CHAPTER TWO

LIAM

Walk away now, Barnes. Don't even step one foot into this woman's life, said the rational part of my brain. 

But hey, what’s one drink with a gorgeous woman? 

All rationale went out the window when I offered to buy hers and she smiled with a "Sure," in response. 

I ordered two whiskeys from Harry, then settled into the seat next to her. 

For some reason, I yearned to touch her again but kept my forearms glued to the bar and my hands wrapped around my glass. 

The woman just got assaulted, don't push your fucking luck, Barnes. 

She caught my eye the moment she stepped into the bar. Long dark brown hair, bright green eyes and her crisp, tailored outfit that hugged her curves in all the right places and screamed city girl. Gorgeous as sin and just my type.

She also carried a chip on her shoulder the size of a city bus.

Being a cop allowed me to read people pretty easily and I knew from one glance that she was here to drown her sorrows about something. 

Just like me.

Every other straight man in the bar noticed her too. Some returned their attention right back to their wives or girlfriends while others fluffed their peacock feathers and decided to approach her. 

I couldn't help but laugh to myself when she turned down the first loser. The girl at least had standards. 

While she sat on the barstool, my eyes lingered a bit too long on the curving line from her thigh to her ass to her waist. 

Yanking my eyes up to a more appropriate place, I noticed up close she had a splattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. A pretty face with a bangin' body to match, which was a rare sight around here. She had to be a tourist from the city.

"So what brings you to Harry's Saloon, Hazel?" I asked as I took a sip of whiskey, trying to quell the hardening and excitement going on in my pants. 

I didn't come here to hook up. I had my own sorrows to drown. 

"Alcohol and the great company, obviously," she said sarcastically with another charming smile. "How about you, Liam? I'm surprised you're not coupled up like everyone else in here."

Trust me, beautiful. That's entirely by choice.

I’d never pretend that I didn't have my choice of women. My colleagues in the police department, high-powered lawyers I met in court, and even women I've arrested have made passes at me. 

But none ever held a candle to her, the reason I came here alone to drink myself into a stupor. The girl I could never get back. 

Actually if I had to compare, the closest would be Hazel. This gorgeous city girl I just met not five minutes ago and barely knew. 

I felt dead inside for three years and just from a few exchanged words, Hazel made my body feel alive, reawakened and invigorated. I could hardly keep my cock from pressing on my zipper. The numbness from all the shots I took before she got here seemed to drift away. When I touched her skin, it felt like lightning passed through us. 

What was going on?  

"Just a random night off," I said, doing my best to sound nonchalant. "Didn't want to spend it cooped up at home." 

That was somewhat true. Taking today off work was anything but random but she didn't need to hear what today meant to me. How it haunted me. 

She smiled a bit coyly. "So there isn't anybody waiting for you at home?" 

I returned her smile. "No, there isn't." 

There used to be, but she's dead now. 

For once, I didn't want to dwell on Katie's death today, the anniversary of that night. Normally it would be the only thing on my mind. But with this girl smiling and sitting pretty before me, I for once wanted to focus on her. On the living. 

"Is there anyone in your life that would be upset by a strange man buying you a drink?" I asked.

Her pretty smile faded and the chip on her shoulder became glaringly obvious. 

"No. It ended pretty recently, to be honest." Looking somewhere far away, she lifted her glass to her red kissable lips. "I guess that's the real reason why I'm here." 

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said sincerely. From what I could observe in her body language, she had been hurt badly. Whoever she was with ended their relationship in a real scumbag way.

Even from what little I knew about her, I knew she didn't deserve that. 

"Hey," I said, raising my glass. "To new beginnings." 

Her smile returned and my stomach did a flip-flop. I couldn't even remember the last time a pretty girl's smile affected me so much. 

"To new beginnings," she repeated and clinked her glass against mine. 

We threw back our drinks in unison. The heat from the alcohol burned pleasantly down my throat to settle in my belly. 

I barely had time to set my glass down and be impressed at this city girl throwing back whiskey when I felt her warm, delicate hand graze across my shoulders. 

When I turned to face her, those cherry red lips caught my mouth in a shy, but sensual kiss.