Chapter 3
It’s All The Same In The Dark
Tia
The guy in the cab with her was sex incarnate. He was the kind of guy that women would do anything to get in bed with. The kind that did things to people. Did things as in caused a few wet panties. Her own would probably have been soaked, if she’d worn any.
Stupid. Tia Reid had been so nervous about going to the damn Christmas party that she’d doused her nerves with a few shots of vodka before she even left the house. Stupid. She was stupid for even considering going to a party when she’d just been hired and didn’t even start until the following Monday. Stupid. It was ridiculous that HR even extended the invitation. Stupid. It was stupid that she was alone and had been so self-conscious she’d had far too many drinks throughout the evening. Stupid. It was even worse that since she broke up with Jeremy eight months ago, she hadn’t had the willpower to pick herself back up and put herself back out there.
And now this damn god or statue or whatever is sitting in the backseat of a cab with me. She already knew if he asked, or hesitated at her stop, she wouldn’t refuse.
Even though he likely worked for the same company. She didn’t know that for a fact. Judging from the way he dressed, the way he carried himself, the expensive suit and black leather shoes, the slicked back blonde hair and the piercing eyes, he was probably in some upper management part of the company. She’d likely never have to see him again.
No one will know. Her drunk brain fired off all sorts of signals that her sober brain would have ignored. At least she thought it would. Likely, she’d be just as damn wet between her legs. Her nipples would probably still be hard enough to cut glass. Her stomach would be just as filled with butterflies and her heart would be slamming out a similar aggressive pattern.
The cab rolled to a stop in front of her house. It was a miracle she even remembered her address. Her head was swimming. Literally. She barely kept herself upright at the hotel. She’d been in the lobby forever waiting for a cab. Waiting, because she forgot her phone at home and couldn’t call one. It hadn’t even occurred to her through the thick soup that was her mind, to ask the front desk to call one.
“This it?”
The guy turned to her in the backseat. He was the typical Florida looking male. His skin was bronzed. He probably owned at least six pairs of expensive aviator style sunglasses. His haircuts likely cost more than she made in a month, his suits more than she earned in a year. He was a tailored kind of guy. The kind of man who got his clothes made for him. He probably drove an import car, a fast one, the kind that was manufactured by a maker not in her vocabulary. He had the body of a man who worked out hard just so he could show it off on the beaches on the weekend or jogging in the morning. He was the wet dream kind of guy every woman like to fantasize over.
The cab’s lights illuminated the front of her smaller, two story house. “Yeah,” Tia said breathlessly. “Can I have my keys?”
Mr. Sex. God dug in his pocket and produced the keys he’d taken from her. Why, she wasn’t exactly sure. He looked at them, studied them in the dull black of the car. A puzzled frown marred that perfect, broad brow for a second before he handed them over.
“Thanks,” she whispered. She stared at him for a second, then back to the cab driver. Her head felt like it was going to float off her body. She wasn’t sure how many drinks she’d had. She just knew they were cheap and after the first few stiff ones, the rest went down a hell of a lot easier.
The wet dream inducing stranger stared at her with those flashing blue eyes of his. Eyes that were guarded and shadowed and not just because it was night out and the cab was dark. “You going to be okay? You aren’t going to pass out are you? Die choking? Do you know the recovery position?”
Tia couldn’t help it. She giggled again. She knew she’d been doing that ever since that stranger walked up to her in the hotel lobby, but she couldn’t seem to stop. She would normally never have had the courage to even talk to a guy like him. It was straight up vodka that was doing the talking and laughing and pretty much everything else.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Is it even possible to get yourself into the recovery position?” She wasn’t sure what the recovery position even was. She could count on one hand how many parties she’d been to and how many times she’d been truly drunk.
The stranger tensed. His face was surprisingly serious. He studied her for a minute, a tense minute, in which Tia didn’t dare breathe. Does he have any idea how captivating he is? There was something about him, something that was different than other guys. People didn’t look like him. They weren’t built like him, tall, with the broadest shoulders and the promise of rippling muscle under expensive clothes, but it was more than that. He was the kind of guy that could just look at a person and see right through them.
She dropped her eyes at the same time he shifted. He dug out his wallet and she was actually jealous of the thing. Jealous of a damn wallet, since it was so close to what was likely the world’s most perfect ass. Male butts had never been her thing. Female behinds obviously weren’t either. She never looked at butts period, but lord, she wanted to look at his ass. It would be even better to touch it… taste it? What the fuck? How drunk am I?
The stranger paid the cab driver and the next thing she knew, her door was opened and he offered a hand. The second her fingers slid into his and felt his solid warmth again, her body went into full on overdrive. She felt a thousand times drunker.
Tia dropped her keys in the process of climbing out of the cab, trying not to flash any of her more indecent parts as he dress rode all the way up to her damn hips. I shouldn’t have worn this. No one else had anything on like this. The damn thing was an impulse buy, because it looked great on the model in the store. She didn’t have anywhere to wear it though and clearly an office thing wasn’t the right place. She’d felt ridiculous from the moment she walked in.
