watch him turn into a pissy little bitch whenever Lola blew his ass off, but since my father had decided to call this morning and tear me a new one for once again having a rather unflattering picture of myself posted in the gossip rags, I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone’s shit.

To make matters worse, my mom was calling more frequently, demanding I talk to Dad about ending his affair. She claimed to have a feeling that this time around was different, that it wasn’t just another random hookup, and practically begged me to fix it. When I told her there wasn’t anything I could do, she sobbed inconsolably, leaving me feeling guilty for not being able to help and bitter because she’d asked me in the first place.

When it came to my folks, I was forever trapped between a rock and a hard place with no way of escaping. It was a miserable existence.

I ended up at The Black Sheep, sucking back beer while Deacon watched on with a worried expression. Luckily he didn’t bother asking what was wrong. Our friendship worked mainly because I didn’t stick my nose in his family business and he returned the favor.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

I lifted my head and turned to find the woman who’d been plaguing my thoughts for weeks standing a few feet away, glaring at me with her lip curled like the very sight of me offended her delicate sensibilities.

I pasted on my most winning smile at the sight of her. “Well, if it isn’t the stunning Daphne King. Please”—I motioned to the empty stool beside me—“have a seat.”

She made a noise that sounded an awful lot like a growl deep in her throat, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at how freaking adorable she looked when she was mad.

She stared up at the ceiling and declared, “What have I done to deserve this, huh? Is it because I made out with Bobby Gallagher in the confessional booth that one time? I already apologized for that!”

“Seems like she knows you pretty damn well, Caleb,” Deacon chided, giving me a shit-eating grin.

I flipped him off and looked back to Daphne. “Come on.” I kicked the stool out a bit. “I’m buying.”

Her icy demeanor didn’t change a bit as she slowly moved closer and finally took the seat next to me. “Well, if you’re buying,” she stated hesitantly.

I looked at Deacon and lifted my empty beer bottle. “Another for me, and a mojito for the lady.”

She let out a surprised gasp. I gave her my full attention once Deacon started on our drinks. “How did… how did you know I’d order that?”

I lifted my refreshed beer and took a long pull, regarding her closely from over the bottle. “It’s what you were drinking the night we met,” I finally answered.

She did that cute goldfish thing with her mouth again, the same one she’d done in the hall at work. “But I thought….”

I faced forward and downed half my beer in just a few swallows. “Yeah,” I replied, setting the glass bottle back on the round paper coaster. I ran a hand through my hair and let out a heavy sigh. “I’m really fucking sorry about that. I won’t make any excuses for how I acted, but if it means anything, I remembered all of it almost as soon as you called me an asshole and stormed off.”

I offered a miniscule smile to try and lighten the blow. Surprisingly enough, my confession seemed to thaw her out a bit, so I decided to try my luck.

“You think we could start over?” Her eyebrows dipped together in confusion, so I held my hand out for her to shake. “Hi, I’m Caleb. What’s a gorgeous woman like you doing in a shithole like this?”

A bottle cap came flying at me, hitting me in the head. I shot him a look as he mumbled, “Fucker,” under his breath before dropping Daphne’s mojito off and heading to the other side of the bar.

“Friend of yours?” Daphne asked with a small laugh.

“Something like that,” I grumbled, then wiggled my fingers to get her attention back on them. She watched my hand skeptically for several seconds before finally taking it.

“I still don’t like you,” she muttered, taking her hand back. Her long, thin fingers wrapped elegantly around her drink glass, the nails painted a color so dark it was nearly black, but on her it worked. Watching her hand as she lifted the glass and placed the straw between her plump cherry-colored lips sent me back in time to that night. The image of her fingers and mouth wrapped around my throbbing cock came rushing back, making my dick stir behind my zipper.

I propped an elbow on the bar and turned to lean in to her. “How would you suggest I change that?”

She put her drink down and threw her head back in a bark of laughter that didn’t contain a hint of humor. “Wow. You really can’t help yourself, can you?”

I shrugged, laying on the charm as I said, “What can I say, I’m helpless against a beautiful woman.”

“God, you’re unbelievable!” I opened my mouth to reply and her palm slapped over it to stop me. “That was not a compliment,” she said in a warning tone. “Keep it up and I’ll leave, I swear to god. I’m not in the mood for your shit. I just came here to get wasted and forget about the stupid drama in my life. Think you can let me do that?”

I wrapped my fingers around her delicate wrist and removed it from my mouth, but I didn’t let it go. “I’m sorry,” I said with every ounce of sincerity I felt. “I’m sorry. In all honesty, I came here tonight for the exact same reason.” With my free hand, I lifted my beer bottle and extended it toward her. “What do you say we get wasted together and bitch about the people in our lives driving us crazy? Deal?”

She lifted her mojito and clinked the rim of it against my bottle. “Deal.”

* * *

I slammed my bottle down on the bar with a heavy clunk. I had a pretty decent buzz going from drinking the past couple of hours, but it could have been much worse if I’d gone with my regular drink of scotch instead of beer.

Daphne, however, didn’t seem fazed by the alcohol at all. I’d been looking forward to a night with booze as my only company to drown everything out, but the sexy woman next to me turned out to be so much better. And not just because I knew from experience how amazing she was in bed. I’d gotten to know her a bit and discovered that under the hair and legs, the ass and tits, and the stellar smile, she was also the funniest, most interesting person I’d ever met.

And that was without us really talking about anything too in-depth or personal. She just had a way about her, a spirit and light you just wanted to drown in. And the stories she told about her job were too hilarious and detailed to be made up.

“So then she says, ‘I understand it was wrong for him to give me chlamydia from that skank he was cheating with, but I really love him.’ Can you believe that?” She started laughing at the story she was telling about one of her show’s callers. “I mean, the guy was cheating with their nanny while his wife busted her ass at work every day, gives her an STD because the slut he was cheating with was just all kinds of nasty, and she still wanted to make her marriage work! How insane is that?”

The topic hit a little too close to home for comfort, so the smile I glued to my face was far from sincere. Luckily, she was too far gone to really notice.

“I get loving someone with your whole heart. Believe me, I understand. But have a little pride, right?”

Well that was interesting. From the way she spoke, it sounded suspiciously like there’d been someone very important in her life who was no longer there, but she’d made it clear tonight with her refusal to go too deep that she wasn’t going to let me in, so I didn’t push.

She sucked back the last of her drink and plunked it down on the counter, letting out a long breath before turning back to me. “Tonight was… actually pretty fun.”

I chuckled and scooted to the edge of my barstool, spreading my legs so her crossed knees were sandwiched between them. “Don’t sound too surprised about it.”

She giggled, her cheeks flushing a tempting pink that turned me on even more. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that I’m kind of surprised.”

I placed my hand on my chest in mock pain. “You know, you’re really hell on a man’s ego, sweetheart.”

She smiled so brightly, so beautifully, that I felt the effect of it in my bones. “Oh, and forgetting we’d slept together wasn’t a bruise to my ego?” she asked, but her tone implied she was teasing instead of angry.

“Wait, you slept with her and forgot about it?” I jerked my head in Deacon’s direction to see him staring at me incredulously.

“A little privacy, please?” I gritted between clenched teeth, communicating with my eyes that I’d murder him painfully if he didn’t shut the hell up and go away. He eventually turned and walked down the bar, but he did it with a mocking grin, the bastard. I looked back at Daphne. “A momentary bout of stupidity on my part,” I quipped. “Believe me, once I remembered, there was no forgetting. I haven’t been able to think of much else.”

Her eyes glazed over, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol. “Me either,” she whispered in a soft, breathy voice. “No matter how hard I’ve tried to stop.”

She was driving me out of my mind. The struggle to sit next to her, so close I could smell the seductive scent of lilies and sugar on her skin, and not touch her was becoming almost too agonizing to bear.

“God, you’re so damn beautiful,” I said quietly. It was supposed to just be a thought, but my brain didn’t work properly when I was around her and I found myself blurting words without thinking.

Her eyes rounded as she whispered, “Is that just a line?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “It’s the goddamn truth. You can walk out of here right now, catch a cab, and leave me here, and I’d still tell you you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes on because it’s a fucking fact.”

Her body swayed closer. “I….” She stopped and swallowed, her throat working visibly. “I don’t want to walk out of here right now. At least… at least not by myself.”

I moved in closer, barely an inch of space separating our faces. “You need to be sure about what you’re saying.”

She leaned back, picked up her purse, and slung it over her shoulder. “Take me home with you. Right now.”