Tia stumbled, but the stranger’s hand left hers and gripped her waist. He guided her gently, but firmly, to the sidewalk. She stepped over, though she managed to scrape the top of her shoe so hard it fell off in the process. The stranger, which by then she figured must be a tall, dark, and handsome figment of her imagination, carried on. She limped her way up to the front door. She opened her clutch, which was thankfully strapped to her wrist so she hadn’t lost it, and panicked when she couldn’t find her keys.
The warm, reassuring pressure left her back and the stranger held them up with a smirk. “Lord, you really are drunk. It’s a good thing I’m going to see you in and to bed. You shouldn’t go out alone if you can’t take care of yourself.”
“Yes, dad,” she said dryly. Too late, she realized how sexual the word sounded. She glanced over at the stranger, fearful of what she’d see on his face, but it his expression was little more than professional. He handed over the keys. I should have known better. He’s really just a nice guy, seeing me in. He’s just worried about me. He has no interest in me. Why should he? He’s a god and I’m a plain brown mouse. Mouse. It was actually her nickname growing up.
It took her a full minute to find her house key, even though there were few keys on the ring; probably no more than seven or eight.
She finally inserted the one she thought was the right one, into the lock. Of course the damn thing didn’t budge. Tia cursed as she wiggled the key. She tried pulling it out, but it was stuck.
“Here. Let me.” The strangers hand closed over hers.
She froze. Slowly his fingers unwrapped and she pulled her hand away. It didn’t help the burning sensation, which lingered long after he let go or the fact that her entire body felt like it was floating. He’s just a nice guy. Seriously. Stop. Her alcohol infused brain wouldn’t listen and kept right on firing sexual signals left and right that left her feeling weak and wrung out.
“I’m pretty sure this isn’t the right key.”
God, even his voice is sexy. “I…”
“Never mind. I’ll try the others until I find one that works.”
Her keys jingled and she stepped back, giving the guy time to work. It was also that she could appreciate his fine stature. Tia stared at him unabashedly, just because she knew he wouldn’t turn around and catch her.
“There.” A minute later her door swung inward. The guy stepped in, reached around and found the light switch. He turned it on, illuminating them both in the golden glow of her porch light.
“Thanks,” she mumbled. The word, though it was just one, came out slurred. Even she could barely tell what she said.
The guy shook his head, like he was already regretting his decision to see her home. He didn’t have to. She wasn’t a damn child that he had to take care of.
Irrational anger bubbled up inside of her. Would it be so wrong, just for once, to have someone pay attention to her? To see her as an attractive woman? Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Tia gave her head a shake and stepped through the front door, after the stranger.
Unfortunately the one shoe she still had on caught on the threshold and she stumbled forward. She righted herself, but tripped on the hem of her dress. She stumbled, flailing around, trying to get a handhold on the wall. She missed, stumbled again and flew right into the front steps. Her place was small and the staircase to go up was nearly right at the front door.
She landed in an ungraceful heap on the carpeted steps. It was lucky the carpet, put in by a former owner, was plush and soft. It basically broke what could have been a bad fall.
The stranger stepped up and loomed over her. He shook his head and rolled his eyes, like she was some kind of distasteful mission he had to carry out. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered.
Tia gathered what little dignity she had left, gripped the railing, tugged down her dress, which she realized had ridden up painfully high, towards the tops of her thighs, and stood. She shot a scathing look at the guy.
“You’re not being very helpful standing there judging me. No one asked you to come. No one asked you to see me home or get me inside. You don’t have to ride up like a damn knight on a white horse. I’m not in distress. I don’t need saving.” She realized how stupid her tirade sounded as soon as she was done.
Those storm tossed blue eyes drilled a hole right through her. “Of course not. This isn’t some fairy tale. And god knows, I’m no knight. Not in any lifetime and certainly not in this one.”
In a moment of clarity, Tia was shocked to see those eyes change. What she thought was annoyance turned into heat. Red hot. No, white hot. Those eyes pierced her, sent a thousand chills racing up her spine and made her throb in places she had no business to be throbbing in.
“I- I see that,” she stammered. She raised her chin, trying to salvage what little she had left of her pride. “I’ll be fine. You can go now.”
Those eyes narrowed and darkened. She shuddered again. God, he was dangerous. Not in a scary way, but in the kind of wild, sexual way. A way Tia certainly never had experienced in her life. Before Jeremy, she’d had a handful of partners and none of them were what she’d describe as adventurous and certainly not as dark or dangerous.
“The cab already left.”
Her hand tightened on the railing. “Call another then.”
“Do you really want me to?” His hand slipped to his back pocket and brought out his phone. He stared at her, one blonde brow raised in challenge.
He likes this. Holy god, he actually doesn’t want to go. Tia’s legs nearly buckled, she was so shocked. No man had ever looked at her like that before, like he wanted to consume her, and she was sure as hell that it wasn’t just the alcohol talking.
“I… I have the worst drunk goggles,” she said, even though it wasn’t true. “Tell me that you’re not really… not- I don’t know- do you actually look like that?”
A slow grin spread over the stranger’s handsome face. Those lips went from being handsome unsmiling, to downright sinful. Her stomach hollowed out and felt leaden all at once. Beneath her dress, every single part of her that could physically ache, sure as hell did. Her knuckles whitened on the railing while her heart skittered at an even faster pace.
“In my experience, darling, it’s all the same in the dark.”